On Thursday, Nov. 16, the UOG Fine Arts Theater presented the student-directed showcase “Cracks.”

The one-acts had a total of five showings which ran all the way until Sunday, Nov. 19. Each act ran for about 15 minutes and featured both UOG student actors as well as actors from the local community.   

“Cracks” featured nine different short plays and was used as a tool develop the skills of the students taking the TH308 Directing course.

“I’m very happy with the final result,” Anna Prelosky, a Theatre major, stated.

Prelosky directed the act “A Bad Idea.” The act is an original piece written by CJ Ochoco and revolved around two best friends confessing their love for each other on the boy’s wedding day.

Prelosky mentioned that the movie “Love, Rosie” was her biggest influence for her vision of this act and she already had the two perfect actors in mind.

“I went into this process timid and scared to make decisions of my own and came out an actual director,” she said.

For Michaela Pangelinan, who is new to the world of acting, her experience with “Cracks” almost did not happen.

“At first, I told myself that because of my hectic school schedule, it was [going to be] a  no for me,” she said.

Pangelinan eventually ended up changing her mind and took on the role of Julianne Anderson in “The Weighting Room.”

She said that adjusting to her role as a woman in purgatory was difficult at first.

   “At times I found it challenging putting myself in [Julianne’s] emotional state,” she said.

   “I realized that even though something seems impossible to do or overcome, with the proper support, mindset and dedication, you will power through.”

Another UOG Theatre major, Hannah Elmore, played the leading role of Miss Julie in the first act of the same name and directed the fifth act entitled “The Proposal.”

“I was super excited to be directing,” Elmore said.  “I’ve directed before but it had been a while directing for the stage so it was nice to be doing that again.”