Student Plays to Be Performed
For Dylan Breault, a senior at Bridgehampton High School, the Young Artists and Writers Project High School Playwriting Program was bigger than any classroom writing assignment, and the program’s culminating performance on Saturday will be bigger than a school play.
That’s because the original play he wrote through the YAWP program was chosen to be performed at the Avram Theater at Stony Brook Southampton — one of 5 out of more than 50 submissions from high school students in YAWP workshops at the Bridgehampton School, Pierson in Sag Harbor, Eastport-South Manor, Southampton, and related summer writing programs.
Dylan’s play, “Hoping for Change,” is about two brothers coping with a serious family emergency. The 10-minute play took him about five weeks to write, he said, and the characters were inspired by members of his own family.
The YAWP program is “something I wanted to do since ninth grade,” he said. “I really got into it . . . I wanted to write something that people would understand and connect with.”
On Saturday, Dylan will play a character much like himself. His friend Milo Youngerman, a Bridgehampton School sophomore, will portray his brother. It is the first time on stage for both student-actors.
“This is bigger than a school play because it’s a big start,” Dylan said. “It’s not just for people you know in school.”
The YAWP program brings students and teachers together with professional actors, directors, and theatrical designers, many of whom who are affiliated with Stony Brook Southampton’s M.F.A. program in creative writing and literature. They spend several weeks together in students’ English classes or summertime writing sessions.
“Hoping for Change” will be directed by Valerie DiLorenzo, a professional actress, director, and vocal coach, who called it “a creative accomplishment and a personal accomplishment.”
“For him to live it, write about it, and then live it onstage is very inspiring,” Ms. DiLorenzo said.
Will Chandler, director of the program, said it is aimed not only at empowering students but also at helping them fine-tune their writing skills.
“They’re finding out who they are. We don’t censor them. We ask questions,” Mr. Chandler said. “They get to how they feel. They get to what they think. We’re asking them about their writing, but in the end what we’re really asking is to tell us about themselves.”
Tickets to Saturday’s performance are free, and there will be a pizza party following the show, which begins at 7 p.m. and includes two comedies and three dramas. All the plays are family-friendly, although Mr. Chandler advised parents that some have strong language. Reservations may be made by email with [email protected].