Mask & Bauble’s DBMOAF: Showcasing Student Theater Artists

From god-killers and reapers to retired superheroes and villains to the members of a consulting club at an imaginary but familiar elite university, Georgetown’s Mask & Bauble Dramatic Society produced three widely varied and thought-provoking one-act plays this February. Every year, Georgetown’s oldest student-run theater club puts on the Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival (DBMOAF), which showcases three short plays written by Georgetown students and selected from a competitive pool of submissions. This year, the one-acts were Ouroborus, written by Anastasia Kelly and directed by Nate Findlay, Six Years Later, written by Claire Cable and directed by Rishu Nevatia, and The Enfancia Project, written by Eileen Miller and directed by Tommy Gaita. 2025 marks the 39th year that Mask & Bauble has produced this festival, reinforcing its importance to the traditions of the Georgetown theater community.

What really sets DBMOAF apart from other Mask & Bauble shows is the spotlight on student-written work. This presents an exciting opportunity for playwrights to showcase their work to their peers and for directors to explore new, local plays. Gaita, a junior and the director of The Enfancia Project, appreciated the fact “that you got to play with the material because the writer is just someone you go to school with.” Conversations between playwrights and directors and actors can elevate the experience of producing a play and lead to discoveries about the characters and stories. Instead of being restricted by the licensing agreements of professional plays, DBMOAF directors and actors can experiment more, change lines based on their personal discoveries, and create a unique performance.

Another advantage of featuring student playwrights is telling stories that are written by college students and thus relatable to college students. Each of the three plays this year delivered a different meaningful message through skillful storytelling to students in the audience about mortality, life purpose, and the college experience.

The festival began with Ouroborus, which grappled with concepts of death and love. Although these themes were portrayed through mythical, immortal characters, we ordinary humans must face them as well. This play was particularly enthralling for the type of artistic student who might find themselves drawn to small, gritty theater productions; the apocalyptic world-building and contemplations of (im)mortality catered towards a love for dark, dramatic storytelling.

As a fitting transition, the second play Six Years Later struck a balance between fantasy-world characters and issues that are relatable to our everyday lives. The one-act presented an uncanny friendship between former archnemeses: a retired superhero and retired villain. Despite being larger-than-life icons in their fictional world, the characters also had very familiar and human struggles. Their discussion on how to find purpose in their new lives was particularly relatable to college students in the audience who are also searching for meaningful careers and navigating a new stage of life.

The Enfancia Project was the perfect end to the festival. It depicted a realistic college setting with scarily accurate characters in a student consulting club. The play’s theme of highly competitive and pre-professional culture is particularly poignant on Georgetown’s campus, where students can be traumatized by club applications and rejections from their peers. One of the common trends among the characters was obsessing over an extracurricular activity because it will get them a good job, rather than doing something they love. Unlike their characters, the students who wrote, produced, directed, and acted in this play delighted in their craft. Gaita, director of The Enfancia Project, appreciated the artistic freedom in DBMOAF because “it brings a lot of the love back into it for a lot of people.”

Given the opportunity to experiment with creative materials, DBMOAF is a rewarding way for young students to get involved with Georgetown theater. The festival aims to highlight the work of Georgetown students, especially those without much prior experience. Many students on the directing staff and production staff are first-years and sophomores, and DBMOAF gives them the opportunity to take on roles with more responsibility. Lainey Lyle, a sophomore and actor in The Enfancia Project, promised that those who are interested in getting involved with DBMOAF can do so easily because everyone “wants to teach you how to do new things” and help you “meet new people.” This supportive environment is important for fostering new talent and bringing more great productions to Georgetown’s stages.

The condensed time frame of DBMOAF was particularly admirable, adding to the uniqueness of the festival. Mask & Bauble only had a couple months to cast and rehearse the shows, and that time includes the interruption of winter break. Lyle believes that the “very quick turnaround… brings people together really fast,” another reason why participating in DBMOAF provides students with a good introduction to Georgetown theater. 

The festival’s short time frame also emphasized the skill and dedication of these student artists. Each of the three plays boasted an impressive production quality, especially the costumes, sound, and lights in Ouroborus, which immersed the audience in an other-worldly experience. The well-defined characters in The Enfancia Project and compelling humor in both The Enfancia Project and Six Years Later also highlighted the hard work and collaboration among directors and actors. It could not have been easy to pull off, and the success of this year’s DBMOAF speaks to the high potential of student theater. Having a vibrant theater scene is important for a college campus, and DBMOAF is proof of the meaningful theatrical experiences available at Georgetown.

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Grace Stephenson is a junior studying Linguistics with a minor in Biology.