Five solo plays will be premiered November 15-17 as the University of SC theatre program presents Plans for Freedom: Do Not Fold, a showcase of original works created and performed by graduate-level acting students.

Show times are: 7pm, November 15; 7pm and 10pm, November 16; and, 3pm, November 17.  Admission is $5, with tickets available only at the door.  The Center for Performance Experiment is located at 718 Devine St., between Huger and Gadsden Streets, near the Colonial Life Arena.  Patrons are advised to arrive early, as seating is limited.

UofSC Master of Fine Arts in Acting students undergo a three-year training program, with the first two years spent in intensive study and practice at the university, and the third year spent on professional internship.  These solo works are developed in class during the students’ second year, and serve as a basis for their thesis.

MFA acting candidate Tim Giles says the works in this showcase span a wide range of themes, tackling concepts as diverse as identity, feminism, love, loss, the value of pain, and price of our choices.

“They all, in their own way, ask what is possible,” says Giles.  “What’s possible in our lives, in our world, and in the theatre itself?”

Lasting approximately fifteen minutes each, these short solo works focus intently on creating an intimate and immediate connection between actor and audience.

“Each of these works makes a conscious decision to return theatre to its most direct and intimate forms,” Giles explains, “focusing on the athleticism of the performers and their relationship with the audience.”

For Giles, the opportunity to create his own theatre piece was initially daunting, but ultimately proved to be both personally and artistically rewarding.

“I can’t overstate the value of this experience.  So often actors are treated not as creators but as interpreters of others' creativity. The chance to make something from the ground up, to engage the entirety of my creativity, and to explore my own personal artistic aesthetic has been wonderfully challenging.”

In addition to Giles, actors presenting works in the showcase include Sean Ardor, Iuliia Khamidullina, Jennifer Moody-Sanchez, Gabe Reitemeier, and Can Yasar.

For more information about Plans for Freedom or the theatre program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.