Nov. 30, 2006

MC student writes play

Jessie Schmac
Schmacj@marietta.edu

Two weeks ago, senior theatre major Jason E. Weber was offered a unique opportunity for a Marietta College student. He was given the chance to perform a public reading of his play “Sunny Days and Rain.” The play, written by Weber himself, was read by four Marietta College actors for a public audience of all that wanted to attend.

“Sunny Days and Rain” is a play about “two friends who grow up and grow apart in high school,” says Weber, “it illustrates how they deal with the loss of their friendship.” Weber originally wrote the play for one of his scriptwriting classes and now plans to submit it as a writing sample for his graduate school application.

“I really enjoy playwriting, and I wanted to come up with something that was honest and that people could relate to,” explains Weber. He feels that his play depicts a stage in life that nearly everyone has gone through. “By hearing it read, people could identify with the characters and take something away with them from the performance.”

The purpose of the public reading was mostly to help Jason with the play. “Hearing it and exposing it to audiences allowed me to gain useful feedback, which was very helpful in making my revisions,” says Weber. Weber is already halfway through the revisions on his second draft since the reading.

Sophomore Laura Horn, junior Nick Aylward, senior Nick Gehlfuss and senior Liz Allard are the four student actors who read the play. Weber picked these student actors because he knew them to be talented individuals who were good at “cold readings.” Weber felt “they were best suited for these roles, and I was very pleased at how they did.”

Allard enjoyed reading Weber’s play. “I thought the play was actually very good,” she remarks, “the characters felt real and depicted what actually did happen in high school.” Allard was happy to talk and offer ideas and suggestions to Weber after the reading.

Weber was very grateful to the college for the opportunity. “It was an exciting opportunity and I am thankful to the college for being so flexible and accommodating to students,” says Weber. “Chances like that are just not offered at larger institutes, and it just goes to show the type of program we have here at Marietta College.”

Weber is also working on another play tentatively entitled “Friends and Acquaintances.” The play examines “trust in friendships and whether or not we can trust those we call friends.” says Weber. He is already into writing the first draft and plans to work on it extensively over winter break.