From the moment I first began directing—short scenes in the Directing I class offered at my college—I have been looking forward to directing a one-act, a privilege afforded to those who move forward into Directing II. Towards the end of term one, it became all I thought about: which play I would do, whom I would cast in it, what my set would look like. I was delightfully anticipating beginning.

At the first class we received the criteria from which to select our plays. Basically, they had to be a one-acts, 15-30 minutes long, with no more than three important characters, most of which should be women (we have a male deficit in EC’s theatre program). For a while, I was stuck in the Irish Renaissance. I really wanted to do something by Synge, Yeats, or Lady Gregory. After that proved unsuccessful, I moved to Tennessee Williams. I found a play that I thought would be successful, but it didn’t speak to me, so I took to the internet. There, by chance or fate, I found “Smitten,” by Anna Stillaman and Mark Matthews.

“Smitten” is a black comedy about two unlikely soulmates who find each other. I’m not going to spoil the plot for you, but I will say that it is surprisingly beautiful.

Needless to say, I fell in love. All that was left (aside from designing the set, working out my special lights, sounds, blocking, props, costumes, etc) was to find my cast. Auditions were great. I had a lot of options for my Nichola, and we had just enough guys all together for all of our plays. After playing a lot of memory match up, I found my perfect cast.

And boy, were they ever perfect. My Peter and Nichola had great chemistry and worked well together. My Gary had a powerful voice that suited the character. They worked hard to get their accents down and to find the rhythms and intentions of their characters. It was a privilege to be involved. They did so well with their characters that someone commented that she continually forgot that they weren’t their characters. (I chose my Peter and Nichola partially because they are both brazenly unique. For someone who knows them well to be drawn into the illusion that they are their characters shows how much work they put in to the show and how good they are.)

They are all also lovely people. At the cast party before our final show, they gave me a beautiful pen engraved with the show name and year. If I was a crier, I would have cried quite a lot at that.

Overall, the production was a success. I could not be more proud of my actors or happier that I got to be their director. It was one of my best experiences at Elmira College and I will always treasure it. Even though I cannot put it in a box or a jar, it will always be perfect.