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Henry Woronicz in An Iliad p h oto co u r t e s y o f k e v I n e b e r n e . co m
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their ideas. All of the authors had their own unique ideas, but they were also focused on the technical elements that are essential to creating a good script.” The session and the retreat yielded six plays that were submitted for the Teen Council playwriting competition last November. A group of high-school students served on a play-selection committee and read all of the plays, scoring them in terms of the quality of the narrative, characters, production requirements, and style. With the assistance of Berkeley Rep’s staff, the committee chose two plays to debut in the Teen One-Acts Festival. By selecting the plays, the students got to live with the productions from initial inception to production. Teen Council senior Negi Esfandiari says, “Being on the selection committee has been a tradition for me since I was a freshman, and each year talented teen playwrights give us new plays to read. And besides, being part of the OneActs from the beginning is one of the best parts of the festival!” The production process is entirely teen driven, with teen actors, directors, designers, and producers, which means everyone has a similar scope of experience. “I can apply myself to the production in a professional setting, all while having fun,” says Negi. Teen playwright Frances Maples, whose play premiered in the 2012 Teen One-Acts, was overwhelmed by her experience: “I was consistently blown away by the talent of everyone working with me. It was a dream come true. I really can’t even talk about the process without gushing and falling into clichés.” The School of Theatre also offers adults a chance to sharpen their writing skills through playwriting classes taught by Gary Graves, codirector of Central Works in Berkeley. A number of Gary’s original works have been produced locally, and he also has experience working as an actor and director, which allows him to