Tools of the Trade
By Alex Wen
Dec. 3, 2003 9:00 p.m.
The curtains are once again set to open on the annual Francis
Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon at UCLA. Named after UCLA alum and
world-renowned film director Francis Ford Coppola, the pioneering
program, now in its sixth successful year, is unique in that it
seeks to pair UCLA graduate film directors with their playwriting
counterparts from the theater department.
Add some of the best actors UCLA has to offer, and the result,
as previous years have shown, has been simply stunning theater.
Expect an eclectic and entertaining mix of creative energies
intermingling explosively on stage. Coppola, a theater
student-turned-filmmaker, would be proud.
The program traditionally culminates in the free public
presentation of a series of carefully crafted original one-act
plays, which this year will be performed from Dec. 3 to Dec. 6 at
Macgowan 1340.
“The Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon is an amazing
opportunity to see four brand new plays in the span of four days
that are written, directed and performed by UCLA students,”
said Eli Kaufman, a third-year graduate student in film directing
and director of one of this year’s entries,
“Comfort,” written by second-year playwriting graduate
student William Mittler. “”˜Comfort’ is a very
current story about a woman’s struggle to deal with the
destruction of her native San Francisco after a terrorist
attack.”
The play features lead actress Meredith Hines playing Diane, a
woman who locks herself in a hotel room and watches continuous news
coverage of the unfolding tragedy as she struggles to come to terms
with the destruction of all she has known and loved. In the
process, she comes face to face with the question and logic of her
very identity, as well as the true nature of her greatest fear.
“Directing a Coppola one-act is the most rewarding
challenge I’ve had at UCLA,” said Kaufman. “I
feel very fortunate to have worked with UCLA playwright Bill
Mittler.”
Elaborating on his first experience working with a theater-based
writer, Kaufman praised Mittler for his constant feedback, trust
and support offered during the rehearsal process. “It is
very important to me that my vision of the play honors his original
voice,” said Kaufman. “Hopefully our hard work will pay
off and the emotional truth we have sought to present resonates
with the audience.”
Kaufman’s fellow directors agree that the collaborative
spirit is all-important to the festival’s success.
“This is definitely a collaborative festival,” said Dan
Harris, a third-year film directing graduate student. “The
director and playwright work very closely to form what you will see
performed.”
Harris is the director of another of this year’s entries,
“Damage,” a one-act play penned by second-year
playwriting graduate student Jed Hayes.
Both Hayes and Harris are excited about their collaboration and
the debut of “Damage,” a play about two brothers and a
sister-in-law fighting over former lives and lost loves. The
dysfunctional trio struggle to understand their new, yet all too
permanent situation, as one of the brothers lies in a coma after a
failed suicide attempt.
“Jed Hayes has written an amazing story about two brothers
in love with the same woman,” said Harris. “One brother
attempts suicide, and ends up in a coma, and we enter his mind
““ to see his reminiscence, dreams, and trials as he hovers
between life and death.”
Another play featured this year also centers on a set of feuding
brothers. “Simmer Fish,” written by second-year
playwriting graduate student Daniel Keleher and directed by Thyrale
Thai, is a piece that transpires over the course of a single
evening, and whose action revolves around the everyday ritual of
meal preparation.
“It’s a very powerful story about two brothers
searching for a way to tell their stories, and to ultimately
apologize to each other, which is sometimes the hardest thing to
do,” said Thai, a third-year film directing graduate student.
“The play is about how memories of the past have affected the
direction of their lives, and about how memory affects the way we
see ourselves.”
Completing the lineup of plays offered this year is
“Monkey,” written by first-year playwriting graduate
student Matt Pelfrey and directed by third-year film directing
graduate student Erika Tasini. In tandem with the theme and
through-line of familial lives and love, filtered through memory
and time, which figures strongly in all four featured plays,
“Monkey” is about a young man who confronts his
eccentric, homeless father over a long forgotten promise.
“I enjoyed working on this play, because it portrays a
surreal, peculiar universe, but remains at its core very human and
emotional,” said Tasini. “(The story) revolves around
an ex-businessman, who chooses to live in an underpass under the
illusion of being a free, independent, new man. His son and his
wife visit him, reminding him of his past, of his unresolved bonds
to his family, and this ultimately leads him to question his
choice. The play poses questions with passion, humor, and of
course, there’s a monkey.”
Most of this year’s participants agree through unique
synergy between the school’s film and theater departments
made for a worthwhile experience and challenge. This year’s
program was helmed by film, television and digital media Professor
Gyula Gazdag, and theater Professor Jose Luis Valenzuela.
“Professor Valenzuela stressed the importance of finding a
strong spine that supported my approach to the material
““ in essence to understand why a story is important to me as
a director of film or theater,” said Kaufman, commenting on
the value of the learning experience.
“Directing a Coppola one-act really taught me the
importance of discovering a point of view, and staying true to that
intention.”
The Francis Ford Coppola One-Act Marathon is free and open
to the public. For more information, visit
www.tft.ucla.edu/coppola.
