Correction 2/5/19: There were multiple inaccuracies in the story concerning the annual Shortworks Festival in the Jan. 30 issue. The festival began in 2017 and not, as reported, last year. Alisa Muench was quoted as saying that her playwriting course “created a skill of playwriting,” when she actually said that the course “created a love of playwriting.” Additionally, it was erroneously reported that the festival is free to all attendees. The actual pricing is as follows: Adults $12, seniors $10, under 18 or student $10 and CWU student with ID $8.

The CWU theater program is putting on the Shortworks Festival, a new tradition that began last year. It features five short plays that are student directed and range from 10 to 25 minutes each that cover multiple genres. Two of the plays are comedies written and directed by  sophomore Alisa Muench. The other three are dramas about mental health and heavier topics which have been praised by the actors, directors, and managers involved in the event.

The plays begin on Feb. 7, and all five shows will be put on every night until Feb. 10. They will take place in the main theater in McConnell Hall and feature seating for the audience on the stage. The audience will get to be just a few feet away from the action and experience the emotions of the actors up close.

Alisa Muench, a sophomore, used to be an actor but took on the role of a playwright this year and enjoys it just as much.

“I took a playwriting course here with Ramon Esquivel and it sparked my interest and created a skill of playwriting I didn’t know I secretly had,” Muench said.

The two plays Muench wrote include a comedy titled “Hi I’m in Training” that is about two couples at a restaurant. The older couple yells at a waitress for bringing the wrong food and the younger couple defends the waitress. The play takes place when both couples get home and discuss what happened. Muench’s second play is a comedy with darker elements titled “When Death Itches.” It is about a young woman in her bedroom. When death appears and wants to talk to her because she has been acting strange lately.

Playwright and actor Annie Jankovic features as one of the lead characters in a play she wrote herself. This play is a drama titled “Ghosts of Living Flesh” about two 20-year-old diabetic women that meet in a waiting room and exchange life philosophies which help them move each other towards hope.

Jankovic is a diabetic herself and says its very important to her for stories like this to be told. This is also her first time being able to play a diabetic on stage, which she thinks is awesome.

“This has been my favorite team to work with and getting to do something so personal to me and deeply important has been an amazing process,” Jankovic said.

Jankovic said that she tends to write about things that make her angry and things close to her heart. Last year, she was inspired to write a play about the insulin price gouging.

“I tend to write about diabetes or disability issues because those are the ones that I’m most passionate about and that I hope my theater can do some advocacy about,” Jankovic said.

Playwrights tend to struggle with finding original things to write about so Jankovic explained that diabetic stories are not popular so they are original and new.

Jankovic says that her favorite part about the festival is going through the rehearsal process and having people tell her they’ve learned something new about diabetes or that her story spoke to them in a special way.