Fragile X at NVCC Dec 8 & 9

Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas Campus, will be performing plays written by student playwrights including works written by Katy Helper and Kevin Kirby.  "Gas 'n Go" written by Katy Helper and "Fragile X" written by Kevin Kirby will be presented December 8 at 7:30 PM and again on December 9 at 1:30 PM.  Katy Helper's "Postage Due" will be performed December 9 at 7:30 PM and again on December 10 at 1:30 PM.

The drama program at the Manassas Campus of Northern Virginia Community College is ready to present eight original short works. Written and directed by students, the three-day festival will feature, among others, two award-winning plays and showcase three award-winning playwrights.
The festival is comprised of eight plays: six short works and two 10-minute one-act plays.
“These are some of the best works from the last few semesters,” said Kathryn O’Sullivan, producer and professor. “Audiences will be impressed not only by the quality of the plays themselves but also by how well the directors, actors, and designers bring these works to life.”
“Gas n Go,” written by Katy Helper and directed by Bob Martin, has received numerous regional productions. “Gas n Go” is one of the two 10-minute one-act plays that will be presented.
“ ‘Gas n Go’ is about seven people in a small town, gathering for a funeral,” said Helper, 36, of Centreville. “Feelings are hurt, memories are dredged up, revelations are made, apologies are offered, and in the end there is hope for everyone.”
Helper has just recently focused on writing. She has been involved in the Northern Virginia Theatre Alliance One-Act Festival for many years. The Fauquier Community Theater sponsored the play in a competition in Falls Church. Competing against nine other productions, “Gas n Go” took home Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, and Best Overall Production, as well as a Judge’s Discretionary Award for Best Ensemble.
After winning Best Overall Production, “Gas n Go” was propelled to the state level of competition where they took Best Ensemble and Best Original Script.
“I’ve been really lucky with this script; people seem to get a kick out of it and the actors seem to enjoy performing it. Since acting is the area in which I am the most comfortable, that was very important to me,” said Helper.
“Home Sweet Homeless,” written and directed by Dick Creps, 52, of Prince William County, is the other 10-minute one-act play.
According to Creps, “Home” tells the story of Michael, who becomes increasingly frustrated with his corporate job and lifestyle, so he decides to try begging on the street.
Creps found inspiration for this play when a friend told him about a guy he saw get onto a Metro.
“He and my friend got off at the same stop in D.C., where my friend saw him change into grubbier clothes from his duffel bag and take a spot on the street to beg. I used that as a foundation for exploring some philosophical issues about the complexities and stresses of modern life and how it can be useful to question the premises of that lifestyle,” said Creps.
Two of the short works, “Fragile X” and “Postage Due,” both won Manassas campus writing awards last spring. “Fragile X” was written by Kevin Kirby and directed by Darcy Lee.  “Postage Due” was written by Helper and directed by Mark Ormesher.
Four other short works will be presented at the NVCC festival: “Coming to Go,” written by Mary Beane and directed by John DeRosa; “Id, is it?” written and directed by Anne Frye; “Gamblers” written by Beane and directed by Jared Mehraban; and “Clouding Blue” written by Steve Haske and directed by Matt Trimm and Raj Sandhu.
“The two 10-minute plays are the first things I’ve ever written,” said Beane, 55, of Manassas.
Beane found inspiration for “Coming to Go” from her experiences in the Peace Corps, specifically in Liberia, West Africa.
The festival will run quickly from play to play. Sets are minimal in order to keep pace with lighting and sound by student designers provided by Brittany Honnoll and Mark Ormesher.
Students have experienced the process of writing a play in class and moving it into production, according to O’Sullivan.
The class is set up in a way that students first learn to write a 10-minute play then progress into beginning a screenplay. The next level class offers students a chance to complete the screenplay they began in the introductory course or work on new one-act plays. The students bring in their work and the script is read aloud. Once completed, students and O’Sullivan provide feedback and suggestions to the playwright.
“It’s a great way to gauge where a script is going before it’s too far along to ‘fix.’ The things that an author doesn’t pick up on are caught in class so that they can be addressed or altered - everything from characterization, to timing, to technical issues,” said Helper.
As well as directing, writing and designing, students are honing their acting skills.
Nicole Underwood, 22, of Haymarket has a role in four of the eight plays. She can be spotted in two of the short works and in both of the one-act plays.
“All of these plays have been great for my acting career and have been an amazing learning experience. Mrs. O’Sullivan is such an amazing teacher, mentor and friend. She always makes great suggestions.”
Staff writer Brian Kuhta can be reached at (703) 369-6570.

The shows will be performed Friday, December 8 through Sunday, December 10.  They will be in two "groupings" with each grouping of plays getting two performances.  Each grouping will consist of three ten minute plays and one one-act.  Here's the information...

Friday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 PM and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1:30 PM:

"Fragile X" written by Kevin Kirby, directed by Darcy Lee

"Coming to Go" written by Mary Beane, directed by John De Rosa

"Id, is it?" written and directed by Anne Frye

"Gas 'n Go" written by Katy Helper, directed by Bob Martin, assistant directed by Emanuel Bates

Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1:30 PM:

"Gamblers" written by Mary Beane, directed by Jared Mehraban

"Clouding Blue" written by Steve Haske, directed by Matt Trimm, assistant directed by Raj Sandhu

"Postage Due" written by Katy Helper, directed by Mark Ormesher

"Home Sweet Homeless" written and directed by Dick Creps

For information contact Kathryn O'Sullivan [kosullivan@nvcc.edu]