The Misfits
Writer: Sarah Bush, Sara Layon, Jobert Adan
Producers: Micaela Asercion and Ejay Asuncion
Director: Jobert Adan
Type: Passion Project
With Energy…
From May of 2013 to March 2014 I dedicated 70% of my time to writing, directing and participating in a play that was not for a grade or a class. The kicker was that I had never written a play or even directed one. Starting at the end of the school year in May 2013, myself and 2 friends worked tirelessly for 4 months scripting out a 3 act play over Google hangouts and text messages. The play was for an annual culture night for Loyola Marymount University’s Filipino club.
By mid-August we finished the first draft. School took the place of summer and writing time, but by December we had a completed script. We held auditions and casted the play before we went off for winter break. It was during this time that I energetically rose to the occasion and volunteered to direct the play.
With Creativity…
Practices and run-throughs started as soon as school was back in session. I personally come from a video centric state of mind where I can meticulously change, edit and reshoot things. For the play, I had to quickly learn the limitations of a stage, the POV of the audience and how to manage and relate to 12 actors and 40 dancers. Every scene needed prop placement, every character needed a specific voice and persona, and most of this had to come out of my mind.
With Versatility…
Since this was an independent, student run and student funded play, many of the roles that would be divided out fell upon myself and 2 other people. Other than managing actors on stage, I also took on the role of sound and light direction. I collected sounds and music into a playlist and wrote lighting direction for scenes that had to be simple enough to learn in 1 day. The day of the play I took on the final role as a backstage manager/prop director. The 8 month long passion project was a 3-hour event and was attended by around 500 students, friends and family.