UTRGV lecturer, students bring color and life to stage with original creations

In a span of two days, there were detectives solving a murder case; brothers on the lam with cold cash; couples contemplating a pregnancy; a lover’s ghost speaking from the dead; and some turtles strutting around.

Sounds like a madhouse, right? It does, but this was more of a playhouse.

This was the scene last Wednesday and Thursday at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre on the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley’s Edinburg campus. Students enrolled in the ENGL 4351 course — Adv. Creative Writing: Workshop in Playwriting — were tasked to put on a show for their end-of- the-semester play festival.

The course is taught by Robert Paul Moreira, a senior lecturer, who challenges students through 16 weeks to create and revise their own original plays. The thing that differentiates this course from others, especially creative writing classes, is the students are required to perform what they wrote.

“Writers get stuff done — you’re not a writer if you’re not writing,” Moreira said. “... This course, specifically the playwriting course, it’s different. Right? Because you have to write and not only write, you have the responsibility to perform the play and direct it. It’s different than any other course.”

The Los Angeles native emphasized that students must put in the work. When it comes to writing, similar to a sport, if you don’t practice or study, then one can’t play to their full potential. The course prepares students to put on a big show — from drawing their characters in the introductory weeks, to reading renowned plays such as “Trifles” — the course breaks down playwriting and shows why it’s an impactful artform.

The formula for a play is taught to the students piece by piece. From learning the difference between a monologue and dialogue, to how to command their actors with stage directions, the aspiring thespians are equipped to becoming successful future playwrights.

Moreira — who earned his Master’s of Fine Arts from legacy institution UT-Pan American and Ph.D in English from UT-San Antonio — has been teaching playwriting since 2016. He said that he enjoyed the dynamic of playwriting after taking a graduate level course with now retired professor Philip Zwerling.

But the students weren’t the only ones at work, Moreira had to find a place for the play festival. After all, one can’t just walk into a building and set up shop.

Asked how he obtained the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre, he said it was “serendipity.”

“They didn’t have the studio (practice theater venue) available — which is what we normally get,” the “Scores” author said. “And I’m like, ‘Whoa, what do I do? I need another place.’”

After striking out at other places on campus, Moreira said that he checked to see if his class could use the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre — which is where the main productions are performed by the university’s theater department.

“When you walk in there, you know you’re in a theater,” Moreira said. “... So, the theater, I think, is cool to have that. I think it’s also a way to legitimize the class.”

What better way to put on plays for and by the students than an actual theater?

For some students, this was their first experience with playwriting. The students’ plays touched a different array of themes, such as the pursuit of justice with heart-driven performances. Other scripts had the audience members wondering how a couple is going to work out a pregnancy. There were also plays that had the audience laughing with politically motivated jokes or the animated performances from the students.

Noe Salinas, an English major with a Creative Writing emphasis, was inspired to take the class thanks to his good friend.

“We both wanted to try to make something new and different because we’ve never been a playwright before,” Salinas said the day after his performance. “So, taking this class helped us learn and create a very cool play. We’re both very happy with our results and it’s all due to this class and what we’ve learned through it. ... It’s such a big difference between paper and seeing it in person with your actors, especially when you crafted it yourself. It’s beautiful.”

Another aspiring thespian — Julian Juarez — echoed this sentiment as well. Juarez not only wrote his own original play but he acted in not just one, but two works during the festival.

“Oh man, it felt nerve wracking, for sure,” Juarez said, who is also an English major.

Despite the difficulty of memorizing the script for two plays, Juarez had one of his actors drop out to add to the labor of the art.

But the show must go on as they say.

“… It was a very last-minute crunch — because one of my actors had to drop out,” he said. “… Being up there, it was great. I love putting on a performance.”

He wasn’t the only one with actor dilemmas.

Kayla Martinez had about one day to prepare for the festival after her actor got sick.

“It was a roadblock and I was not prepared for that,” Martinez said. “… But then someone offered to be my actress. And I was like, ‘OK, perfect. I’ll do it.’”

Theater is just “different.”

From having actors being on a stage and the members in the crowd having an interactive experience — plays bring people together.

At the end of each day of the festival, students, actors and parents rejoiced in the theater and although pride and love isn’t something that’s concrete — it was evident.

“It’s like no other art form,” Moreira said. “It’s a collective art form where if you have a good play and the audience gets it, I mean there’s no better feeling. It’s not like writing a poem or a short story, which is something you do on your own. … But the play — it’s a collective kind of emotional experience.”

Moreira added that those interested in becoming writers need to trust their gut. He also emphasized that aspiring artists need to be open — meaning, be receptive to feedback. The writer said he is thankful for all the experience that he’s gained through the years from past mentors and how it’s helped him in his works — whether it’s fiction, playwriting or musical theater.

More importantly, he said he’s happy to pass on what he’s learned.

“As artists, you don’t do this stuff for acclaim,” Moreira said. “You do it because you’re passionate about it. You know? And teaching the course is just a way to give the students that opportunity.

“Another thing I tell students: The world needs more playwrights. I always say that.”