Innovating the Stage: How students bring original works to life
Driven by passion and creativity, students are writing and directing their own shows, offering fresh takes on theater for modern audiences.
Cameron Nye, Contributing Photographer
Writing and directing one’s own show is a daunting task. Full of unseen hurdles and logistical nightmares, these productions are not for the unprepared. Yet every year, select students take on the challenge, resulting in impressive displays of student creativity and ingenuity.
For the students who do decide to embark on this journey, the payoff is immeasurable.
The Passion Behind the Pen
Emma Ventresca ’26 is one of the writers and directors of the original musical “Laid Off.” Teaming up with her brother, she has written quite a few original shows.
“We weren’t satisfied with what Broadway was putting out, what mainstream theater culture was,” she explained.
With this in mind, the two set off to write a show that would resonate with ardent theatergoers and novices alike.
Ventresca went on to describe her main qualms with today’s productions, citing a prioritization of “dark artistry” over “pure joy.”
She voiced her frustrations with productions that overcomplicate story structures for the sake of art. She believes that theater should not sacrifice entertainment for a misplaced devotion to artistry.
Musicals need to maintain a balance of lightheartedness while exploring deeper themes of love and adversity.
“It should be something that everyone can enjoy,” Ventresca says.
These feelings resulted in “Laid Off,” a musical rom-com set during the 2008 financial crisis. Bobby Tuna, an unrefined and ambitious laborer, falls in love with the fiercely independent ballet dancer, Dallas. The show builds with “tightly knit friendships, shared financial hardships and comedic antics,” truly exploring what it means to be in love.
The Ventrescas have been crafting these characters for years now. They hope their shows will be produced regionally, fulfilling their aspiration to make their mark on theater culture.
Unveiling the Process
Writing an original show is incredibly time-consuming. For most playwrights, these projects start out as small ideas. It can take months, or even years until the series of rewrites, reworkings and changes are done.
This was the case with Anaiis Rios-Kasoga’s ’25 show “Honesty Hour.”
Rios-Kasoga’s journey as a playwright started with an assignment for her English class the summer after her sophomore year — she had to write a dialogue without quotation marks.
After submitting it, she realized she liked the dialogue so much that she started to flesh it out. It got her thinking about “friendship and what it means to be honest,” she said. “Honesty Hour” was born.
The play centers around two women who have weekly, crude conversations where they can say anything they need to. For one hour a week, these women can be their “worst, most horrific, unfiltered selves,” she said.
Rios-Kasoga went through countless rewrites — “lots and lots of drafts.”
After receiving notes from some friends and leading a table read, she sat down to do one final rewrite last summer.
The meticulous editing and revising are due to pay off. “Honesty Hour” promises to help audiences explore what it really means to be truthful.
“A lot of people don’t allow themselves that, and I wish they would, because I think we’d probably be better off for it,” she said.
The University’s Role
One place where aspiring directors may find reprieve is in support from the University.
Zeph Siebler ’26, writer and music director of “Magpie’s Song,” is grateful for all the resources that come with being a student director.
“Magpie’s Song” is a retelling of three distinct Chinese folk tales: River of Stars, 10 Suns and A Festival in Conflagration. Unfolding separately, they weave amongst each other, exposing audiences to a mythos they may be unfamiliar with.
Yale has many great resources, Siebler believes, with CPA grants being the most valuable.
CPA grants, or Creative Performing Arts grants, are given out by residential colleges to encourage students to partake in different artistic projects. These can range from short films to art installations to traditional theatrical performances.
Another invaluable source for Siebler is the Yale faculty.
Through different composition and musical theater classes, Siebler has been able to workshop aspects of his show under the guidance of his professors.
“[I’m] so lucky to have that experience, and all the tools they give me,” Sieber said, mentioning Professors Joshua Rosenblum and Jeanine Tesori as the faculty who have helped him most on this journey.
However, what Siebler is most thankful for in this process is his production team.
Assembling a production team can be just as difficult as casting. Luckily, Yale fosters a theater community full of individuals ready to take on the challenge.
Siebler raved about his entire production team, commending their dedication and individual brilliance.
“It just feels like a real community of friends and people who would come together anyway, for their love of theater,” he said.
An Actor’s Perspective
Acting in an original production can be as nerve-wracking as physically writing the show. With no previous performances to take inspiration from, actors are left with the daunting task of finding these characters for the first time.
Actors embrace the challenge as an opportunity to better their craft. Brynne Aidlin-Perlman ’25 has been acting in original shows since her first year.
“I think it’s cool when you get to put your own little creative spin on the student written shows,” she said. “It’s great working with the director to bring something to life that has never been staged before.”
Since her first year, Aidlin-Perlman has always been impressed with the quality of writing these scripts offer.
Student written and directed shows are labors of love. Whether it’s exploring complex emotions or retelling folk tales, their efforts highlight the creativity and drive of young playwrights. These productions not only foster artistic expression but also contribute to the evolving narrative of modern theater.
Founded in 1924, the David Geffen School of Drama is the oldest professional school dedicated to drama in the Ivy League.