Sonoma State’s Department of Theater Arts and Dance aims to “offer students a home where they can seek their potential and develop their voices as artists, through the study and collaborative creation of live performance”, according to their home page. This weekend, students’ were able to share their passion for theater and performing arts through POWER LINES, a play festival here on campus. 

POWER LINES created a space for students, families and faculty to come together in person and enjoy the storytelling that took place onstage. The festival consisted of two plays, written and directed by SSU students. Students also comprised the cast and crew for this production, putting in tireless efforts since February to put on a show that they would be proud of. POWER LINES was a “workshop production” so that the focus was on the delivery and messages of the two plays, rather than the design value. 

One of the plays for this year’s festival was “A Moonless Sea”, written by Kat Anderson and directed by Gabe Fernandez. When asked about their inspiration for the play in the playwright interviews, Anderson said “It was inspired by the relationship between the moon and the sea. The constant pull of the moon’s gravity on the sea’s depths and the corresponding crashing waves led to this play’s rhythm and helped form its world. The idea of social storytelling also played a role in the continued shaping of the play.” 

“A Moonless Sea” took place on an ethereal shore where “two strange entities explore what it means to lose themselves in one another – even if it means defying nature”, according to the festival’s homepage. ASTRID who represents the moon and NISHA who represents the sea, fell in love and did not want to separate. However, their love had a catastrophic effect on the budding life of their planet. They must sacrifice their love for their planet’s growth, leaving ASTRID back to the lonely existence in the sky and NISHA alone in the sea longing for her love. 

The other play, “Envoi”, was written by Gabe Fernandez and directed by Rosemarie Kingfisher. Although the inspiration for the play took some time, it ended up holding some significance to Fernandez’s life. According to the playwright interview he said, “While Envoi is certainly not biographical, it is inspired from that moment when you recognize someone is leaving your life and small bits of my own experience come through in little pieces.” 

“Envoi” took place in a small town bar where a band is forced to come to terms with a tragedy that touched them all deeply and that ultimately created a fracture in their band. The play’s authenticity of grief and survival was definitely one that college students could relate to. 

When asked what other ideas he had in mind for plays Fernandez said, “My grandfather passed away last year, and he once asked me to write a play about him. I fully intend to keep that promise” according to the playwright interview. Student-produced plays like POWER LINES give students the opportunity to take all of the skills learned from this experience and translate them into more plays.

Both student-produced plays posed the question, “If you were forced to choose between never being able to be alone, or never being able to be with someone else, which would you choose?” Anderson and Fernandez were able to take meaningful experiences and observations to create art. The audience was able to watch the emotions and see all of the hard work that students put into the stories in order for the performances to come alive onstage. 

Students can take the Playwriting course at Sonoma State to be a part of something bigger than themselves, just like these students did. This course also gives students a new creative outlet to share something meaningful with a crowd and watch their art come to life. 

Those who want to support SSU’s Department of Theater Arts and Dance can do so by purchasing tickets for upcoming performances or by making a donation on their support page.