Third Annual One Act Play Festival: Surprise

Surprise is one of our one act plays being produced in our upcoming One Act Play Festival! We reached out to some of the people who made this production possible to find out more about them and this exciting festival!

What about the One Act Festival are you the most excited about?

Stan Baranowski (Director): Directing at The Magnetic for the first time!

Blaine Weiss (Actor):  Celebrating an abundance of original, creative work.

Jessica Gift (Actor): I'm looking forward to seeing what characters the other performers have been able to craft in such a short rehearsal window.

Why is being a part of this project important to you?

Stan Baranowski (Director): I've been an actor for many years but at this point in my life I am interested in doing more directing, so I'm grateful for this opportunity to show what I can do as a director.

Jessica Gift (Actor): I love to work under pressure. There's something revitalizing about collaborating with few tools and a limited time frame. I have a soft spot for both sketch comedy and poetry, and the one act festival reminds me a bit of both. It asks: how can we present our points wholly and with great specification in as few words as possible? How do we make the framework we've been given into fully formed, dynamic performances with such little context and preparation?  How do we show a viewer the whole picture in just a single slice?

Do you feel that producing new work is important? Why?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): There is so much opportunity for collaboration when working on something so new. But also, there’s a lot of room for error and frustration too. That’s life, ain’t it? Theatre is so experiential and that’s the best way to learn- so I am a big advocate for it. Whenever a friend says “I think I want to create something” I’m always a champion of it.

Jessica Gift (Actor): How are we to hear new points of view if we accept those we have as having said all there is to say?

Stan Baranowski (Director): Yes, it's very important to produce new work so that deserving playwrights who are not yet established have a venue where their work can be seen and appreciated.

Tell us about the piece(s) you’re working on rehearsing for the One Act Play Festival!

Stan Baranowski (Director): I chose these three plays to direct: Surprise, a very funny play about a man whose limited psychic ability creates havoc with his relationships; Just Desserts, a darkly funny play about how to deal with coworkers who steal your food from the office break room; and The Audition, about an actor with a very specific, and unusual, set of skills.

Blaine Weiss (Actor): It’s absolute chaos, all about timing- our lines are completed by one another. I’m super excited for it.

What's your favorite thing about the piece(s) you're working on?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): I love the ending so much. It’s really tender and sweet and refreshing. It reminds me of school kids on the playground realizing they’ve met their best friend after some crazy four square went down or something.

Stan Baranowski (Director): Each of them is well-written and based on a clever idea for a play.

What have you loved so far about working with The Magnetic Theatre?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): Since moving to Asheville, I’ve hoped to be involved with Magnetic in some capacity. So I’m feeling really just happy to be here. There’s not much more to it than that- just happy and not wanting to take it for granted.

How did you get into theatre?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): I got detention in high school and my teacher was the head of the Drama Department. She told me I could make up for it by trying out for the improv team. I didn’t explore that love again until last summer, when I was cast in my first play- I couldn’t be more grateful for that, I gained another family with MPP.

Jessica Gift (Actor): My very first role was as Chicken Little when I was 5. I've been subjecting my friends and family to various shows and performances ever since.

What are your top 5 favorite things to do in Asheville?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): Eating breakfast at 5 Points, going to see live shows and plays, exploring new hiking spots, rock climbing, playing pickleball, trying to convince everyone that I know to play pickleball, going to work (I really like my job!), and just beep boppin around.

Do you have any upcoming projects we should check out?

Blaine Weiss (Actor): A short play I co-wrote is being produced by Calliope Stages in Sylva, NC called “Women of the Blue Smoke.”

Jessica Gift (Actor): I would love if folks could take the time to look into Bright Star Touring Theatre. We are a touring theatre that travels primarily to schools and libraries to perform educational theatre for young audiences. Our mission is to make arts experiences accessible for venues of all financial demographics and present young people with the opportunity to engage with live performance that complements what they're already learning in school. We travel all over the country performing original scripts focused on curriculum-based subjects like Literature, STEM, Bully Prevention, History, and more, with the goal of including information that may not have made it into standardized lesson plans.

The Magnetic Theatre’s Third Annual One Act Play Festival will be showing November 4-13, 2022! Find out more and grab your tickets here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=magn