Each year, Staples Players does a range of shows, from the heartbreaking romance to slapstick comedy to bone-chilling drama: they cover it all.

In the spring, the one-act play festival will add to this range, each play creating a unique ambiance and character. Actors are just now going through the auditions, call-backs, and will soon start embarking on the journey of student-directed show splendor.

Out of the thirteen one-acts, some will be comedy, such as “Airport Hell” and “Family 2.0,” a few will be dramas like “Letters from Quebec to Providence in the Rain,” and some are a charming combination of a few genres like the dark comedy, “Sorry,” or various romantic stories.

Although not as large a production as the major musicals, these one-acts are similar, as Caroline Didelot ‘16, a student auditioning, said, “It’s pretty much like working with Mr. Roth, it’s just there is less time, and we aren’t putting on a two hour show.”

There are certainly a few tweaks though.

As Didelot said, there are fewer practices and each play is a shorter duration because each one-act is simply one scene with only a handful of characters.

Also setting it apart from major productions is the fact that these are student-run and student-produced. Isabel Perry ‘15 discussed how active directors are in the process. Way before rehearsals start “directors are working on dissecting their scripts to decide beat changes, stakes, objectives, and general blocking,” she said.

Many directors are taking the Theatre 3: Directing class, making these plays part of theirlearning, plus a new experience. For most, it is their first time in this position: a hefty task for a student new to the world behind the curtains.

While the directors have much more than the stress of the stage, Julia Mandelbaum ‘16 recognizes the benefits of student-run, saying, “It’s a really comfortable environment. You work closely with the student-directors to develop characters and you get to play around a little more.”