Berkeley Rep Announces Winning Teen Playwrights

The Teen Council at Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced the winners of its annual Target ® Teen One Acts Festival. The winning scripts for 2008 are Perfect Score by 17-year-old Katie Henry of Berkeley and El Soldado by 17-year-old Roxie Perkins of Albany. Now in its sixth year, the Festival is a celebration of teen theatre that unites the talents of youth from throughout the Bay Area. The event is produced entirely by teens and hosted by Berkeley Rep's School of Theatre.

In the annual Target ® Teen One Acts Festival, teens select original scripts penned by local students to be directed, performed, and produced by their peers. The winning writers are paired with mentors in the professional theatre community to receive feedback and support in revising their work for performance, and the entire process is supported by Berkeley Rep's staff. The dates for this year's Festival are April 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12. Performances are held at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre at 2071 Addison Street in downtown Berkeley. Tickets, available only at the door, are $6 for students and $12 for adults.

"Perfect Score takes us through a year in the lives of four friends as they traverse the college application process – complete with nervous breakdowns, awkward interviews, and the occasional musical number. As they race towards the fat-envelope finish line, these friends struggle to find themselves among SAT scores and GPAs. Katie Henry, a senior at Berkeley High School and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, is enjoying her second year as a winning playwright for the Festival. Seventeen-year-old Leyla Holt of Berkeley, a senior at Head-Royce School, directs Perfect Score, and 15-year-old Valerie Dohrer of Berkeley, a sophomore at Berkeley High, serves as stage manager.

In El Soldado, 17-year-old Shannon Ratner searches for identity in the silhouette of her absent father, a soldier in the Iraq war. She struggles to cope with her past, seize her future, and find her place in the small, wrestling-obsessed town that doesn't feel like home. Roxie Perkins, a junior at Albany High School, has enjoyed the adventures of playwriting since the age of nine and participated in Berkeley Rep's Summer Intensive for the past two years. Perkins also directs El Soldado, and 16-year-old Elizabeth De Luna of Orinda, a sophomore at Carondelet High School, co-stage manages with 15-year-old Elizabeth Frainier of Moraga, a freshman at Campolindo High School. Please be aware that El Soldado includes strong language that may not be appropriate for children," press notes state.

The producer for this year's Festival is Christina Novakov-Ritchey of Berkeley, a 15-year-old sophomore at Miramonte High School who is serving as general manager for both plays. The scripts are performed entirely by local teens:

The cast of Perfect Score includes 17-year-old Spencer Fortin of Albany, a senior at Albany High; 17-year-old Natalya Gibbs-Kail of El Cerrito, a senior at Berkeley High; 16-year-old Annie Gillies of Berkeley, a junior at Berkeley High; 17-year-old Naomi Krupitsky Wernham of Berkeley, a senior at Berkeley High; 15-year-old Aaron Lynch Miller, a sophomore at Berkeley High; and 18-year-old Jacob Rice of Oakland, a senior at Head-Royce School.

El Soldado features a cast of ten Berkeley High School students, including 15-year-old Michaela Bathrick of Berkeley, a freshman; 16-year-old Eric Chiang of Berkeley, a junior; 15-year-old Matia Emsellem of Berkeley, a freshman; 16-year-old Ian Farnkopf of Berkeley, a sophomore; 16-year-old Raechel Lockhart of Berkeley, a junior; 17-year-old Marco Mastronardo of Berkeley, a senior; 18-year-old Kara Murray of Oakland, a senior; 17-year-old Silvie Senauke of Berkeley, a senior; 16-year-old Scottie White of Berkeley, a sophomore; and 14-year-old Marnina Wirtschafter of Berkeley, a freshman.

The Berkeley Rep Teen Council is a theatre youth group organized by teens for teens. Its goal is to foster the theatre audiences and theatre professionals of tomorrow by opening channels of communication between teens, theatre professionals, and the community at large. The Teen Council provides the opportunity for youth to participate in all aspects of the dramatic process: on stage, backstage, and in front of the stage through an affiliation with the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre. For more information, call 510.647.2974, visit berkeleyrep.org, or e-mail teencouncil@berkeleyrep.org. 

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