The Framed-In IDEA playwriting festival at Loomis Chaffee presents a challenge that is also an opportunity: write, direct, and act in a student-run play that might range from 15 to 20 minutes in length. 

This year sophomore Klara Oppenheimer and freshman Lana Deng wrote the play Human Attraction, which was performed in the Black Box Theater on Wednesday, April 22, and will be performed again tonight, Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. 

The plot centers on “a circus where there are humans and non-humans and the interaction between them and what it means to be human,” explained sophomore Emory Andrews, who plays the ringmaster. The exploration of “what it means to be human” is the all-school theme this year. 

Emory has enjoyed his role. “It was fun to explore [his] different personalities,” Emory said, “and to play around with everyone on that stage. And this was a great student experience because we come up with the ideas.” 

Klara said that she and Lana “divvied up by scenes. We made edits based on what the cast thought and felt natural to them. A lot of time they would [improvise] lines, and we would take what they brought to the table and put that into the script. And Lana and I ended up being so in-synch as directors that we would just look at each other and know what the other was thinking, so it ended up working really well. And she is brilliant writer.” 

In the play, there are two human girls who, as Klara said, “live in an otherworldly circus struggling whether to search for other humans or stay where they are, but on a deeper level I'd say it is about sisterhood, and love, and a sense of searching and belonging, and a sense of dissatisfaction and discontent.” 

Klara enjoys all three aspects — writing, directing and acting — although she said one challenge is producing a script in a short amount of time. Klara and Lana spent about a week writing the script. Writing plays also is difficult, Klara said, “because most, if not all the world-building and plot development needs to be conveyed through dialogue. That said, I do love creating a story and seeing that vision come to life.” 

“As for acting,” she said, “my favorite part is interacting with my fellow actors onstage and becoming the character alongside them. Directing is also a lot of fun. Getting to have that level of creative control — especially when we wrote the script — is really a privilege that I try to take full advantage of during Framed-In. I wrote a show and performed in it last year as well, so I loved being able to work with an entirely new group of actors this year and see them all bring something different to the table.” 

The cast and crew of Human Attraction: sophomore Emory Andrews, ringmaster; freshman Emory Connel, Amara; freshman Abby Ackerman, Eden; freshman Lana Deng, Esme; sophomore Klara Oppenheimer, Eris; freshman Emma Tseng, Nala; freshman Mariyam Makhmudova, Isa; freshman April Hao, stage manager; junior Alyssa Li, light board; junior Lilly Autry and sophomore Zoe Rhodes, lighting design.