MadLab to Host 2016 Young Writers Short Play Festival This July

MadLab's Young Writers Short Play Festival, in its 5th year, will feature a collection of ten short plays written by 11 Columbus area high school students.

This year's shows include: A Girl Vs the Future by Eryn Henderson; Chalk Outlines by Hannah Woods; Clean up on Register 3 by Rachel Harris; Forks by Myles Lawson; Garage Sale by Zoe Thomas; Geck by Emily Lynch and Eliya Smith; Me, Myself and I by Nicole Ewen; Seeing Stars written by Grace Hargis; The Texting Dead written by Anna Rolinatis; and X & Y written by TyQura Fountain.

Showtimes: 8 pm, Friday July 15, Saturday July 16, Friday July 22, Saturday July 23, Friday July 29, and Saturday July 30. Tickets: $15, $13 for students and senior citizens, $10 for MadLab members www.madlab.net/MadLab/tickets.html.

MadLab is a non-profit organization that provides an artistic haven for the creation and experience of original works. Part of that effort involves giving young people the opportunity to create original works.

Founded in 2011, MadLab's Young Writers Short Play Festival is designed to give local high school playwrights a professional theatrical experience. Students submit 10-minute plays, and the best are chosen to be developed and produced. Each student is given the opportunity to attend specialized workshops and collaborate with local and national mentor playwrights during the time they are in the program. At the end of the program the plays are performed at MadLab as a full-scale short play festival.

This program has a lasting impact on student and adult participants alike. Former playwrights have gone on to major in theatre in college, have their work included in textbooks, and perform on national television.

ABOUT THE PLAYS:

A Girl Vs the Future by Eryn Henderson - Hilliard Bradley High School

A test that determines your future, what's the worst that could happen?

Mom - Shana Kramer

Crystal - Meaghan Vaders

Mr. Future - Peter Graybeal

Directed by - Laura Spires

Playwright: Eryn Henderson

Eryn is a junior at Hilliard Bradley High School. She spends most of her time doing school work, playing tennis, watching far too much television, doodling, writing, and relaxing with her dog. She has been fond of writing stories for as long as she can remember. She also enjoys the subjects math and science and hopes that she can continue a lifestyle that lets her pursue both her intellectual and creative interests.

Chalk Outlines by Hannah Woods - Grove City Christian School

Following the shooting of a gang member, three groups of people evaluate the worth of his life

Bad Cop - Katharine Pilcher

Good Cop - Scott Clay

Man - Michael Moore

Boy - Brett Hutton

Mom - Sheree Evans

Daughter - Alana Rex

Directed by - Randi Morgan

Playwright: Hannah Woods

This is Hannah's third year as a young writer and the seventh show that she has been involved with at Madlab, which means she has probably done physics homework in the seat you're sitting in... She would like to thank her parents for driving her across the city (because she has an irrational fear of merging) to strengthen her passion for theatre, as the only things she can do successfully are writing plays and peeling clementines in one piece.

Clean up on Register 3 by Rachel Harris - Hilliard Bradley High School

How well do we really know our neighbors?

Bill - Michael Moore

Tom - Chris Colgan

Butch - Pete Graybeal

Directed by - Kyle Jepson

Playwright: Rachel Harris

Rachel Harris is a junior at Hilliard Bradley High School. While she has always loved writing creatively since she was very young, her other interests include playing violin, playing guitar, hiking, psychology, and telling lame jokes. She has not decided exactly what her future career will be yet, but she hopes it will be along the lines of either writing or psychology.

Forks by Myles Lawson - Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center

When you come to a fork in the road, always choose ice cream.

Brian - Devante Brown

Cameron - Lake Wilburn

Directed by - Jim Azelvandre

Playwright: Myles Lawson

Myles Lawson is a graduate of Fort Hayes Arts & Academic HS with the class of 2016. Along with becoming a professional dancer at the age of 17 with the American Company of Irish Dance and achieving a World placement in competitive Irish Dance with the Regan Rankin Holland Academy, Myles is thrilled to be able to add 'playwright' to his list of accomplishments. His next plan will be going out on tour with his company beginning in September of 2016. Myles would like to give thanks to MadLab Theater for this incredible opportunity, and to all of his friends and family for their never-ending support.

Garage Sale written by Zoe Thomas - Hilliard Bradley High School

A mother and daughter come to odds over a household garage sale.

Mom - Shana Kramer

Rose - Hannah Woods

Customer - Michael Moore

Directed by - Stefan Farrenkopf

Playwright: Zoe Thomas

Zoe Thomas is a junior at Hilliard Bradley High School. Her writings have been previously published in two issues of the teen literary magazine "Flip the Page" and her school's newspaper. Besides writing, she is an enthusiastic member of the Bradley marching band's flute section.

Geck written by Emily Lynch and Eliya Smith - Columbus School for Girls (both go here)

A Gecko walks into a bar...

Issac - Brett Hutton

Daphne - Kyle Jepson

Directed by - Melissa Bair

Playwright: Emily Lynch

Emily is a senior at Columbus School for Girls and a soon-to-be freshman at the University of Chicago. She has acted and danced throughout high school, and this year she was able try playwriting for the first time in a class taught by Ms. Janetta Davis. She would like to dedicate her play to her deceased gecko, Geck, as well as her best friend, Eliya Smith, in that order.

Playwright: Eliya Smith

Eliya is so excited to be a part of Young Writers 2016. Her previous theater experience is mostly limited to acting; favorite shows include A View from the Bridge (Gallery Players), Captain Blood (Actors' Theatre of Columbus), and any show that involves working with Janetta Davis. She is a graduating senior at Columbus School for Girls and will be attending Harvard College next fall. She extends her deepest gratitude to her supremely supportive friends and family, and most importantly, to her lifelong vp, e^2 harmonizer, and co-everything, Emily Lynch. Enjoy the show

Me, Myself and I written by Nicole Ewen - Hilliard Bradley High School

We all do crazy things for love.

Jackson - Scott Clay

JC - Lance Atkinson

SC - Kyle Jepson

Shelly - Frankie Diederich

Directed by - Laura Spires

Playwright: Nicole Ewen

Nikki Ewen is a senior at Hilliard Bradley High School. This is her first published work, and she is overly excited to share it with the world. Along with writing, Nikki plays volleyball and ran track during high school. She has been in one high school production, but attends all performances she can (giving herself the label of a "theater junkie"). Nikki plans on majoring in Physics and Astronomy in the fall. With that said, she also plans on minoring in creative writing to continue her writing career in the future.

Seeing Stars written by Grace Hargis - Hilliard Bradley High School

Hindsight's 20/20.

Lea - Katharine Pilcher

Young Lea - Maddie Woda

Dennis - TBA

Directed by - Jim Azelvandre

Playwright: Grace Hargis

Grace Hargis is thrilled to be working with Madlab for the first time this summer! Although she certainly has a great affinity for creative writing, and has spent a great deal of time onstage as an actress (primarily at Hilliard Bradley High School, where she is currently a graduating senior), this will mark her first playwriting endeavor. Grace will continue to study English and Acting at NYU Tisch School of the Arts or Barnard College of Columbia University in the fall. She would like to extend a special thank you to her fellow playwrights and mentors for their feedback and collaboration throughout this experience - she feels very fortunate to be given the opportunity to see her biggest passions coincide!

The Texting Dead written by Anna Rolinatis - Hilliard Bradley High School

Three people grapple with the aftermath of the technology apocalypse.

Rachel - Meaghan Vaders

Ben - Brett Hutton

Fred - Andy Batt

Directed by - Michelle DiCeglio

Playwright: Anna Rolinatis

Anna Rolinatis is a sophomore at Hilliard Bradley High School. This is her second year participating in MadLab's Young Writers Short Play Festival. Her passion is stories; telling them, listening to them, and most of all writing them. She has loved writing and reading since she was young and hopes to pursue some form of writing in college.

X & Y written by TyQura Fountain - Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School

A young person ponders the most important question, "Who am I?"

X - Kate Jones

Y - Andy Batt

Logan - Brett Hutton

Directed by - Michelle Batt

Playwright: TyQura Fountain

TyQura Fountain is a 17 year old senior at Fort Hayes Arts and Academic night school. She's always been interested in the arts including writing, filming, dance, and others. She's loves learning about other cultures. She's been learning Japanese for 5 year in school, and on my own German, Italian, French, among others. In the future TyQura hopes to be an accomplished writer in a variety of film media forms and graphic novels and to travel to various countries.

ABOUT THE MENTORS:

John Dranschak (Mentor for Nicole Ewen, Grace Hargis), a Columbus native, has been actively involved in the local professional theatre scene for nearly two decades and is currently an Executive Producer with Red Herring Productions. As a Director, his productions with Red Herring, BlueForms Theatre Group, Available Light Theatre, and Gallery Players have won recognition from the Central Ohio Theatre Critics' Circle, the Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable, Columbus Alive, the Columbus Dispatch, the Jebby Awards, and the Other Paper, including sixteen citations for Best Show of the Year and three citations for Best New Work. He wrote for five local 24 Hour Theatre events, wrote a short for the 48 Hour Film Project, and wrote and directed the independent television pilot "On The Record", which premiered at the 2015 Hoboken International Film Festival. With Madlab, he wrote and directed "For The Life of Me" for Theatre Roulette 2001 and directed "Learning to Say" for Theatre Roulette 2004.

Jason Beehler (Mentor for Hannah Woods, Zoe Thomas, Myles Lawson) is a lawyer and writer, though he longs for the days when he can return to his first love: the hammered dulcimer.

Josh Kessler (Mentor for Anna Rolinatis, Eryn Henderson, Rachel Harris) has been working with MadLab as an improvateur, actor, director, and writer since 2006. His plays and sketches have been produced in conjunction with Theatre Roulette, 3in30, Too Much Xmas, and FFN's Sketch You Can Believe In. Josh has extensive experience in improvisational comedy, having coached and performed with troupes from across Ohio and organized multiple workshops for at-risk youth. He has also worked as an acting teacher and appeared nationally as the host of the game show "Dash for Dollars". A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Josh is a project manager and copy writer for COSI.

Audrey Rush (Mentor for Emily Lynch, Eliya Smith, and TyQura Fountain) has been an ensemble member at MadLab since 2012. A mentor with the Young Writers' program and actress seen in several shows at the Lab including 2014's The Playdaters, Audrey has also had the privilege of serving as director for Imagine Productions' 2014 production of La Cage Aux Folles and in 2015 directed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? under her very own company, Adrenaline Theatre Group. She would like to thank the entire team at MadLab for saying 'yes' and providing such a unique forum for the creation of new and exciting theatre. Additional thanks to the cast and crew for bringing this to life, Chad for making me do this, my parents for making me, and as ever and always, Friend Rabbit for continuously tolerating my schedule and tantrums.