Alley Theatre to Present New Works by HYPE Students, 8/16-18

For the 17th consecutive year, the Alley Theatre is providing young playwrights the chance to improve and expand their writing skills with its summer program, Houston Young Playwrights Exchange (HYPE). Six plays by local teens have been selected to undergo development in a professional forum guided by the Alley's staff, with the program culminating in a two-day public showcase of their work as staged readings - 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 16, 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 17 and 2:30 p.m. pm Sunday, August 18 on the Neuhaus Stage. Some plays contain adult language and adult situations.

One of the Alley Theatre's Education and Community Engagement Department's premier programs,HYPE has helped dozens of young playwrights develop their work since the program was started in 1996. HYPE is led by the Alley Theatre's School Programs Manager Andrew Hager. The six HYPEparticipants also have the opportunity to learn from an experienced playwright Alvaro Saar Rios, HYPE'splaywright in residence.

Each of the six HYPE playwrights is paired with a mentor who guides the playwright through the new play development process and directs the staged reading of that play. The HYPE mentors for 2013 are Ahmad Hernandez, Elizabeth Keel, Daaimah Mubashshir, Brandy Rood, Troy Scheid and Kristen Wright.

Plays featured in the Alley's Houston Young Playwrights Exchange 2013 include:

Dorothy
by Angela Montante, 17 (High School for the Performing and Visual Arts)
The year is 3014 and a lot has changed. The moral underpinnings of society have eroded, belief in God has been eradicated, and childbirth is a thing of the past - that is, until one young woman for the first time in anyone's memory finds herself pregnant.

Angela Montante is a senior at High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and wanted to be part ofHYPE because it's "an amazing opportunity to see your work come to life." She says her inspiration forDorothy was "life, the importance of one's faith and the importance we put on things that aren't important at all."

Eloquence
by Camron Alexander, 17 (James E. Taylor High School)
A young American woman living during the Revolutionary War falls in love with a British soldier who is on the run. Stricken by his new-found loyalty to an independent United States, the young woman is radicalized by his views and begins to serve the war effort by killing enemy officers.

Camron Alexander is a recent graduate of James E. Taylor High School and will be attending the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance for Playwriting in the fall. This is his second year as aHYPE playwright and he hopes HYPE will help him "learn more about myself as an artist and how I can learn to express my ideas and stories as effectively as possible."

The God Erotic
by Natasha Wright, 16 (High School for the Performing and Visual Arts)
Two fathers are trapped in an underground bunker as a flesh-eating virus spreads across America, reflecting upon family, society, and greed.

Natasha Wright is a senior at High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and she was inspired to write The God Erotic because she is "endlessly fascinated by human behavior and the different ways people could react to heightened situations." This summer she is working at Main Street Theater as a teacher's assistant and has performed with the Houston Shakespeare Festival and the Houston International Festival.

Pamoja Na Wema
by Katie Morrison, 17 (Mayde Creek High School)
Pamoja Na Wema is the story of a troubled young woman's journey from social isolation to acceptance thanks to the kind words of a stranger.

Katie Morrison is a recent graduate of Mayde Creek High School, and she will be attending Blinn Community College, studying veterinary technology in the fall. She is excited to be a part of HYPEbecause it will be "an amazing experience to better myself as a writer."

Soup and Gift Baskets
by Gerardo Velasquez, 18 (Mayde Creek High School)
A young man living with cancer is forced to deal with the seemingly trivial emotional needs of two women in his life. Hilarity ensues.

Gerardo Velasquez is a recent graduate of Mayde Creek High School and will be attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. He was heavily involved in his school's theatre company and participated in the Alley Theatre's Playwriting 360 program. His favorite writer is "Cormac McCarthy because of his simple, yet brutal style of writing."

Southern Hospitality
by Alric Davis, 18 (Carver Magnet High School)
Inspired by recent events at Penn State University, Southern Hospitality explores vengeance in the face of sexual abuse as a father commits to cornering his son's abuser.

Alric Davis is a recent graduate of Carver Magnet High School and has received a Texas Thespians and Tommy Tune scholarship for performance in musical theatre. He hopes the audience "will understand the importance of not just a father's, but a family's love. Southern Hospitality, at its center, emphasizes the magnitude of family."

Staged readings are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 16, 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 17 and 2:30 p.m. pm Sunday, August 18. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Alley Theatre box office, 615 Texas Avenue or online at www.alleytheatre.org. For more ticket information, visit alleytheatre.org or call 713.220.5700.

To post a comment, you must register and login.