Student Stories Come Alive at Whitman’s One-Act Play Festival

For decades, Whitman College students have been turning original ideas into fully realized productions through the One-Act Play Festival—a student-driven tradition that puts creativity, collaboration and experimentation at center stage. 

Founded in 1989 by Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Craig Gunsul, the festival began as a prize-based competition for student playwrights. Over time, it evolved into something even more expansive: a process-focused experience that funds and produces selected student-written plays. Today, the festival takes place every other year and remains a cornerstone of Whitman’s theater culture. 

According to Professor of Theater Daniel Schindler, what makes the One-Act Play Festival unique is its emphasis on entirely new work. 

“These are plays that have never been performed before,” Schindler says. “There’s been I don’t know how many revisions a playwright may have done before this gets to the point where it’s printed and rented out to people to do.” 

Unlike a mainstage production, where scripts are fixed, the One-Act Play Festival allows plays to evolve. Student playwrights, directors, actors, designers and technicians work together from the ground up to create the performance, while faculty serve primarily as mentors rather than decision-makers. 

Over the years, the structure of the festival has shifted. Once held annually and prize-focused, it is now run more independently by students, tied closely to playwriting work they do in their courses. This change, Schindler notes, has strengthened the quality of the work while preserving student ownership.

Schindler (the Design Mentor for the festival) and Faculty Fellow in Theater Mylan Gray (its Faculty Director) began casting student directors, designers and stage managers in the fall, and student playwrights began working on their original scripts in Gray’s Playwriting/Writing Performance course (THDN-330) in the spring.

Gray helped develop a play selection process that reflects the festival’s collaborative approach. A committee of students read and ranked submitted scripts based on creativity, feasibility and overall impact. Faculty then helped shape a final lineup of three plays that offer a balanced and engaging program for audiences. 

For Schindler, the festival’s true value lies not in the final performance but in the process: seeing what works and what doesn’t, learning to adapt and pivot, and managing expectations without expecting perfection. “I think it’s a really positive experience to go through that. And it’s something that they can carry on to other classes and other projects,” he says. 

Gray, who met weekly with playwrights and directors to mentor them through rewrites, casting and rehearsals, also sees the potential impact reaching beyond Whitman. “I hope that the students take away a newfound confidence in their ability to produce near-professional shows,” he says. “I hope that they think to themselves, ‘Yes, I can do this on my own!’ I hope that they feel comfortable seeking experiences to have their plays produced and that directors feel comfortable with directing additional shows outside of Whitman.”

Coming to a Stage Near You

The 2026 One-Act Play Festival will run April 30–May 2 at 8 p.m, with matinee performances May 2–3 at 2 p.m. 

This year’s lineup features three original plays that stretch genres and tones, from absurdist drama to supernatural satire to dark comedy. 

“Electric Earth: Or, the Flower God,” written by Sienna Roberts ’27 (a Theater major from Walla Walla) and directed by Rebecca Leach ’28 (a Film and Media Studies and Theater double major from Albany, California), is an absurdist play set in a fractured version of Earth. The story follows Spitz and Tar, two workers living in a tunnel and endlessly plugging in mysterious wires. While Tar accepts the reality, Spitz begins to question it—leading to a discovery that challenges everything they thought they understood.

Blending existential questions with surreal imagery, the play asks whether change is possible in a world built on routine and destruction. 

“Blow Up, Pop!” by Olivia Wiebe ’27 (a Theater major from Federal Way, Washington), directed by Leo Patrizio ’27 (a Film and Media Studies and Theater double major from Hood River, Oregon), takes a sharp turn into dark comedy and horror. The play centers on Grace, a single mother, and her teenage daughter, Mallory, whose lives are disturbed by an inflatable sex doll named Michael that becomes increasingly human. 

As Michael begins to speak, move and assert control, he takes a dominant, patriarchal role within the household, creating a disturbing and often darkly humorous dynamic. For Wiebe, the play explores gender roles, power and the fragility of construed identities. 

“I want it to feel weird and memorable,” Wiebe says. “Something that sticks with people and makes them think, even if it’s uncomfortable.” 

Developed through the playwriting course, “Blow Up, Pop!” is now in its third draft. Wiebe emphasizes the importance of character motivation and story structure, as well as the role of feedback in shaping her work. 

“You just have to get the first draft out,” she says. “Then you can build from there.” 

The final play, “Thank you, Eternity!” by Jaiden Thompson ’27 (a Theater major from Seattle) and directed by Julius Kozisek ’28 (from Vancouver, Washington), blends supernatural elements with meta-theatrical commentary. The story follows a playwright and an actor navigating a college theater production when a ghost appears with a chilling warning: The director has turned the play into a soul-sucking ritual. 

Mixing humor, suspense and surrealism, the play examines power dynamics within theater and the pressures of artistic ambition. The goal is to leave the audience unsettled. 

“I want them to leave uncomfortable,” Thompson says, “but also more aware of the systems they’re part of.” 

Thompson developed the play by focusing first on the theme, then building characters whose relationships carry the story. Throughout rehearsals, collaboration with actors and the director has helped refine the dialogue and deepen character dynamics. 

On the Other Side of the Curtain

Behind the scenes, the One-Act Play Festival is just as dynamic as what appears on stage. Students take on every role in the production process, from costume design to lighting to stage management. 

Production Stage Manager Eleanor D’Ambrosia ’26 (a Theater and Sociology double major from Arvada, Colorado), for example, helps coordinate the complex schedule, which has included weeks of rehearsals beginning in March and an intensive technical period in late April. 

It’s challenging, but “very rewarding,” she says. “Working with students like myself makes the show feel more integrated as we are all learning in our different roles.” 

For many students, the One-Act Festival offers a unique opportunity to explore multiple aspects of theater in a supportive, close-knit environment. 
  
Actor Rufus Smith ’28 (a Theater and Film and Media Studies double major from Portland, Oregon), says the festival gives students the opportunity to explore multiple roles, including acting, directing and design, while contributing to a fully student-led production. 

“My experience as an actor in the one-acts has challenged me to really discover the play with my director, designers and fellow actors as we all try to bring our playwright’s work to life,” Smith says. “I really enjoy the community aspect the festival provides. We are all students relying on each other to not only build a great original production but also refine our disciplines as we go along.”

Because rehearsals are often less demanding than mainstage productions, students can balance participation with other academic commitments. At the same time, the scale of the work remains ambitious, allowing for creative-risk taking—highlighting new voices, new ideas and new ways of telling stories.

For audiences, that means experiencing something entirely original. 

“I hope audiences remember how good it feels to witness amazing work in community with other people,” Gray says. “Connection is the reason we see art, and live connection is what makes being a theatergoer thrilling.”

“You’re seeing a play for the first time,” Schindler adds. “Anything can happen.”