An Honors student’s one-act play is set for a formal performance next semester.

Adam Ercolani , senior business administration and English major, wrote a one act play titled “Between Us” for his capstone project.

“So you need to complete the capstone project, and most people chose to do a lengthy research paper, but I decided that since I have been acting for so long I would try my hand of writing something, so at the end of the spring semester of last year, I decided that I was going to go ahead and do that.”

He said he developed the idea last spring and began writing the script early last summer.

Ercolani finished just a week before the table read Nov. 25 in Lemmond Theater.

He said the play explores the complications of relationships.

“There’s an approach to it that sheds a light to how complicated human sexuality can be, how things are not clear-cut, and I personally think that relationships are funny no matter what they are, so it’s just a lighthearted and super funny way to look at that and how people can interact with each other,” Ercolani said.

Ercolani involved students and community theater actors in his project.

“My favorite part, personally, was the scene in the marriage counselor’s office, as that was the scene I was in!” said Bailey Waltman, senior English and pre-law major.

Erlolani said he wanted to make his play even more diverse that his original script outlined.

“It is a four person show, with two men and two women characters, all of which are unnamed,” said Ercolani.

Characters are labeled as M1, M2, W1, W2 in the script.

“It was super interesting to kind of figure out how none of them mentions each other by name at all, so no first names, no nicknames, at all throughout the play,” he said.

The table read was a dramatic reveal of his play, since no one knew anything about it and had no specific expectations. Ercolani liked the idea of unveiling his work at once to everyone.

“The table read was about feedback to move forward with it,” Ercolani said.

The reading included four actors, one for each character, with Ercolani sitting in the middle to read stage directions.

Jeff Kelly, Manager of Cultural and Special Events and Theater Director, said it was a proud moment.

“I had conversations with Adam about the plot, but we both had decided myself and Matt Hinton should hold off on reading i, and experience the interpretations of the actors Adam chose for the table read. I loved it! It was a very prideful moment for me, having worked so closely with Adam both on and off the stage for the last few years to be apart of his next step in his artistic career,” said Kelly.

Kelly had gone through the script with the four actors before the table read, and he made minor last minute changes with White Out and a pen. He said true errors could not be spotted until the play was read out loud.

Stage directions played a crucial role become it provided the audience with insight about the characters’ actions and their surroundings. With Ercolani reading the stage directions, the audience was able to see his vision unfold before their eyes.

“There is no wrong way to create art. That is the beauty of it. It is what you like, or what you dislike, put forward in your own way,” Kelly said.

The 40-page script lasted about 60 minutes. Faculty suggested that he expand the play into two actions or even a short film, which could serve as as reference for him and his colleagues to use for graduate school.

Kelly said the play is ripe for growth.

“Adam, a well accomplished and phenomenal actor, went out of his comfort zone, took and idea, and wrote a one act, which I personally believe will develop into a full two act play. He created a piece of art from a single thought in his mind, and should be very proud,” Kelly said.