As part of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Young Playwright Project, a group of Advanced Drama students wrote individual plays which were then performed by professional actors on March 9.
Over the course of 18 class periods, Advanced Drama met with Matthew Keuter, a representative from TheatreWorks, who guided them through writing their 10-minute plays. Upon completion, he and his colleagues selected eight of them to be performed. The eight student playwrights then spent a week revising and refining their scripts — then spent all of March 9 in the theater, rehearsing with the actors and directors from TheatreWorks in preparation for the evening performance.
“Despite the fact that they were professionals, the way [the actors and directors] treated my classmates’ work was completely unpretentious,” said junior and student playwright Graham King. “They were utterly committed to the world of the works they had created. That sense of respect for the work we had put in I think is what ultimately lead to some really great performances.”
This is the first year Advanced Drama has been its own class at Aragon and the first year the drama department, with the help of the Drama Boosters, has brought this project to students. While the project was new and unexpected to many students in the class, it became an opportunity many students wanted to take advantage of.
“I thought it was a huge step forward for the drama program,” King said. “It sort of allowed us to expand past general high school drama … into an experience that felt like a theater education from a legitimate program. While I also may have missed classic Aragon drama class, it was a super worthwhile engagement for me as a student and theater artist.”
The Young Playwright Project experience also introduced students to a new way to culture their love for theater.
“Acting is one of my passions, but if we didn’t have the opportunity to even attempt at writing our very own play, I never would’ve known I’d love it so much,” said sophomore and student playwright Kyra Knibbs. “This was just a totally inspiring event, and it wouldn’t be that way if it wasn’t incorporated into drama class.”
Students also recognized this opportunity as a way to bond with their fellow classmates over seeing a shared interest come to life on stage.
“We all got very excited for one another,” Knibbs said, “as it was truly amazing to see all the hard work the young playwrights accomplished on stage with some super awesome actors.”
