From the beginning stages of a production to the final show out on stage, performing a live play in a theater is hard work. The actors spend several hours each day practicing their lines and preparing to make the story come to life. However, many people often forget about all of the hard work that goes into writing a play. For senior students Gabriela Sanders and Natalie Weinberg, their time devoted to playwriting finally paid off.
Sanders and Weinberg were both selected to produce their own original ten-minute plays at the annual Boston Theater Marathon on May 5th. They will be able to work with professional actors on a stage in Boston to bring their stories to life in front of a real audience.
Each year, teenage playwrights from throughout New England can anonymously submit short plays that could be selected to be a part of the theater ‘marathon’, which consists of 50 consecutive plays. This will be both Weinberg’s and Sanders’ second year in a row being selected for the marathon.
After the submissions for the event are chosen, a couple rehearsal sessions are provided for the people whose plays got chosen to be included in the marathon. These rehearsals give them the opportunity to work as a director with professional actors that are performing in their play.
“It’s really cool to work with someone you’re not connected with because they might have a completely different vision for the play,” Sanders said. “They might have their own spin on things and it’s really cool to see what they can do with it.”
Sanders’ play, titled “Less Than More Than Friends”, is about two middle school girls whose friendship is blossoming into a romantic relationship. The play follows the girls’ decisions on whether or not to date, as it could easily make or break their relationship.
Weinberg submitted a play, titled “Surface Tension”, that captures the thoughts and feelings of a young woman who is recently in cancer remission. The story focuses on how the woman deals with the significant changes in her life, as well as the guilt associated with surviving cancer.
Both Sanders and Weinberg have been involved with theater for over ten years. As seniors, they have primarily spent their last school year at WA directing small plays in the school’s black box theater, with their most recent project being the play ‘Disgraced.’
Sanders and Weinberg also agree that the best thing a newcomer to WA Theater Arts (WATA) can do is to try new things. They strongly encourage anyone interested in theater to join.
“I think I went into WATA thinking I was only an actor, but I ended up doing a lot more tech-related things,” Weinberg said. “My biggest piece of advice is to branch out and don’t be afraid to share ideas and be creative.”
