Things to do |

Loud Fridge actor making her company directing debut with locally written ‘Zach’

San Diego State is front and center in Loud Fridge Theatre Group’s production of local playwright Christian St. Croix’s “Zach.”

Director Amira Temple is a recent graduate of SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film. Young co-stars Sergio Morejon and Kendall Stallworth, both making their professional stage debuts and playing multiple characters in the show, are currently theater students at SDSU.

Temple is enthusiastic about helping Morejon and Stallworth get their feet wet in local theater. She previously directed them last spring in a production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “The Motherf*er with the Hat” at SDSU.

“The best how-to in becoming a theater artist is to just do the thing,” Temple said. “In directing them, I see what gaps there are between what they’ve learned in school and the reality of working as a professional.”

This Loud Fridge production is a learning experience, as well, for Temple, who starred earlier this year in Loud Fridge’s “Ripped” by playwright Rachel Bublitz.

Directing for Loud Fridge, she said, “is a little intimidating because I feel so polished as a performer and that’s what I put most of my time into. I feel like I’m starting out as a baby. It’s a whole new lens for me to see a show through.”

That being said, “I was drawn to directing because I found myself more and more in that mode.”

“Zach” had its world premiere back in May at ArtsWest in Seattle. It tells the story of two Southern California high school students of color who get caught up in the machinations of Zach, a White classmate. It was directed in Seattle by Sara Porkalob, who’s currently starring in her own solo show, “Dragon Mama,” at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights.

Temple sees important commentary in the play’s satirical comedy. “There’s a big, overarching theme,” she said. “The media that we consume does not always reflect the reality of the world. And the way people present themselves does not always reflect the reality of their internal world. I think it says that there’s always time to decide who you want to be next.”

For San Diego playwright St. Croix, “Zach” is his third work to be staged this year following “Monsters of the American Cinema” at Diversionary in March and the Loud Fridge production “Normal Heights” at the San Diego International Fringe Festival last May. A reading of his “We Are The Forgotten Beasts” was part of Cygnet Theatre’s Finish Line New Play Series last month.

Count Temple among St. Croix’s fans.

“Christian is an incredibly powerful writer,” she said. “Just reading (‘Zach’) alone brought me so much joy and tenderness and introspection. Getting to put it on its feet with two amazing actors brings a whole new life to the story.”

With her career in professional theater as an actor and director relatively new, Temple acknowledged that “My dream is to have a collective space for a little company in San Diego where we can come together. Until then, I’ll take whatever comes my way.”

‘Zach’

When: Preview performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Opens Saturday and runs through Oct. 28. Showtimes, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays

Where: Loud Fridge Theatre Group at OnStage Playhouse, 291 Third Ave., Chula Vista

Tickets: $17-$30

Phone: (619) 387-8186

Online: loudfridge.com

Coddon is a freelance writer.