Senior communication major Zachary Boudreaux recently took his original, one-act play entitled “Candy Said” through several successful rounds at state and regional levels of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF).

The Kennedy Center Web site states that the Center’s aim is to bring an unmatched variety of performances in multiple disciplines of performing arts to audiences of all ages. “Candy Said” ranked among the top 16 semi-finalists in the nation, nearly missing the chance to go to the KCACTF finals at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

Boudreaux hadn’t originally planned to produce his play, only to write it and submit it to the KCACTF. After finding out that the play had to be produced and put onstage, he decided to workshop the play to perfect it. The workshop process usually involves several actors and actresses coming in to read the script or do improvisational work relating to the scenario of the play.

This process gives the writer and director a chance to gather more ideas that naturally fit the arc of the play. The workshop process was slightly different for “Candy Said.” Most of the time, workshops involve actors and actresses that are not yet cast in the play. Since “Candy Said” was a one-act play with only two characters, the parts were cast before the workshop.

“We knew the work would be very intense and whatever came out of it would have to go down on paper,” said Boudreaux. “We wanted the actors to be more comfortable with it because it deals with a lot of sexuality.”

The inspiration to write this play centers on the idea that there is a diverse group of people who attend college. More specifically, it addresses the amount of sexual intercourse these people have had due to their differences in upbringing.

The one-act play, directed by Paul Shinn, puts a virgin named Martina, played by Hallie Green, in the hands of a womanizer named Blaine, played by Quinn Kennedy. The two go on a date, only to end up in a drunken and failed hook up attempt at Blaine’s apartment.

Both actors agreed that the characters they portrayed had personalities that differed from their own.

“She’s very different from me,” said Green, on her character Martina. “I don’t have the same outlook or personality as Martina, it was almost getting to wear someone else’s shoes every time we did a performance or rehearsal.”

“As we got deeper into the script and I was able to better understand Blaine as a character, I found it more easy to get into that mindset,” said Kennedy.

Boudreaux is quick to thank all the people that helped to turn his idea into reality. He gives credit to several Southeastern faculty members for lending guidance and helping secure the funds necessary to bring the play to life, particularly, Dr. Karen Fontenot, James Winter, Chad Winters, Steve Schepker and Dr. David Evenson.

Though he loves playwriting, Boudreaux also sees himself writing screen plays in the future. Boudreaux, along with Green, Shinn and Kennedy took the stage in “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” which ran April 13-16 in the Vonnie Borden Theatre.