“Grain and Ducks,” play produced in just 24 hours, called “fun” and “wholesome”
Sophomore Joshua Nikodym (left) and freshman Aubrey Burmeister (right) share a moment as the couple they’re playing in “Grain and Ducks.”
Photo credit: Mi-Ree Zwick
By Michaela Gibbs
A group of 19 Concordia students wrote, produced, and performed an original play in 24 hours, ending with a performance in Thom Auditorium at 6 p.m. on Feb. 8.
The play “Grain and Ducks” follows a young man, played by freshman Noah Taylor, who feels he does not deserve his promotion at work. It also deals with a young married couple, played by freshman Aubrey Burmeister and sophomore Joshua Nikodym, who struggle with confidence in their relationship. In the end, the characters overcome their doubts and mend their relationships.
Senior Caleb Jalas was one of the main writers for the show. He said the goal was to create a light-hearted comedy that also addressed serious emotional struggles. He and the writing team chose imposter syndrome as the issue to explore, and the story grew from there.
The 24-hour process began with writing, followed by an initial run-through with the actors, memorization, and finishing touches.
Sophomore Claire Horacek directed the play once the writers completed the script.
“They wrote it in about maybe five hours, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., at which point I came in and they were still frantically finishing it,” she said.
The casting process was done without auditions. Actors signed up a week prior to the event and were asked how large of a role they would be comfortable with. Horacek and the writing team used that information to select actors for each character.
Freshman Melissa Oblinger was one of about two dozen audience members who watched the performance on Feb. 8. She said the show was “very wholesome and showed a lot about working together to make a relationship work well.”
Oblinger also said she enjoyed freshman Chipper Banks’ performance because he brought a lot of “fun energy and unique personality” to the show.
