The Actors Studio presents “Under the Eclipse”
The Actors Studio presents “Under the Eclipse” Young Playwrights Festival
In partnership with Geva Theatre, the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and Writers and Books, this eclipse-themed play festival features the work of young, local writers.
March 19, 2024. Rochester, N.Y. On April 8th 2024 at 3:20pm, Rochester will experience its first full solar eclipse in nearly 100 years. The next time that Rochester will be in the path of totality will be in 2144.
Using this once-in-a-lifetime event as a writing prompt, the Actor’s Studio of Rochester presents “Under the Eclipse” Young Playwrights Festival featuring the work of students, ages 14 – 18 from our six-county area. This once in a lifetime performance will take place at the RMSC’s Bausch Theatre on Saturday, March 30th at 2:00pm. The intent of this festival is to spark our community to look up and out – and provide a literary lens to view this once in more than a century event.
In December 2023, a call was put out to young writers in the six-county area, their parents, and teachers for submissions. The brief was simple: plays had to be no longer than 10 pages, contain no more than 4 characters and must be inspired by the 2024 total solar eclipse. The results exceeded expectation! The Actors Studio sifted through dozens and dozens of submissions and the artistic staff had a difficult task
whittling the list down to six plays. “We were just blown away by the number of submissions, the creativity, the depth of writing and the professionalism.” said Studio co-founders Skip Greer and Brigitt Markusfeld.
Chosen playwrights were notified in early March. Each of the playwrights received one-on-one coaching with award-winning playwright and educator, Carter Lewis, to develop their scripts and guide any revisions. Concurrently, Jean Ryon, who is spearheading this festival, worked to engage professional directors and cast members for each play.
Selected plays:
Eddie’s Eclipse
Writer: Jodi Sullivan Mead (Victor High School)
Jazz Plays in the Other Room, and it’s Raining
Writer: Josephine McNally (Bishop Kearney High School)
Talking to the Moon
Writer: Jyonnah Ware (Brockport High School)
A Shadow on Me
Writer: Helen Broikos (Penfield High School)
Ouroboros
Writer: K.S. Jamison (Monroe Community College)
An Alchemical Wedding
Writer: Paix Day Magallon (Brighton High School)
Artistic Company includes: Jean Ryon, John Hertzler, Brigitt Markusfeld, Skip Greer, Danny Hoskins, Esther Winter, Carter Lewis, Robin Eassa, Nic Gill, Cynthia Xiao, Hannah Hertzler, Chris Stehlar, and Amy Canfield.