McMurry Theatre presents DirectFest 2026
The semester may be coming to an end, but McMurry Theatre is still pumping out shows! This year, they will be closing out their 2026 season with their biannual Direct Fest. Eight student directors from the directing class have chosen 10-minute plays to showcase on the Ryan Little Stage, April 30th at 7:30 pm.
Among the eight directors are Gabriel Pyenta and Evelyn Van Houten, who spent this semester polishing their directing skills in preparation for their shows.
Pyenta is a Junior majoring in Theatre, and he says that learning how to direct has been an interesting process. Pyenta is very familiar with film directing, but theatre directing is a whole new beast! He shares, “I’ve done a lot of film directing in my life but never directed for theatre. There are a lot of differences when you are working for a live audience rather than a camera.” A challenge, he says, has been difficult but beneficial.
This is Van Houten’s first time dipping her hand into the directing pool, so her experience has been a bit different. Van Houten, a Junior Theatre Education Major, shares that verbalizing her thoughts has been the hardest thing to navigate during this process. She said, “it is sometimes difficult to put my thoughts… into words that are understandable to my cast. It is easy to think everyone can read your mind, but I have learned that communication is very important.”
Both directors have significant backgrounds in theatre, but each credited McMurry Theatre for their success in the class. “What’s nice about the theatre program here is that it’s very hands on. So rather than just sitting through a presentation in a boring classroom, we actually get to do it,” stated Pyenta. He expressed that the class got to practice directing, blocking, and laying out a set in the classroom before any rehearsals began, in turn, making the transition from class to production much easier. Pyenta thanks Neena McLain, the chair of the theatre department and his professor, for building his confidence and preparing him to take on this foreign medium with excitement and optimism!
Van Houten credits the department for her success as well, stating, “The acting courses and the Theater Management course have helped me prepare the most for Directing. I have learned a lot when it comes to the rehearsal process from both points of view.” These classes in particular, Van Houten confesses, helped make her more conscious of delivering critiques and recognizing how important patience is when working with actors and maintaining schedules.
Each of these students has had a lot of fun working on their projects. Van Houten spoke of a time when she encouraged her cast to ignore all of their blocking and just have fun, which resulted in new choices and creativity that left her excited and impressed.
Pyenta also shared a time in rehearsal when his cast took full control of the stage and were even climbing on set pieces! This action was humorous but fit the show well and made Pyenta eager to see it performed for an audience.
The work of Pyenta, Van Houten, and six other student directors will be showcased next Thursday, April 30th at 7:30 pm in the Ryan Little Theatre! This one night only performance is free to everyone! They would love to see you there!