Lights go up at C of C

Conventional theater wisdom will tell you that the best way to do good work is to produce it yourself. Theater students at the College of Charleston are doing one better: They're writing it, too.

The result is "Under the Lights," an evening of 10, 10-minute plays written by College of Charleston students and being performed at the college's Chapel Theatre during Piccolo Spoleto.

Far from being a vanity project, the event is a vital step in the lives of these developing playwrights.

"A play isn't a play until it's done," said Todd McNerney, chairman of the College of Charleston drama department. "On a page, it's a script, but it's not meant to be just read, it's meant to be seen and heard. It's really important, particularly for young playwrights, to be able to see and hear their words in a living, breathing environment."

"Under the Lights" is part of Piccolo's "Stelle di Domani" series. The series, which means "stars of tomorrow," is in its fifth year, but "Under the Lights" is a lot older than that in some ways.

"Playwriting has always gone on here," said McNerney, who credits retired playwriting professor Franklin Ashley with keeping the discipline vibrant. "About 12 years ago, some of our students wanted to present their work. They did it once and, like just about everything in Charleston, if it's done once it becomes a tradition that's gone on forever."

Twelve years on, "Under the Lights" remains an entirely student-produced event. This year, McNerney asked students Matthew Giedraitis and Sam McCalla to co-direct the evening. Together they whittled the play submissions down to 10 and crafted them into a cohesive evening of theater.

Lauren Krass, a rising senior whose play, "Addiction to Donuts and Jerks," was included in the evening, expressed disbelief at her good fortune. "I wrote a play for playwriting class, then it won an award and now it's in Piccolo Spoleto! I didn't know when I signed up for playwriting that this could happen. It's equally exciting as it is terrifying."

It's not uncommon for students involved in "Under the Lights" to wear multiple artistic hats. Two of the 2010 playwrights, rising seniors Emily McKay and Matthew Rickerby, also are acting in "Under the Lights."

"We get the best of both worlds," said McKay.

"It's a good opportunity to decide what I want to do," Rickerby said, "because within 10 minutes I get to see if the audience is responding better to me as an actor or as a writer."

Giedraitis, a newly minted graduate, is in his third year with "Under the Lights." He has been involved as an actor in the past as

well as a playwright. The experience seems to have paid off. This year, his short play, "The Limo," was selected as a regional semifinalist in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Giving theater students a chance to see their work performed is not only a teaching tool, it's part of keeping new work flowing into an artistic community. Anna Ritter, a recent graduate who is in "Under the Lights" for the second time as a playwright, sees the event beyond its benefit to her own work.

"This really is a different animal than all the other theater in Charleston," she said. "It's fresh new work, and we're all fresh off studying how to direct and act. I think it's really good for Charleston to get that."

Lucky for Charleston, the number of students interested in writing seems to be growing. This year saw more submissions for "Under the Lights" than any year so far, according to Giedraitis.

McNerney sees this growing enthusiasm as the drama department's biggest victory of all. "I think we do our job as an institution best when we kindle an interest in somebody that they didn't know they had," he said.

Gemma Wilson is a Goldring Arts Journalism writer. Reach her at gswilson@syr.edu.