LCCC theatre students take the lead in one-act production

CHEYENNE, Wyoming – Professional theatre mentorship and cross-campus collaboration will come together in this year’s LCCC Theatre production of one-act plays.

“Another Evening of One-Acts You May or May Not Enjoy” is set for 7 p.m. May 8 in the LCCC Playhouse on the college’s Cheyenne campus. Donations are encouraged, with proceeds benefiting LCCC’s theatre program. The production is meant for an adult audience.

The show centers on student-led performance and production of pieces by playwright Matt McLachlan. Students have spent the semester selecting works, casting them and developing the production, with LCCC theatre instructor Jason Pasqua stepping in to guide the process while leaving much of the decision-making in students’ hands.

Students in leading roles include:

• Bradley Hamilton of Cheyenne
• Grace Gomez of Green River
• Aspyn Moss of Riverton

 McLachlan, a playwright, and D.J. Zayas, a producer and director, both work in the performing arts in New York and have built an ongoing relationship with LCCC theatre students over several years. They will return to campus in early May to help bring the production to the stage while also collaborating with LCCC and UW theatre students in workshop-style sessions designed to let students test material, hear writing out loud and sharpen their instincts as performers and collaborators.

Those sessions will give students a chance to work across institutions and learn in multiple ways at once –  from peers on another campus, from a playwright developing work in real time and from a theatre professional bringing recent high-level industry experience into the room. Zayas recently served as script supervisor for a stage adaptation of “Dog Day Afternoon,” and Pasqua said experiences like that help students understand what professional expectations in theatre really look like.

The production is expected to feature about a dozen short pieces, including monologues and 10-minute plays. Together, they will offer audiences a varied evening of storytelling, moving between comedy, seriousness and the unexpected.

That variety is part of what makes McLachlan’s work so well suited to students, Pasqua said. Having students take ownership of the work from the beginning gives them experience that goes well beyond memorizing lines or performing a role, Pasqua said.

Experiences like this, Pasqua said, show exactly what students can gain in LCCC’s theatre program: serious artistic training, meaningful mentorship, strong creative partnerships and opportunities that challenge assumptions about what community college theatre can be.

“We are plugged into a network of theatre professionals in New York City, and that creates real opportunities for our students,” said Jason Pasqua, LCCC theatre instructor. “When students here are collaborating with working artists, building relationships and developing productions in a space like the Playhouse, it puts the lie to the idea that community college theatre is somehow lesser. Students can come here and do work that is serious, ambitious and absolutely competitive.”