Simpson College will be hosting its 19th annual Festival of Short Plays. It will be held at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Barnum Studio Theater.

Mollie Hinkle, a history and philosophy major, and Spencer Davis, a theater arts and social justice studies major will be a part of this year’s plays. 

“The Festival of Short Plays is the Theater Arts Capstone final project, in which the members of the class, usually seniors and occasionally juniors, take on the roles of the directors, designers and stage managers,” Davis said. “The Festival of Short Plays is made of short plays that were chosen by the class in the fall before our class in the spring.”

The showtimes will be Thursday, April 21 from 7:30-9:30 p.m., April 22 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. and April 23 from 5-7 p.m. 

“This year’s theme is ‘Reflections of Chekov: A Contemporary Take.’ We’re focusing a lot on contrast,” Hinkle said. “Characters, the environments, costumes and even the playwrights themselves contrast with each other in various ways.”

There are three plays this year: “The Proposal” by Anton Chekov, “Eve of the Trial” by Samm-Art Williams and “The Talking Dog” by John Guare.

Davis will take on the role of production stage manager.

“…I record and oversee everything that happens during the production of the shows. Each show has their own stage manager, but they all report to me with their rehearsal reports so I am in the loop of all three at once,” Davis said. “Once we enter tech week, I gain more control of the performance by calling the cues for any lighting or sound that are added.” 

Hinkle who will be playing “female” in “The Talking Dog” said she is excited for this to be her first production at Simpson.

“I’m excited to get to perform for the first time in three years,” Hinkle said. “I’m also excited to see what audiences think of ‘The Talking Dog’ since it utilizes subtext and contains a deeper, underlying meaning.”

Davis is excited to get to watch all the hard work that has been put into the three plays.

“What I think I’m most excited about is just being able to experience all the work done by the students. To watch these three shows and see the last four years being put into these shows and get a glimpse of what we as artists can do after college,” he said.

There will be a total of 27 students participating in this year’s Festival of Short Plays.