Renee DeGarmo directed her first play when she was 5 years old. She also costumed, wrote and starred in it. It was her version of the story of Christmas. With a little help from her parents and a home video camera, it became her first work of theater in what she hopes will turn into a fulfilling career.

DeGarmo, a senior double majoring in theater and art studio, is one of eight student directors participating in The One Act Play Festival that will run through Thursday.

The one act plays are put on by the advanced directing class at Sacramento State. Each student directs a one act play or his or her version of a play. The students are responsible for everything that goes along with being the director of a play, including holding auditions for the play, casting, setting up rehearsal schedules and designing the set.

Assistant Professor Gina Kaufmann, who oversees the directing program and is coordinating the festival, said the students have been working hard in preparation for the plays. Kaufmann said DeGarmo’s play was especially demanding because she had to adapt the play into a one-hour show, while keeping the integrity of the script.

For DeGarmo, the time and effort spent working in theater is well worth the rewards.

“Theater can change people’s lives,” she said.

A good piece of theater can change people’s opinions, she said. If audience members are able to form a powerful connection emotionally or intellectually, or identify with a character that lets them see with a new pair of eyes, it can change their outlook on things, DeGarmo said.

DeGarmo has also been involved in several other productions, including “Melons,” “The Tempest,” The Twelfth Night” and “The Vagina Monologues.”

Although she has more experience acting than directing, she likes both for different reasons.

“With acting, there’s more of an escapist element to it,” DeGarmo said. “It’s a different kind of adrenaline rush.”

She said she likes directing because it is having a vision and being able to bring something from nothing.

“It’s like creating a whole piece of artwork,” she said. “I’m anticipating doing a lot more directing in the future.”

DeGarmo credits much of her success to her parents. She said they have always been supportive and had the attitude that she could think anything she wanted to think and be anything she wanted to be. She also said a number of professors at Sac State have been helpful and supportive in her theater work.

DeGarmo’s play for the One Act Festival is a condensed version of Elmer Rice’s “The Adding Machine.” She described it as an early 1920s expressionist play that combines several genres, including satire and melodrama.

DeGarmo first read “The Adding Machine” five years ago in an English class, and said she “absolutely loved it.” From then on, whenever she had projects in other theater classes, she would do hers on “The Adding Machine.”

In preparation for the play, DeGarmo said she has done a lot of research on the playwright, worked on the costumes, set designs and lighting. She also said she has done text analysis and has probably read the play “over 1 million times.”

Freshman theater major Michael RJ Campbell plays five roles in DeGarmo’s play and also did the set design.

“She’s good at (directing),” Campbell said. Because “The Adding Machine” is a heightened reality, DeGarmo said it was challenging working with the actors and design to really get the style of the play. “It really is a technical, demanding show,” Campbell said.

DeGarmo plans on graduating in the fall. She is considering attending graduate school to further study directing. Her dream is to go off and become rich and famous and then return to a small, beautiful community and start her own theater company.

“She has really been a visionary student, and it’s exciting to see her work on stage,” Kaufmann said. Amy Ball can be reached at [email protected]