Spring Break
Up-and-coming University playwrite debuts in New York
By: Aditi Dubey
Issue date: 6/2/06 Section: Entertainment
Originally published: 6/2/06 at 10:37 AM EST
Last update: 6/7/06 at 12:13 AM EST
Originally published: 6/2/06 at 10:37 AM EST
Last update: 6/7/06 at 12:13 AM EST
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The 24th Young Playwrights Festival is currently being held at the Playwrights Horizons theatre in New York.
The festival features three plays written by up-and-coming playwrights from across the country, including FreezeFrame, by University student Deborah Yarchun. The other two plays featured were Los Angeles Lullaby by Kit Steinkellner and Suicide Club by Miriam Eichenbaum. All the plays had strong scripts and were complimented by equally good acting. While Los Angeles Lullaby and Suicide Club related more down-to-earth stories and had characters you could identify with, Yarchun's play was more abstract.
Los Angeles Lullaby
Los Angeles Lullaby is about Sonia, a single mother, trying work things out with her estranged father, who is an alcoholic and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. The play focuses mainly on Sonia's relationships with her daughter and her father. Sonia is a headstrong woman who takes charge of her life and her father's after her mother's death. With perfect grades, a perfect job and a perfect lifestyle, Sonia almost seems incorruptible - at least until you see her relationship with her infant daughter. She is incapable of soothing or calming the baby; it's apparent that the child doesn't even like being in her mother's arms. The baby prefers to be with her father instead, much to Sonia's dismay. After a series of arguments, one of which comes after a night when the father takes the infant to a bar, Sonia asks her father to leave. The play ends with all the characters coming to terms with their faults and accepting each other's faults as well. A well-paced script, good direction and effective dialogue are assets to the play. The story strikes a chord with the audience because it showcases the problems a lot of American families face and how they can wreck them.
Suicide Note
Suicide Note takes an unusual approach to the lives of high school girls. It focuses on the lives of three students who, for some reason or another, have lost all hope and want to kill themselves. One of them, Bridget, is a valedictorian. She assumes a perfect personality and tries extremely hard to make sure that no one finds out that there are some things that even she doesn't know. When the entire school is about to find out that all the colleges that Bridget applied to have rejected her and that she isn't as smart as they believe her to be, she decides to commit suicide. Another student, Mary, is a slut who feels that she can be as wanton and sinful as she wants to be, because God doesn't hear her anyway. She was a victim of incestuous rape and now she doesn't care what happens to her body. Mary hopes that she will die by contracting AIDS or another STD. The third, Lucy, is an apathetic person who constantly feels "dead within." She had a disturbed childhood where she was traumatized by her mother's constant jibes at her appearance. Even after 17 years, the taunts haven't left her and she isn't able to let go. Unable to deal with all the stress, she has attempted to end her life multiple times, but has failed. The three girls are caught by the headmistress and are set to be expelled from the school. As a last chance for everyone, Bridget is given the charge of "fixing these girls." In one month, if she succeeds in accomplishing what priests and rehabs couldn't, all three of them will be pardoned. A series of heated talks and counseling sessions precede the happy ending, where everyone is finally able to sort out their problems and deal with their fears. The play was down-to-earth and the characters were very real. Again, a well-paced script and identifiable characters keep the audience interested. I'm sure that if anyone didn't know the importance of camaraderie earlier, they will certainly know now.
The festival features three plays written by up-and-coming playwrights from across the country, including FreezeFrame, by University student Deborah Yarchun. The other two plays featured were Los Angeles Lullaby by Kit Steinkellner and Suicide Club by Miriam Eichenbaum. All the plays had strong scripts and were complimented by equally good acting. While Los Angeles Lullaby and Suicide Club related more down-to-earth stories and had characters you could identify with, Yarchun's play was more abstract.
Los Angeles Lullaby
Los Angeles Lullaby is about Sonia, a single mother, trying work things out with her estranged father, who is an alcoholic and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. The play focuses mainly on Sonia's relationships with her daughter and her father. Sonia is a headstrong woman who takes charge of her life and her father's after her mother's death. With perfect grades, a perfect job and a perfect lifestyle, Sonia almost seems incorruptible - at least until you see her relationship with her infant daughter. She is incapable of soothing or calming the baby; it's apparent that the child doesn't even like being in her mother's arms. The baby prefers to be with her father instead, much to Sonia's dismay. After a series of arguments, one of which comes after a night when the father takes the infant to a bar, Sonia asks her father to leave. The play ends with all the characters coming to terms with their faults and accepting each other's faults as well. A well-paced script, good direction and effective dialogue are assets to the play. The story strikes a chord with the audience because it showcases the problems a lot of American families face and how they can wreck them.
Suicide Note
Suicide Note takes an unusual approach to the lives of high school girls. It focuses on the lives of three students who, for some reason or another, have lost all hope and want to kill themselves. One of them, Bridget, is a valedictorian. She assumes a perfect personality and tries extremely hard to make sure that no one finds out that there are some things that even she doesn't know. When the entire school is about to find out that all the colleges that Bridget applied to have rejected her and that she isn't as smart as they believe her to be, she decides to commit suicide. Another student, Mary, is a slut who feels that she can be as wanton and sinful as she wants to be, because God doesn't hear her anyway. She was a victim of incestuous rape and now she doesn't care what happens to her body. Mary hopes that she will die by contracting AIDS or another STD. The third, Lucy, is an apathetic person who constantly feels "dead within." She had a disturbed childhood where she was traumatized by her mother's constant jibes at her appearance. Even after 17 years, the taunts haven't left her and she isn't able to let go. Unable to deal with all the stress, she has attempted to end her life multiple times, but has failed. The three girls are caught by the headmistress and are set to be expelled from the school. As a last chance for everyone, Bridget is given the charge of "fixing these girls." In one month, if she succeeds in accomplishing what priests and rehabs couldn't, all three of them will be pardoned. A series of heated talks and counseling sessions precede the happy ending, where everyone is finally able to sort out their problems and deal with their fears. The play was down-to-earth and the characters were very real. Again, a well-paced script and identifiable characters keep the audience interested. I'm sure that if anyone didn't know the importance of camaraderie earlier, they will certainly know now.
