By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Horizon Youth Theatre’s Festival of Shorts offers audiences a peek at theater in its earliest stage of development.
We have performers as young as 8 getting their initiation into the world of theater. And they are bringing to life scripts devised by their peers.
In the past, the scripts would be written in devising classes earlier in the season and then brought to the stage. On some occasions students even directed. This year, because of the disruption of the pandemic, the troupe decided to pull some scripts from past seasons to revive them with new actors.
The 2022 Festival of Shorts will be staged Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 126 S. Church St., Bowling Green.
“The shorts are always a good way to get started because the whole set up is more casual and there’s not as much riding on it,” said Keith Guion.
He’s directing “[Insert Cliche Mystery Title Here],” which was written about 11 years ago, just before he got involved with the troupe. It’s one of three one-act plays being presented this weekend.
His cast has three first-timers. The rehearsal at First Presbyterian revolves around the basics – knowing lines, entering at the right time, moving to the right place on stage and having props properly positioned.
“This is first time they’ve been in a play,” Guion said of the young performers. “It’s just the experience of being part of this process and learning what it is. I still hope to work with them in future plays, so they get the feel of what we’re supposed to be doing as we go along.
This comes as the 25 year old youth troupe is at a rebuilding stage and is looking to bring fresh faces into the company.
“We had a huge class graduate in 2020 and a huge cast graduate in 2021,” Guion said.
Many of those young people performed this summer in the troupe’s production of “Godspell.”
[RELATED: Happy together: Acting buddies come together to deliver exuberant ‘Godspell’]
Another three HYT members are graduating this year, and then there’s a cohort who are sophomores.
“We have to bring in more kids so they can move in when those kids move out,” Guion said.
Violet Grossman, 13, plays an elf-dragon thief in “Featherwary,” directed by Liz Robertson.
Violet says she likes the challenge of taking on a new play that few people have done before. It has its difficulties. With a cast of six players, it’s a little harder “to bounce off” mistakes like a missed line, she said.
Robertson said she liked this script which was first staged in 2017 because “I saw a lot of opportunity for character work and a lot of opportunity for movement.”
At the auditions she considered “how comfortable they felt being big because these characters can take on a lot of personality.”
With Violet and Izzie Douglass, who plays a mushroom fairy, the director got what she was looking for. Izzie said her character’s emotions were like an “emotional rollercoaster,.” Sometimes she is very angry, especially if someone is littering, and at other times she’s extremely calm.
Violet said she plays her part as “the most energetic seven-year-old you’ll ever meet.”
The girls enjoyed how their characters and interactions developed during the run up to the production.
The third play, directed by Cassie Greenlee, is “#ConfusedAboutTheMuffins,” which was first staged in 2016.
Two one-acts will be presented each performance.
On Friday it will be “#ConfusedAboutTheMuffins” and “[Insert Cliche Mystery Title Here].”
On Saturday, it will be “Featherwary” and “#ConfusedAboutTheMuffins.
On Sunday, it will be “[Insert Cliche Mystery Title Here]” and “Featherwary.”
