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The Hoosier Short-Play Showcase

Theater of the People, Bloomington's inclusive theater company, has taken on a new challenge.

The group's co-founder David Nosko says that the company is always looking for new niche audiences. "There a place for short pieces and a place for long pieces, but right now there is no group that's looking for ten minute plays with no required theme. So we decided to solicit entries, select them, workshop them and produce them in showcase."

Not having a theme means the plays are quite varied. "We're very pleased with the works. The eight plays are all very different. There are some dramatic moments, a few scary ones and quite a few funny ones. "

High Ambitions For Theater Of The People

Nosko has even greater ideas for these pieces. "Theater of the People wants to be the organization that will then send these plays out to other theaters around the country. We've been researching the venues; we think we can contribute to putting Bloomington on the theatrical map. "

One of the selections for the showcase is IU student Eric Van Gucht's Rights of Passage, directed by IU student and current library staff member Jeff Craft. This is Craft's first show for Theater of the People. He says he has particularly liked the the group's inclusive process. "I've really enjoyed working with people who are new to me and even new to acting. I don't know what they can do, and they don't know themselves."

"I like the kind of theater that starts people thinking, and then talking. Rights of Passage is kind of a morality play about standing up to peer pressure. The story involves college students and alcohol, but the basic issue of peer pressure is a universal one. "

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