Playwriting Showcase 2016

Beginning in January, many students have participated in a Wednesday night playwriting class taught by Mrs. Leia Richardson, where they have worked on creating plays of their own. At the group’s playwriting showcase on Friday, April 8th, ten students’ works were presented on stage. In each performance, the costumes, props, and set pieces were extremely simple; this allowed the audience to focus mainly on the play itself. Similarly, the audience was small and the show was intimate, making for a very different experience than an RMHS Drama Club performance.

Emceed by Michelle Derse Lowry, Kate McReynolds, and Emma Penafiel, the showcase was split into two acts, each consisting of five ten minute plays. One of my favorites of the night was Julia Corbett’s Existential Crisis, based on a criminal questioning her entire life in the midst of a great escape. Bad Guy #2 (Michelle Derse Lowry) tries to force the pondering Bad Guy #1 (Sam Kramer) to get up off the ground and to run the final block to the getaway car, finishing what she started. However, Bad Guy #1 proceeds to wonder why she does what she does: What’s the big result that makes it all worth it? Bad Guy #2 gives up on #1, but demands that she at least gets the money for her efforts during the heist. The two fight over the bag of money until Bad Guy #2 eventually wins, just as a policeman (Tommy Carnes) appears, and Bad Guy #1 places the blame all on #2.

This Seat is Taken by Ryan Norton was another favorite. A father (Matt Miller) and his fiancée (Caroline Hagan) announce their engagement to his daughter (Elisabeth Penafiel), who doesn’t care at all for her future stepmother. She refuses to let the fiancée sit in “Mom’s chair”, which was confusing to the woman, as she had been told that her fiancé’s wife had left him for another man, when in fact, she had died of cancer. She is understanding and respectful of the situation at first. But, as soon as her finacé leaves the room, she confronts his daughter, throwing the blanket off of “Mom’s chair” and sitting on it. The girl becomes very upset, and her father returns after hearing the commotion. His fiancée claims that his daughter had thrown the blanket to the floor, but as his daughter claims otherwise, he ultimately ousts his fiancée, and chooses his daughter.

Another impressive piece was Tommy Bradford’s The Heater Needs Fixing, which demonstrates the sadness and frustration that go along with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. It chronicles a man (Kyle Mungenast) struggling with memory loss and the toll it takes on those around him, particularly his wife (Margaret Sweeney). His wife calls their daughter, asking her to stop by and check on the water heater, which she claims may be broken. Her daughter refuses and she snaps, admitting that “it’s not the water heater that needs fixing.” All the while, her husband sits cluelessly in the next room.

The remaining seven performances were also very well done, and received positive reactions from the audience. I greatly enjoyed watching the creativity of RMHS’s students executed by equally creative classmates and friends. Yet again, I left the PAC impressed by the diverse talent present in our school.