First-time director Molly Clark and Tom LeCourt.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
\WESTFIELD — The Westfield Theatre Group will be presenting “Winter Lights: 10 plays, 5 visions,” a night of 10, 10-minute plays on Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13, at the Westfield Woman’s Club at 28 Court St.
Five different directors will each be doing two plays. The directors are all women, three of whom are directing for the first time, including a 15-year-old sophomore from Pioneer Valley Performing Arts.
LeCourt, who has directed several plays for the Westfield Theatre Group, including last fall’s “Birthday Candles,” “Steel Magnolias” and “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” among others, will serve as mentoring director to answer questions and provide guidance.
“It’s a great opportunity for first-time directors to get their feet wet — low commitment, enough to give them a feel for what it’s like to direct and have it come to life,” he said.
LeCourt is wearing a couple of different hats for the production. He is on the reading committee, which selected the plays and is producing “Winter Lights.”
“To select the plays, we got a published collection of plays — ‘The Best 10-minute Plays of 2022.’ This collection included 51 plays, and a group of three of us read them all. We ranked them and came up with a scoring system — characters, plot, did we like it.” He said they came up with a list of 20 plays, then got a group of people together to read them out loud to hear them, and get reactions from people.
”We did a table read of 20 plays. From that we selected the 10 we ultimately decided to produce,” he said.
LeCourt is also acting in the production. The plays have a wide range of themes. He said they weren’t necessarily trying to find holiday-themed ones, however, three of them are.
“Even with the others, we’re trying to incorporate elements. Not necessarily intended to be that,” he said.
Kelly Galanis, a first-time director and member, producer and actor at WTG, was practicing her cast in “Santa’s Dolphins” by Patrick Gabridge earlier in the week. She will also be directing “Choices” by James McLindon about a recent college graduate who is drowning in debt meeting with a debt counselor.
“It’s really fun. I was lucky to get two awesome shows,” Galanis said.
“Santa’s Dolphins” by Patrick Gabridge opens with reindeers Blitzen and Prancer on a beach, having been replaced by the dolphins Spouty and Leaper to lead Santa’s boat due to global warning, and who they now have to navigate. Both friction and connection between them ensues.
Prancer (Tara Robinson) has an attitude about being displaced, and spars with Leaper (Nancy Wright). “You did not just call me a fish!”, while Blitzen and Spouty find common ground.
Molly Clark, the theater student from PVPA, is also enjoying her first time as director. “It’s really exciting. The process has been really fun to work with the whole cast. We’re getting in a good place for the show.”
Clark, who is from Southwick, said she is usually acting, singing and dancing on stage, and has appeared in WTG’s productions of “The Big Fish,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Holiday Inn,” among others.
In “Winter Light,” she will be directing “Got a Light?” by Jean Koppen, a modern take on the story of “Joan of Arc,” and “The Santa Thing” by Greg Lam, about a young woman who brings a girlfriend home to meet her parents, who are surprised to discover she still believes in Santa.
Also directing for the first time is Krista Tetrault with “Gift of Da Maggies” by Franky D. Gonzalez, a different take on the O’Henry story with two prisoners, and “Offboarding” by Peter Dakutis, about an employee’s exit interview that doesn’t go so well.
The directors also include Anin Derouin with “The Big Picture” by Mark Harvey Levine that has the biggest cast in the show at six, about different colors of crayons being whisked away by a young girl drawing a picture; and “Parent Teacher Interviews” by Lindsey Brown, about a teacher at a boarding school who flips the script on parents.
“We have a couple of teachers in the play who said it was post-traumatic for some of them. It’s a funny script,” said LeCourt, who plays Barry Wilson in “Parent Teacher Interview.”
Rounding out the directing team is Meaghan Farrell with “When I Fall in Love, it will be…” a play by Susan Middaugh about two strangers who meet on a bench outside of an Alzheimer’s facility where their spouses are patients, and “Annnd Scene (of the Crime)” by John Busser, about two cops interviewing a member of an improvisational comedy team.
“Ten plays, 10 minutes each. Each act will run approximately an hour. We think it’s a full night of theatre,” LeCourt said.
“Winter Lights” runs Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission, $18 for students, military and seniors, and $25 for Star seats, are available online for a small fee at westfieldtheatregroup.org, or at the door.
