MadLab Kicks Off 2013 Young Writers Short Play Festival Today

MadLab will present The Young Writers Short Play Festival, a collection of nine short plays written by Columbus area high school students. This year features plays from all women playwrights. 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. This festival was born from that goal. MadLab sought out submissions from area high schools and chose the best plays to produce. Student playwrights will work with experienced local playwrights to help them with their plays.

The plays will show on Fridays and Saturdays today, July 26 - August 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12, with a discounted of price $10 for students and senior citizens, and a discounted price of $8 for MadLab members. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.madlab.net/MadLab/Buy_Tickets.html. All performances take place at MadLab Theatre (227 N. 3rd St., Columbus, OH) For more information, visit www.madlab.net.

Friday's Plays

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE by Emily Cipriani

George is on life support, and there's no chance of recovery. With the help of a sarcastic, doughnut-loving Grim Reaper, George helps his family learn to say goodbye to someone who has already gone.

Cast:

George - Sean Reid

Ruth - Molly St. Cyr

Kalyn - Lexy Weixel

Grim - Peter Graybeal

Directed by Becky Horseman

PRIESTLY by Kinsey Cantrell

Delilah brings an Indulgence, a document allowing access to heaven, home to her son, Cane. Cane isn't religious and is offended by her insinuation that he is a bad person. An argument ensues, over the course of which Delilah learns who her son has become and confronts her views of morality and religion.

Cast:

Cane - Stephen Woosley

Delilah - Randi Morgan

Directed by Sean Reid

IN LOVE AND WAR by Amelia Koontz

Where would you go if the world were ending? For two strangers, the answer to this is a small bookstore, where they run into each other and strike up a conversation. As civilization begins to fall, they find solace and discover things about each other - and themselves - that they may never have known under any other circumstances.

Cast:

Taylor - Lexy Weixel

Matt - Joe Liles

Directed by Stephen Woosley

CLOSING CLOSET DOORS by Hannah Russell

CLOSING CLOSET DOORS is all about the awkwardness of telling your parents your lifelong secret, whatever it may be. Lydia is trying to invite her family into a big part of her life and they aren't exactly taking it well, but that is a part of sharing things with people. This comedy tries to give a realistic picture of the most awkward day of your life.

Cast:

Lydia - Brigid Ogden

Nadia - Becky Horseman

Stanley - Peter Graybeal

Myrna - Randi Morgan

Danner - Joe Liles

Directed by Stephen Woosley

Saturday's Plays

MARRIED TO MELINDA REUBen Foster by Em Hammett

Meet Nick Schaffer: your average teenage boy who grows up to be your average adult man. Meet Melinda Reuben-Foster: your not-so-average, straight-laced, science-aimed teenage girl who grows up to be a very successful cancer researcher. In high school, Nick and Melinda are forced to work together on a health project in which they are "married" with a child (represented by a sack of flour). "Married to Melinda Reuben-Foster" encompasses the dynamic and process of their pretend marriage, including naming their sack of flour, deciding on their careers, and even making their pretend marriage work. A story about high school students, written by a high school student, this play looks at adulthood from the point of two very different young people.

Cast:

Melinda - Catherine Quamme

Old Nick - Erik Sternberger

Young Nick - Chad Hewitt

Mrs. Foster - Michelle Batt

Directed by Randi Morgan

LITTLE RED by Anna Mulhall

LITTLE RED is the tale of one man's struggle to come to terms with the loss of the person he loves most. Told through overlapping moments of their lives, we see the slow unraveling of their happiness, and the resulting tragedy. He holds onto her in the only ways he has left: the late, great words of men wiser than he, and the memories. This piece shows that while opposites may attract, they have a way of pulling everything apart eventually.

Cast:

Henry - Josh Kessler

Margo - Molly St. Cyr

Man - Sean Reid

Directed by Michelle Batt

SWEET NOTHINGS by Sarah Fornshell

Written in the spirit of one of the greatest playwrights of all time, SWEET NOTHINGS takes on the form of a Shakespearian sonnet as bride-to-be Celia is confronted by her childhood sweetheart just moments before her wedding. Caught between two men, one a treasure-hunter interested only in Celia's money and the other an old flame with a heart of gold, Celia must choose between dousing the sparks of her past or allowing them to burn as bright as the stars.

Cast:

Celia - Jennie Price

Neil - Chad Hewitt

Adrian - Erik Sternberger

Directed by Michelle Batt

DEAD END by Lexy Weixel

Waiting always seems to bring things to an end. Still, it's always nice to have company along the way-- at least, that's what they say. But, in this waiting room everything is a bit... different.

Cast:

Nicky - Brigid Ogden

John - Stephen Woosley

Max - Erik Sternberger

Melba - Becky Horseman

Directed by Nikki Smith

ELEPHANT TEA by Abigail Goodhart

ELEPHANT TEA tells the story of the eccentric Aunt Elly and her niece, Jade, who is attempting to write her aunt's biography. As Aunt Elly recounts her whirlwind experiences in love, in friendship and even in a circus she dishes out advice on everything from dancing to dating. Throughout this one act, Jade learns not only about Aunt Elly's life, but about embracing life itself.

Cast:

Jade - MaryBeth Griffith

Aunt Elly - Randi Morgan

Directed by Michelle Batt

The Playwrights

Emily Cipriani (Writer) (Columbus Academy)

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE.

Emily Cipriani is thrilled to see her play put to life at MadLab! Next fall, Emily will be a junior at the Columbus Academy. Her play CRAZY TALK was produced last year as part of MadLab's Young
Writers short play festival. Emily also enjoys acting in theaters aroundColumbus. She'd like the thank her English teacher, Mrs. Swinford, Becky and the awesome cast!

Kinsey Cantrell (Writer) ( Hilliard Bradley High School)

PRIESTLY

My name is Kinsey Cantrell, and I've wanted to be a writer ever since I decided in kindergarten that no book could ever be perfect in my eyes unless I wrote it. Although I have yet to think anything I've written is perfect, I've kept at it, and this play is one of the products of that. The process I've gone through with this play has been truly eye-opening, and, although I hadn't considered it before - I'm more of a short story and novel kind of person - I could see myself writing many more plays in the future.

Amelia Koontz (Writer) ( Columbus Alternative High School)

IN LOVE AND WAR

Amelia Koontz is a sophomore at Columbus Alternative High School. This is her first play, but she has previously written several short stories for district-level competitions and participated in National Novel Writing Month four times, of which she has won twice. Amelia is inspired by all of the books she reads, especially those by John Green, Markus Zusak, and Daniel Handler. She hopes to have a writing-based career in the fiction world. In addition, she has been recently exploring spoken-word pieces and other facets of the performing arts.

Hannah Russell (Writer) ( Columbus Alternative High School)

CLOSING CLOSET DOORS

Hannah Russell is a 17 year old high school senior who dreams of making movies. She plans to go to U of Chicago and eventually move into her parents basement so she can work at Starbucks and continue scriptwriting until something takes off. This is her second play to be produced at MadLab and she is honored for the chance to show her work. Just to be clear, she is not a lesbian, but she is supportive.

Em Hammett (Writer) ( The Wellington School)

MARRIED TO MELINDA REUBen Foster

Em Hammett is a rising senior at The Wellington School. A Columbus area native, she enjoys Ohio's mercurial weather and avoids the city-wide Buckeye fandom. In her free time, Em likes to play softball and cello, and participate in various theater endeavors. She got the idea for the character Melinda Reuben-Foster while she was bored and frustrated in an SAT class. While she despises the SAT, she's incredibly excited about where this writing, revising, and producing process has taken her. Em has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up, but she would really like to do something that involves writing, French, and maybe even teaching.

Anna Mulhall (Writer) (Upper Arlington High School)

LITTLE RED

Anna is thrilled to be a part of this years' Young Writer's Short Play Festival. Anna has been involved in theatre from a young age, and has fallen in love with the craft in the past four years at Upper Arlington High School. Favorite highlights include SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, LES MISERABLES, and directing her one-act, A MATTER OF NOSTALGIA. LITTLE RED is sincerely the work for which she is most proud, and has loved seeing it through to its final stage at Madlab. Anna plans to attend Otterbein University this fall to study theatre and English.

Sarah Fornshell (Writer) ( Columbus Academy)

SWEET NOTHINGS

Sarah Fornshell is 15 years old and will be a junior at Columbus Academy this fall. She enjoys reading, writing, and playing tennis. This is the first play she has ever written, and has enjoyed it immensely. This is also her first experience with MadLab. She is so grateful that she got to be a part of this amazing program, and would like to thank her parents and younger sister for all their love and support.

Lexy Weixel (Writer) ( Upper Arlington High School)

DEAD END

Lexy is a Senior at Upper Arlington High School, and is excited to be participating in her second production at Madlab. Other productions include: AGE OF BEES, LES MISERABLES, and BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS. Lexy would like to thank Madlab for producing her play, DEAD END, as well as giving her the opportunity to act in two other plays for the Young Writers Festival. She'd also like to thank her family for supporting her, and driving her to and from rehearsals (it's just so much work to get a license). Enjoy the show!

Abigail Goodhart (Writer) ( Hilliard Bradley High School)

ELEPHANT TEA

I am thrilled to have ELEPHANT TEA produced at MadLab Theatre! I wrote the play and entered this competition as part of a Creative Writing program taught by Nicole Bagchi at Hilliard Bradley High School. I also write songs and attended a songwriting workshop at Berklee College of Music and am having a poem published with The Thurber House's teen magazine, FLIP THE PAGE. I am a graduate of Hilliard Bradley, Class of 2013 and will attend Capital University in the fall, majoring in Music and English.

The Columbus Foundation, GCAC, and OAC support MadLab throughout the year.

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