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Highlighting Student One Act Plays: Boys and Girls Sit The Same

Elmira, NY (04/23/2020) — Each theatre season Elmira College highlights student directed one-act plays in which students direct a fully-produced short play. Each student is responsible for their choice of play, casting, and both technical and performance preparation.

This year, since classes were moved online before the scheduled performances, the project became a "paper project." As part of their paper project, the three student directors each submitted written director's notes and were asked to create a short video about what they would have brought to the stage.

This week the spotlight is on Julissa Garcia '21 and her adaptation of Boys and Girls Sit The Same by Camron Dawson.

In Dawson's play, several societal norms are addressed that many may view as "strange" or "unconventional" in a comedic manner. Garcia shares her inspiration in the director's notes below and in her video project posted online.

"When I first encountered Boys and Girls Sit The Same I was on a long journey to find the first-ever show that I would direct," said Garcia. "I had educated myself on nearly 30 new plays before I came across this one. When I did, I first had to watch it, not read it, because there was no script out, the first production was purely improvisational, which is a very cool artistic concept."

"I was drawn to its comedic expression and my initial thought was that it reminded me of the breastfeeding of your child in public debate. This is a weird analogy I know but bear with me because it's a perfect example of something that shouldn't be seen as weird in the eyes of the public (in my opinion) but yet still is. Why is it weird for women to embrace and be proud of one of the many things their body was made to do. The fact that a person can feed their child this way is incredible, why forshame it? It's normal and the play addresses many issues with this inspirational attitude not specifically with breastfeeding but it does address other bodily functions and dilemmas. I remember how we viewed these topics in middle school as gross and being ignored and ridiculed and how uncommon it is for one to strut around as their natural selves. Everyone can take away from this show because it doesn't seem like growing up and becoming college students or becoming adults has changed some middle school brain views."

"When casting for this show I not only opened my eyes to look at the theatre majors right in front of me, but expanded my horizons and set out on an endeavor to find people with a theatrical personality. Luckily, I was blessed with the perfect people for my vision. I understand that it is pretty hard to sway an entire community into a new way of thinking but, it's a start. If anyone knows me personally, they know I greatly enjoy theatre that tries to make a change. The great thing about theatre is that the maximum capacity of our black box theatre is estimated to be 120 and each of those 120 people can leave today with a different interpretation of what they saw. I can only hope that this show turns out to mean to you as much as it means to us and that you take away a message of your own."

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