By Audrey Wade, junior

Nearly every seat in the house was taken 20 minutes before the plays began. The heat built, and audience members began to look restless as they waited for the lights to dim and the Directing Showcase to begin.

On April 17 and 18 the directing class at Friends University put on wonderful shows with student actors, directors, stagehands and production staff. The audience was clearly eager to see the students' month-worth of work, and with three performances each night, it appeared that none was disappointed.

Kara Young opened the Directing Showcase the first night with "In the Beginning," a comedy about Adam and Eve. It was not quite the traditional version, but it still captured the basics of the story with the receiving of knowledge as the point it all revolved around.

A freshly made Adam wanders around appearing as a simpleton -- not fully understanding questions, eating chalk and being excited by the thought that he was just asked his very first question. Eve walks in, almost as simple until the Serpent serves her an appletini.

With that first drink knowledge is gained. Without realizing it, the characters and audience are playing by the Devil’s hands when Adam also gains knowledge near the end of the one-act just as Eve is taking a liking to him.

Just after the drinks and the rest of the stage were cleared, Daniel Walther announced his play, "The Wolves." As the lights came up, the infectious song “Mmmbop” by Hanson started playing, setting the scene in the '90s.

Though the play had its comic times, a large piece of it solemnly worked on bringing across the metaphor of The Wolves, since there were literally none in the play. Though several statements were heard in the audience of “I don’t think I understood that,” it still managed to bring the main point through as neighboring audience members answered their friends.

The first evening ended with a second play about Adam and Eve, "The Diary of Adam and Eve," directed by Cameron White. Another comedy to help lighten the mood again, yet drastically different from the first, it helped convey the differences between the Adams and Eves of the world.

Separate points of view were shown throughout the piece, as though written diaries were spoken back and forth between the two main characters, with a small appearance by the Snake tempting Eve into eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This play differed from the earlier version of the same story by playing through the gaining of knowledge until after Cain and Abel are both born.

The second night highlighted three female directors. Opening with "He Said and She Said," Tiffany Becerra directed four actors in a gossip-filled piece.

Laughter rolled through the audience with the reality of the performance. One character spun rumors to the others and directly denied the very words she said. Another quickly spun a lie to change the rumors and confirmed and denied the claims she made, appearing to confuse both the audience and her fellow characters.

"The Ever After: A Musical," with Natalie Swanner directing, was the first of its kind to join the Directing Showcase. With a cast more than doubling the other performances, actors pulled off characters with gusto.

The “Beauty Impaired” stepsisters of Cinderella performed the first musical number of the same name, introducing the characters portrayed by Chaz Coberly and Alex Engelland. Though they were joined by many other gifted and talented performers the sashaying hips, baritone voices and flailing arms took over the stage.

The last performance of the Showcase was directed by Jenny Hunt. "A Sunny Morning" took place in Spain and brought comedy and sweet reminiscence through two elderly and slightly senile characters.

Though both knew the other, each thought they were fooling the opposite. And the back and forth of the lines spoken but unheard by the other characters nearly confused but eventually clarified points between two stories being told.

Together the performances from both nights were carried off excellently by all of those involved. The slight hitch  was when the head of the “Prince Wake-Me-Up” doll fell off and flung across the stage. Yet even with such a moment, none of the actors lost character.