Westmont Students Move with the Earth

Fitting for the weekend before Earth Day, the theme of Westmont’s Fringe Festival this year was “Earth in Motion,” inspired by Dino Ahmetovic’s quote: “Dance with me. The earth is spinning; we can’t just stand on it.” The idea behind this theme, according to Artistic Director Ciena Fitzgerald, is that it is a “call to action to celebrate progress without waiting for perfection and to find beauty in impermanence.” The plays, films, and poetry presented in the festival explore this idea.

Due to the focus on creative expression, many of the pieces in Fringe are more abstract. This year, that included Tell Us, a play written by Matt Thellathala and directed by Jake Siaki that shows planetary bodies moving around each other in an exploration of their relationships to each other; Opposable Thumbs, a play written by Emma Schillage and directed by Jordyn Clinton that tells the story of an opossum who wants to become human; and Homebound, a play written and directed by Claire Bassett and Simeon Michelson that explores the idea of someone being dropped into a different culture through the lens of aliens. 

In addition to those more abstract stories, this year featured multiple plays inspired by classic stories such as Icarus, Echo and Narcissus, and The Great Gatsby. Autumn Havlik and Jake Siaki wrote Dear Icarus to show Daedalus’s response to the death of his son, Icarus. Voices, written and directed by Claire Nemec (me!) retells the myth of Echo and Narcissus in a modern university setting with an all-female cast. Alaina Dean uses Miss Daisy Fay to tell The Great Gatsby from Daisy’s perspective. 

While Fringe is primarily short plays (about 10-15 minutes each), this year also included some longer senior projects: Hello World, Ford Sachsenmaier’s senior project written by Cat Filippov, which explores how we have been affected by our constant access to the internet; and So Much Better: a musical revue, Emily Derr’s senior project, which features a cast of eight actors and singers who sing songs from musicals like Wicked, Footloose, and Legally Blonde, among others.

Fringe is an annual, student-led event that allows students to showcase their creativity. Students can read their poetry for a live audience or create short films to be shown. For the theater component, plays are either written by Westmont students or by MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) playwrights, as part of the Hive program that pairs MFA playwrights with students in the Westmont Directing class to create original works. All work is student-directed, offering an opportunity to get experience writing and directing in a lower-pressure environment.

Behind the scenes, Fringe is also student-led, including the artistic director, assistant artistic director, production managers, and more. Theatre Arts faculty members are in roles such as production manager, artistic producer, and faculty mentor, but primarily support students in organizing and running the festival. Students also make up the majority of the actors, with the occasional inclusion of alumni or faculty. Many of the actors in Fringe have little to no acting experience, and auditions are intentionally low-key for that reason. The whole idea of Fringe is expressing creativity, so it is a place for anyone interested in participating.

Overall, Westmont’s 2024 Fringe Festival was a success and showcased the creativity and talent of the students at Westmont, especially those in the Theatre Arts Department. If you missed it this year, catch it next year in the spring.