Play festival showcases student work in the Writing for the Screen and Stage program

Mihir Shah has been writing “The Law of Dreams” over the last year. He’s one of eight seniors in the Writing for the Screen and Stage minor who will have their plays performed at the ninth annual Long Story Shorts One Act Festival. His play is a two-person show that focuses on a brother and sister, and Mihir himself will be acting in the lead role. 

Being able to finally see his work brought to life after seven drafts seems like it would be the most rewarding part of the festival for Mihir, but what’s most exciting is who he’s getting to share the stage with — his older sister, Mansi Shah. 

Mansi lives in Atlanta, but the 2017 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate has made the trip up to Chapel Hill to share the stage with Mihir and help tell this story.

“It’s been fun,” Mihir said. “We aren’t really actors. I do improv on campus, and she’s a musician. We’ve just been learning a lot about how to bring a script to life. Learning a lot and having a lot of fun.”

The festival will be presented at the the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History Theatre on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Carnessa Ottelin is directing "The Law of Dreams" and said the Shah siblings are incredibly strong actors.

“I think it’s fun for Mihir to watch his play come to life as he’s in it,” Otttelin said. “That’s been kind of fun to see him have some ‘a-ha!’ moments. I’ve really enjoyed our short time together.”

Ottelin has been working as a director for over 20 years. She was an English major at UNC-Greensboro and unintentionally ended up in an acting class. 

“I caught the bug there, but had not really done theater before that,” Ottelin said. 

She also received her MFA in directing and theatrical production from UNC-G. Ottelin heard about Long Story Shorts from one of her friends, who acted in the festival.

Ottelin first directed at the festival a few years ago, but work conflicts had kept her from returning. She was able to make it work this year and will be directing “Double Shot,” as well as “The Law of Dreams.”

“For me, it’s just exciting to get to be here and to work with really smart, energetic students and to do something that is a little bit different,” Ottelin said. “Because if you really just want to see traditional theater, you can do that. Or you can come here and you can support your fellow students and support some local art.”

The festival was started in 2011, shortly after UNC Department of Communication professor of the practice Dana Coen took over as the director of the Writing for the Screen and Stage program. Every year, he works with each of the juniors in his program to develop a script for the stage that could be performed at the next year’s festival. Of 17 or 18 scripts, eight are chosen. Coen’s goal is to choose plays that can work structurally and emotionally, as well as provide entertainment value. 

Coen said he hopes that the festival will help season his students.

“We try to provide a really wide range of experiences in the program so that they can do whatever they want when they get out of here and are prepared to do it,” Coen said. “All of this is designed to help them find their skillsets and where they are most comfortable and also give them a sense of what kind of development they need in terms of those skills.”

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