Last semester four colegio students, Hannah Walker, Bobby Leonard, Zoë Beale, and Daniel Vargas, presented their completed short plays before a packed meeting house. The students dedicated two cycles of mini-courses to working on these plays. They 
began their labors with a series of writing exercises and improvisation activities. Then, during sessions of “work-shopping,” they started writing their plays-in-progress. Playwriting workshops involved script-in-hand readings of each play, followed by comments, suggestions, and critiques by the class. Playwrights incorporated these suggestions into a new version of their work. In this way, each play was the result of collaboration, built not only on the individual’s ideas, but the ideas of the group. The four students then held auditions to cast their short plays, drawing on the student body as well as staff members to fill the roles. Each playwright was responsible for directing his or her work: creating a set, planning and running rehearsals, and blocking the scenes. The final production, which went up in December 2007, featured the acting talents of Nico Wolff, María Jesús Vargas, 
Tricia Wagner, Alexandra Nelson, and Jonathan Ogle. Playwrights Zoë, Bobby, Hannah, and Daniel also acted in the production. The students did a fabulous job as playwrights, actors, and directors! I was deeply impressed with their level of dedication, their creativity, and their positive, playful attitudes. Congratulations group, and please keep writing!
Playwrights Bobby Leonard, Daniel Vargas, Zoë Beale, and Hannah Walker play television producers in the evening’s final play by Rebekah Lopata. [Click for larger image]
María Jesús Vargas and Bobby Leonard play brother and sister debating the dating scene in Hannah Walker’s play. [Click for larger image]
Rebekah Lopata currently teaches 5–6 math and science, 5–12 health, and 9–10 earth science at the Monteverde Friends School.
Tricia Wagner, Daniel Vargas, and Zoë Beale act out a family crisis in a scene from the play by Daniel Vargas. [Click for larger image]
Alexandra Nelson, Daniel Vargas, and Nico Wolff attempt to cope with the stresses of academic life in Bobby Leonard’s play. [Click for larger image]
Jonathan Ogle takes a spill after failing to catch Tricia Wagner’s tossed pencil in a scene from Zoë Beale’s play. [Click for larger image]