Playwriting

Students in the Life Stories Youth Ensemble recently performed at the Lucille Lortel Theater to debut seven new original plays created by their peers in the Naranjo-Golder Playwriting program.  Developed during the winter and spring through the advanced playwriting program, these new works represent the unique voices of our young playwrights.  The plays explored a wide range of themes, including love and relationships, family struggles, mental illness and issues around identity.  We are proud of all the hard work of the playwrights and the actors to bring to these works to the stage for an audience for the first time.   

To view more photos from the performance, please check out the

Rated (R)eal - Life Stories and Playwriting album on Facebook.

THE NEW GROUP and URBAN ARTS PARTNERSHIP present

Rated (R)eal

DIRECTED BY: IAN MORGAN AND JULIA GROB

TWO SIDED GIRL
By Petra Wimer
Mercedes Alvarez…………………………………………………………………Sam
Devin Mojica…………………………………………………………………………Andre
Kayla Robinson………………………………………………………………………Idesebal

BROKEN
By Sarwat Siddiqui
Jorge Garzon………………………………………………………………………Yasser
Genesis Urena……………………………………………………………………Janine
Petra Wimer………………………………………………………………………Aqsa

FINAL ROUND
By Lorenzo Jackson
Isaiah Alicea………………………………………………………………………Justin
Stephanie Diaz……………………………………………………………………Yvette
Devin Mojica………………………………………………………………………Derrick

PANICA
By Anthony Naranjo
Isaiah Alicea…………………………………………………………………………Johnny
Maxine Batchler…………………………………………………………………Conner
Lorenzo Jackson……………………………………………………………………Jack

MIRACLES
By Anurahda Golder
Sydney White…………………………………………………………………Laura
Hannah Dahm…………………………………………………………………Nurse
Anthony Naranjo……………………………………………………………Javier

THERAPIST
By Jorge Garzon
Sydney White………………………………………………………………………Lisa
Hannah Dahm………………………………………………………………………Stacey

OH COMMITMENT
By Genesis Urena
Haskiri Velazquez…………………………………………………………………Cassie
Stanley Mercedes…………………………………………………………………Father
Anthony Naranjo.…………………………………………………………………Aiden

This marks the 4th summer of implementing The 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway at the end of the Life Stories academic year and beginning of the summer intensive, so that the year-long students are able to showcase their creativity, professionalism, and the skills they have learned during their residency and to welcome and assimilate new students into the ensemble.

The creative process for The 24 Hours Plays Off-Broadway began at 10am on Saturday, July 9 when a group of 4 writers (former UAP playwriting students), 17 actors (new & longstanding members), assistant directors & education professionals gathered at Theater Row.

The program kicked off with an orientation -each participant brought a prop, a costume element and shared their special skills sets, their stage dreams and inspired ideas to help inform the writing process.  After a collaborative character generating workshop, each writer was tasked with composing a 10-minute play by the end of the day with the guidance of professional playwrights. The acting students finished the day by engaging in acting games, ensemble building exercises and a 24 Hour Play Improvisation workshop.

Sunday morning, the guest directors joined the cast and crew at 10 AM. Over the next nine hours, the plays were blocked, staged and rehearsed. Our poet, UAP graduate Clevins Browne, arrived at 5pm to watch the rehearsals and pen 4 original poems to introduce each of the plays. At 7pm families and friends packed The Studio theater in Theater Row to see the culmination of all of the students hard work!

CAST & CREW

STARVED FOR FAME
Written by Audasia Glenn
Directed by Sarah Bisman & April Hernandez-Castillo

Maxine Batchler…………………………………………………Anna
Anthony Naranjo………………………………………………….Jeremy
Hannah Turner…………………………………………………..Jayne
Sydney White………………………………………………………Lauren

THE GREAT NINJA STEFFY
Written and Assistant Directed by Emmanuel Minaya
Directed by Paul Calderon

Vincent Castillo…………………………………………….……Tak
Lorenzo Jackson……………………………………………….…. Ryan
Petra Wimer …………………………………..……………….….Lu Lu
Genesis Urena……………………………………………………. Steffy

RETIRED SUPERHEROES
Written and Assistant Directed by Elizabeth Cruz-Cortes
Directed by Marie Masters

Mercedes Alvarez………………………………….……………….Isabel
Stephanie Diaz………………………………………………..……Jewels
Jorge Garzon…………………………………………..…………Hugo
Kayla Robinson……………………………………………………….Red Head
Haskiri Valazquez……………………………..………………..Bay

THE BALLAD DEL JINGO
Written by Maynor Alas
Directed by Chris Eigeman
Assistant Director Frank Turiano

Stanley Mercedes.…………………………………………………Santos
Devin Mojica………………………………………………………Francis
Dio Martinez…………………………………………………..Alejandro(AFR)
Isaiah Alicea………………………………………………………Dan Longhorns

****Poetry by Clevins Browne****

PRODUCTION CREW
Playwriting Teacher/Dramaturge…………………………………………….Zac Kline
Technical Director………………………………………………………….....Matthew Klein
New Group Associate Artistic Director………….………………………...…Ian Morgan
New Group Development ……………………………………………………James Gittins
Life Stories Teaching Artist/Director………………………………………...Julia Grob
Life Stories Associate Director………………………………………………..Frank Turiano
Urban Arts Partnership Artistic Board Chair…………………………………Rosie Perez
Urban Arts Partnership Special Projects Director…….……………………..Anna Strout

Special Thanks: Sarah Bisman, Philip Courtney, Tina Fallon, Jan-Patrick Schmitz, Atissa Tadjadod
 

Spring Showcase at Brandeis HS

04 Jun 2011, 12:34 AM by keith, High School

Students from the three Urban Arts Partnership after school programs at Louis D. Brandeis High School recently came together for their annual Spring Showcase.  All three programs presented strong work and celebrated their accomplishments with family and friends in attendance.  We’re so proud of all the hard work and creativity from these young artists!

The String Ensemble performed three pieces they have been working on: "Pokerface” by Lady Gaga, the traditional hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing,” and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay.  They displayed confidence and technical skill in their playing, as well as a strong sense of cohesion as an ensemble.

“This year I learned how to play my instrument, how to practice better, and how to not get stage fright.  I will remember performing and being with the group.  It was my first year with Urban Arts and I had fun.” said 11th grader Alexis.

“We worked on a lot of different pieces… my favorites were Lady Gaga and “Viva La Vida.”  We learned how to listen to each other, how to tune our instruments, and how to perform without being nervous.” added 12th grader Regine.

The Good Lookin’ Photo Club presented several different projects they created during the year.  Students created comic panels using photos they had taken to create original stories and discussed their process.  The group also had a large display of students’ favorite shots taken during the year to show the diverse range of work produced.  The club also screened two stop-motion animations, both made in collaboration with the other two UAP programs at Brandeis.  With the Drama Club, students created original experimental scenes.  They also collaborated with the String Ensemble to create "moving portraits" of members of the String Ensemble, set to a recording of the ensemble's performance of "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay.  Check out this animation below: 

“We worked a lot on building a portfolio and taking pictures in different situations.  We learned about stop-motion animation and prop setups.  I liked shooting still life scenes.  Mine had different art supplies and other things from home.  My favorite things to shoot are portraits because I love getting people’s reactions.  I also like landscapes because the scene can change over time, and a picture can capture how things looked so people in the future can look back and see how it was.  I’m glad I joined the club.  I’m an artist and I like taking pictures of anything.” remarked 11th grader Jason.

The Drama Club students performed their original one-act play “American Dream,” which tells the story of a dysfunctional family coming apart.  The characters include a delusional mother who tries to pretend everything’s perfect, her prized plant TreeTree that she secretly talks to for advice and comfort, her troubled husband who is tormented with emotional instability and nightmares since returning from military duty, and her two daughters who argue constantly, one of whom finds solace in talking to her dog.  The play included humor, intrigue and surprising turns, as well as strong performances from all the actors.  “American Dream” is a unique and darkly funny vision from these young performing artists.

“Our play was about a family becoming psychotic.  I played the tree… he helps the main character, Barbara, by talking to her and gives her advice about her family.  I thought I wasn’t going to like acting and bring on stage, but I really liked it.” said 11th grader Joel. 

Fellow Drama Club member Ashley (11th grade) added, “I like acting because I get to be creative playing different characters and working with people.  Getting into character can be hard, but then I think about how the character acts throughout their day and what they’re thinking and feeling.  I learned how you get into character by focusing and bringing your emotions into it.  The play was awesome.  I liked the story most because we all put in our ideas.”

“I improved my acting skills and got to exercise something I love.  When you’re hungry for something, you have to do whatever it takes.  My character is a retired military man.  He has nightmares about who killed his friend.  He’s seeing a psychiatrist and eventually remembers that he actually killed his friend.  There’s a lot of emotions.  I think that connecting with my emotions and focusing helps me bring emotions to the stage.” said 12th grader Edwin.

The Advanced Playwriting program is now in its second year, with 9 students from 5 different NYC schools currently participating.  Led by teaching artist Katy Rubin, students have been meeting weekly after school at the UAP offices since January to each develop their own 10-15 minute original play.  After intensive work shopping, the plays will be staged and performed by Life Stories theatre students over a 3 week intensive directing program at the New Group in July, and then will be performed in early August at the Acorn Theater.

The program began with students engaging in exercises designed to help them generate ideas for characters and story ideas for their plays.  They explored character objectives and tactics, and how to create scenes with heightened stakes for the characters.  This in-depth writing process also involves a great deal of peer critique, with students challenging one another to strengthen their plays and ensure that the characters and scenes are true to life.  The group offers one another supportive feedback while also challenging their fellow participants to create the strongest possible work.  Each student also produced a storyboard detailing to plot of their play to help clarify the story they want to tell and how to effectively communicate it to an audience in a short amount of time.  

The group has also participated in a rolling master class series, which also consists of taking students to plays by living playwrights who lead talk backs/tutorials with students after performances.  So far, the students have attended six plays, and they noted that these experiences have helped them gain a deeper understanding of what makes a great play and how to keep the audience engaged.  Overall, these young playwrights have been focusing on developing their own unique voices to bring their authentic personalities and perspectives to their audience.  Stay tuned for more news from this incredibly hard-working group of emerging new voices in theater.


“So far we did a lot of improv exercises to help with character development and objectives, which helps you write dialogue.  The other main focus of the class is conflict.  We worked with character interruptions to bring in different opinions and voices.  What’s really good about this group is that we’re all really into writing and we all bring different perspectives to our feedback.  All the feedback has been really helpful.  It’s a good place to help you make concentrated, focused time to write in a supportive environment.” – Anuradha, 12th grade, Beacon HS

“It’s important personally to me to make time for this class because it’s what I want to do in the future.  I need the practice and performing arts is an incredibly competitive field.  I have an advantage by participating in Urban Arts in being able to know how a play is really written.  It gives us skills for making our plays more real.  We don’t want to write about childish subjects, and the roundtable feedback is so helpful.  I’m writing about one of my greatest fears.  My play is about someone who realizes that someone he loves is actually a figment of his imagination.” – Anthony, 12th grade, Beacon HS        

“I like this class because I like creative writing, but I don’t like writing without a purpose.  I know there’s an end product I’m working toward, and I look forward to having my work read.  The best part of the class is being able to get feedback from other playwrights.  It’s been a real big skill booster.  The program allows teens to write about things that are about real life stuff.” – Genesis, 11th grade, KAPP International HS

Original Historical Drama at MS 258

12 Apr 2011, 10:18 AM by keith, Middle School

Since November, the after school drama program at MS 258 Community Action School has been working with teaching artist Brendan Boland on developing an original historical drama, which they recently performed at the school for family, friends and the community.  Entitled "The Dark Side of Salem," the play is a realistic protrayal of the events of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in the late 1600s.  Students researched important events and people from this dark time in history, and started by writing monologues about various characters.  They then worked collaboratively to write, revise, cast and rehearse the play.    

After their dress rehearsal, the cast gathered to reflect on their performance and disucss what they felt they did well and what they wanted to improve upon for their next performance.

Following their evening performance for families, the cast participated in a Q&A with the audience to discuss their inspiration and creative process.  Everyone also talked about their viewpoints on what morals can be learned from the play and how the themes the play explores are still relevant today.

“Our play is about people trying to deceive other people.  I hope people that see the play would learn to always stick to your own path.  Don’t follow the flow of what other people are doing.  Stick to your own opinions and choices.” – Roger, 7th grade

“It was scary and I was nervous, but once we warmed up, everything was good.  I was most proud that I knew all my lines and that the play could teach people some lessons that they could take into the real world.” – Shyla, 7th grade

“I was scared to play my character because she is a strong character and does some nasty stuff.  She’s a really big liar, and people are killed because of her lies.  I think everybody did great.  Every line came from us and we worked really hard.  The lessons of the play are that you should not lie and don’t go along with something if you know it’s wrong.” – Anayess, 7th grade

Page: 1 2
Facebook Twitter Contact
Website design by Hudson Union