Methamphetamine-producing mole people, a car accident prior to a bad mushroom trip, a late night stop to the florist to after a one-night stand, barfly superheroes and Hell being a McDonald’s where Big Bird is your tour guide are plots you might not usually think about.

They do exist within the imaginations of theater students for their Playwriting 516 class. The plays were presented at the Welsbacher Theatre at Wichita State Friday night. 

For the presentation of these short plays, fellow students read the parts described at the beginning of each script, which was handled by another student reading the stage directions to effectively set the scene for the audience. Seated on benches, the students had their script placed before them on a music stand. It was largely reminiscent of how a radio show or even a recording session for an animated feature is typically conducted before a large group.

Highlights of the evening included “Trip By Night,” which depicted a man tripping on hallucinogenic mushrooms at an inopportune moment. This script was written by Trevor Comstock and Damian Padilla, which provided plenty of laughs that would be expected from a situation such as this.

Another play titled “I Want to Win,” written by Ryan Harrell and Kate Corbin, had a great plot structure of a man desperately needing a dozen tulips to make an impression on a woman he just slept with. He also had to steal her car to get the florist at 3 a.m. and is under the impression that she slept with the famous wrestler, Hulk Hogan. Of course, hilarity endures and the writers didn’t disappoint me.

The play that I personally would like to see come become a full production was “Oral Hygiene” by Rae Hoffman and Jay McMahan, Jr. It had an imaginative way of depicting a new resident in Hell, not knowing what she’s there for, but that is revealed at the end, which ties into the title of the piece. 

Instead of Hell just being pillars of fire with demons and pitchforks, Hell in this play is a McDonald’s that you can’t leave, where the likes of Hitler have to sit next the bathroom, suffer from “the wonderful smells of McDonald’s for eternity,” and eat “floppy fries.”

My only quarrel with the evening was that I wished at least one play was written to be serious, as all of them were comedies. However, that’s not a decision for me to make. It’s all up to to the playwrights. All of the plays provided a great sense of expression, something that I value in my time here in college. I wish all the best to these playwrights and want to let them know I was there to listen and see what was in their imaginations.