David Rambo Hosts Rubicon's YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS’ FESTIVAL, 5/29-30

Any investor knows that a robust future grows from seeds planted today. The lesson isn't lost on Rubicon Theatre Company, whose YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL kicks off its fourth fete at Rubicon this Memorial Day Weekend.

The brainchild of Broadway alum Clark Sayre, who teaches drama at Santa Barbara's Dos Pueblos High School, the program takes inspiration from Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwrights' Inc., in working to encourage the creative self-expression of Gold Coast youth. The effort found the perfect partner in Rubicon, which has long inserted a summer hiatus in its acclaimed mainstage production schedule to dedicate its resources to a thriving youth theatre program.

A true exercise in community building, the Festival's success pivots on the support of an engaged populace to provide an audience for the finished work -- filled seats and the sound of applause comprising the gold standard for any theatrical production.

It's an alliance that yields rewards for all involved: "Working with them reminds me why I wanted to be a writer in the first place," notes Festival mentor Sammy Buck. "It re-infuses my own passions and curiosities about the art of writing. Seeing how
inventive these students are - and how they imbue their work with such true emotion -- that's an ethic that every writer strives for." The program's nine one-act plays are presented to the public free of charge; an unparalleled bargain in professional theatre that offers dividends to all involved even as it asks only the support of participation.

The YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL is an 8-month-long program that gives young writers a safe and nurturing forum from which to create a one-act plays that are subsequently produced and staged with professional directors and actors for public audiences. Students learn the fundamentals of playwriting through classroom activities and mentorships with professional playwrights, who provide guidance and direction on drafts of early scenes helping them to develop those ideas into a cohesive, creative and original one-act play. The program bore fruit on Rubicon's main stage last season, as Festival alum Quinn Sosna-Spears's "In All Honesty" found a production home among the theatre's main subscriber season. "The only limits on this creativity are what they dare to conceive," notes mentor Gib Johnson, who continues, the program "gets them thinking outside the box."

Rubicon Theatre Company's YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL features three different performances of one-act plays written by area high school students and presented by professional directors and actors. Some fifty artists are participating in this year's effort, including award-winning actors Gregory Harrison, Amanda McBroom, and Stephanie Zimbalist. Readings of the Festival one-acts are free to the public, and take place on May 29 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and May 30 at 2:00 p.m. Special dinner discounts are available at local restaurants on Sunday and Monday between shows.

The festival concludes with a "Yak-Back" session in which JON LAWRENCE RIVERA (Artistic Director, Playwrights Arena) will lead a conversation between the audience and acclaimed writers of stage and screen including David Rambo, DAN GORDON
("Passenger 57," "Wyatt Earp," "Murder in the First," "The Hurricane," and "Celestine Prophecy"), CLARINDA ROSS (Spit Like a Big Girl) and MICHAEL BERNARD (Associate Artistic Director of The 52nd Street Project). The Yak-Back will take place on Monday evening at 6:00 p.m. $20 donation includes admittance to the panel discussion and a post-show dessert reception. For reservations, go to www.rubicontheatre.org or call (805) 667-2900.

Past students have been recipients of awards such as New Young Playwrights' Festival and The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival. This year's festival is underwritten by THE GIRSH AND HOCHMAN FAMILIES, first-time sponsors of the Festival. Starting with Lester and Viola Girsh (of Girsh Park), their daughter Ruelene Hochman and continuing down through four generations, the families have enjoyed supporting music, theatre and the arts in Santa Barbara for over 50 years. "Our commitment to programs that benefit both the community at large and our community's youth makes the Young Playwrights' Festival a perfect match!" remarks sponsor Daniel Hochman.

The Young Playwrights Include BLAKE BENLAN, FERNANDA DOUGLAS, LAUREN FERRELL, KATIE GROSS, HANNAH GUNSON, LOGAN KONO, TATJANA MUTINELLI, HANNAH SPECK and ALLISON VANG. Festival Directors include BRIan McDonald (Rubicon's Bus Stop and Master Harold...and the boys), RICK MOKLER (Former Production Chair of the SBCC Theatre Arts Department), Gioia Marchese (Founding Co-Artistic Director of The Bridge Theatre Company in NY), PAUL FREEMAN (President and Artistic Director of Santa Children's Chorus), CASEY CALDWELL (Head of Ratatat Theater Group), and MILLER JAMES (Artistic Director of Santa Barbara Children's Theatre).