By Eva Trieger
SAN DIEGO — Sponsored by the Sheila and Jeffrey Lipinsky Family Fund, young California playwrights entered their original writing for consideration in an annual contest. This year there were 415 submissions from which to choose, and a cohort of judges and script evaluators read works written by authors under 19 years of age.
The Old Globe generously provided the space and reserved dates ranging from January 10-26 so that these youngsters could see their plays read and performed in a professional setting. Many additional contributors made this festival possible including California Arts Council, Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust, and the SD Commission for Arts and Culture. Qualcomm Foundation, Torrey Pines Bank, US Bank,the Kiwanis Club of La Jolla and the Samuel I and John Henry Fox Foundation provided support, as did the Community Service Association of San Diego Unified School District and the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program.
The five winning scripts were divided into two programs, each consisting of play readings and full productions. Program A’s winning submissions were: Just Let Me Help, a sensitive and provocative exchange between father and son. This play was a collaborative effort by Marco Herrera and Chris Johnson, both 14 years old. Trash! The Musical, authored by Naomi Melville, age 17, takes place in an urban setting and contains choreography and keyboards. These were both directed by Ruff Yeager.
Program B, directed by George Ye, included Have Hope, written by 11 year old Shyla de Hoop, a tale told by kittens. Sea of Fog, penned by Jack Ventimilia tackled difficult issues with great maturity, surprising in a 16 year old. Two characters dealt with teen angst, confusion about religion and the desire to fit in and be valued. A Mother’s Mother provided great sensitivity and some very clever writing, and, I’ll admit, caused me to tear up, as a young girl, pregnant with twins, has a beautiful exchange with her mother, who was also a teen mom. The writer of this play, Emma Kuli was 18 at the time of writing.To allow the students to go deeper and gain even greater insight while tapping into their creativity, dramaturgs, or writing mentors, helped develop characters, plots lines, provided greater context and encouragement.
The actors who portrayed the characters are all past or current theater majors. Many of them are currently involved with area theaters including Scripps Ranch Theatre, New Village Arts, Cygnet Theater, Moxie and Lamb’s Players. They include Rick Zazueta Lagos, Tommy Tran, Claudette Santiago, Diego Castro, Amy Perkins, Krista Wilford, Michelle Gray, Nancy Batres, Jalani Blankenship, Lettis S. De Anda, and Daniel Woods.
The Playwrights Project, now in it’s 34th year was founded by Deborah Salzer, whom I had the distinct pleasure of sitting next to, quite by happy accident. This producer of over 100 new plays, currently teaches and runs writing groups. Salzer was dramaturg for the fabulous new play A Mother’s Mother, written by Emma Kuli, and poignantly portrayed by Nancy Batres and Lettie S. De Anda.
Ruff Yeager, Festival Artistic Director, and Cecelia Kouma, Executive Producer, believe that this festival ignites a passion in young people, and they are thrilled that this forum provides the opportunity for honest communication, builds empathy and develops creativity and confidence in young thinkers and tomorrow’s leaders. Kouma extended the invitation to the school-aged audience members to send in their contributions and become a part of the magic they observed on stage.
A lively talk-back followed the readings, in which audience members were able to ask questions or make comments directly to the actors. The actors, in turn, offered insight into their own acting journeys.
The schedule for the plays is as follows:
Program A Jan 16, 22, 23,25 at 10 a.m. and Jan. 26, 7:30 pm.
Program B Jan 24 10 a.m., Jan. 25, 7:30 pm and Jan. 26, 2pm.
Tickets may be purchased by calling 858-384-2970 or by visiting www.playwrightsproject.org.