The King’s Theatre Society (KTS) is holding its annual Infringement Festival this week, featuring short plays written, acted and directed by King’s students.
“It’s fun. So much fun to write a show, see it go up…It’s nice to have that connection to the playwrights (who are your friends),” says festival co-coordinator Jacob Hermant, a second-year King’s student who plans to pursue a combined honours degree in contemporary studies and theatre studies.
Like many involved in the KTS, Jacob fulfills multiple roles. He’s also acting in and writing Infringement plays, including “The Elevator Pitch” which he co-wrote with his friend Zach Greenhan, and which was performed in the new academic building’s (NAB) elevator. (Most shows are performed in The Pit, King’s black box theatre.) Jacob says it’s a stressful because student actors have only about a week to rehearse, and the playwrights are largely responsible for casting, directing and even sourcing props.
This year the festival, which takes two months to plan, received so many submissions that there are three to five new plays performed each night, Monday through Friday, with a finale on Saturday. None are longer than 40 minutes, and plays range from absurdist comedies to murder mysteries to serious discussion on important themes. Audiences vote each night on their favourite show of that evening, and those get an encore presentation on the festival’s closing night, Saturday, Jan. 27.
The Infringement Festival helps kick off the winter KTS season, Jacob explains.
Tickets are $3 (students) or $5 per evening, including Saturday’s “Best of the Fest” finale.
Hear more from Jacob in this video made by King’s student Rachel O’Brien.
