O'Brien purposely chose Homecoming Weekend for her performance dates, despite the already packed roster of events. "Initially, I was given a few dates to do my thesis, and one option was Homecoming Weekend. Since it's the 25th anniversary of coeducation, I thought it would be nice to do something connected to that," she said.
O'Brien named the production "Duetting" after reading the plays. She felt they were all connected with two people. "The plot is either based on a relationship between two people or some type of combination of twos," said O'Brien. This theme successfully unites two seemingly disparate works.
The plays are each short pieces that average around eight minutes in length, with one at 25 minutes. "Events of the World" deals explicitly with coeducation. Other titles include "The Man Who Didn't Own a Hatshop" by Fox, and "The Demon Lover" and "Language Lessons" by Cho.
The plays are individualized through the direction of several different people, including Alice Hsiung '03 from Amherst Group Theater. All the plays have different casts as well, with the exception of actors Philip J. Tucker '02 and Gautam Bhan '02, who play in multiple pieces.
O'Brien noted that practices were held in a short time frame. Auditions were held at the end of September, with a three-week rehearsal period following. "Part of what was nice is that people, especially those interested in theater, who were busy, could still participate because it was a short enough time period. They could keep their other commitments and be a part of 'Duetting'," she said.
While working on her thesis, O'Brien was busy working on four other productions and keeping up with her three classes. "I was trying hard to balance the upcoming productions and concentrate on the current plays," she said.
"Duetting" is the first in a series of O'Brien productions this year; the series is collectively titled "Amherst Works."