Poster Design by Lyn Monks & Biana Toussaint

Featured Plays

Tea and Biscuits by Izzy Mann — GRIM REAPER: Jeffrey Biddle, DORIS: Noël August

Devoted by Claire Bender & Gabriel Schutz — EMMELINE: Tajianna Okechukwu, DEMETRIUS: Nicolas Poler

It’s Showtime! by Biana Toussaint — DAVID: Fernando Monjaraz, EARL: Jeffrey Biddle, LAURA: Noël August

Mother/Daughter Bonding by Chloe Gillmer — DELIA: Tajianna Okechukwu, NICOLE: Michele Tana

Frankendinner by Maya Baranovsky & Moriel Abisdris — AXEL: Fernando Monjaraz, FRANKENSTEIN: Jeffrey Biddle, TIMOTHY: Nicolas Poler

As You Were by Chelsea Reyes & Cruz Indra — AVA: Tajianna Okechukwu, COLIN: Fernando Monjaraz

Holy Hell! by Grace Woelffer — ANGEL: Michele Tana, DEMON: Noël August

Lotus by Jupiter Wilson — OLIVER: Fernando Monjaraz, BUCK: Nicolas Poler

Production Team

CO-DIRECTOR / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Ariella Wolfe

CO-DIRECTOR: Caitlin Gurtner

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Sam Cabbage

PLAYWRIGHT COACH: Nicholas J. Maurer

LEAD TECHNICIAN: Corinne Balmain

PRODUCTION DESIGNER / COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR: Lyn Monks

DESIGN COORDINATOR / SM ADMIN SUPPORT: Rose Curfman

Directors’ Notes

Working with new plays is always rewarding. Helping these stories come to life for the first time is both an honor and a privilege a director should never take for granted. But there's something uniquely magical about working with plays written by young writers. As adults, we get trained out of the habit of wonder, but high schoolers are still in the thick of it. They wonder.

They wonder about how a therapist would react to an emotionally messy Grim Reaper. They wonder about fellow knights with opposite yet similar goals in a battle that happened 800 years ago. They wonder whether jumping through the screen to your favorite game show is actually such a good thing. They wonder about going to college and finding other people who wonder like them.

Tonight, they invite you to wonder with them.

– Caitlin Gurtner, Co-Director

***

Conflict. It’s objectively a negative word. But in drama, it is necessary. Conflict creates space to explore ideas and questions in the moment. And it helps us understand a story’s meaning and connection to the real world.

Emerging Voices is one of those rare spaces where these young playwrights have the freedom to dig deep and explore these conflicts. Conflicts that don’t have easy answers.

I hope you are equally inspired, as I was, by the issues and questions that this year’s Emerging Voices playwrights chose to tackle. Some of these conflicts are deeply personal, and some quite literally affect the fate of our universe. Some are lighthearted and full of humor, and others are heavy with emotion. But no matter whether we’re looking on a small or large scale, the impact of these conflicts and their outcomes have ripple effects.

Thank you for joining us this evening to experience the impact of these stories.

– Ariella Wolfe, Co-Director (Artistic / Program Director) Sandcastle Theater Company

Playwrights’ Notes

The concept of As You Were came from the idea of putting two people in a room together and seeing how interesting we could make their conversation with one another. Needless to say, this has evolved far beyond our original idea that started off as a film script set on a house porch. This has been a very arduous process, especially with cutting down content in the revision process. But it's also been ultimately rewarding as going through rehearsals and seeing how much effort everyone has put in makes us excited to see this story come to life. We hope everyone watching can enjoy, sympathize, and laugh along with these two characters we've created.

***

We were inspired to write Devoted by stories of war, hope, and medieval fiction. The experience of writing the play was very fun and we really enjoyed working together and watching our creation come together. It was really amazing to watch our character take shape, both in our writing and in how the actors made them come to life. We hope that the audiences take away a new perspective on bravery, loyalty, and morality from our play. Thank you to Ms. Pollack for helping us through every part of this process.

***

We really liked Frankenstein, and thought a short comedic parody on it would be fun to write and watch come alive. We thought it would be silly to see him as a suburban, modern day dad! It was amazing watching the actors actually act out Frankendinner, because it’s one thing to write a play but it’s a completely different experience to watch it! Even though the process was pretty long, it was very rewarding and 100% worth it in the end, especially given the actors’ extremely accurate portrayal of our characters. We hope the audience finds it funny and takes the joy and laughter out of it. We’d like to thank the actors for their wonderful work and dedication to our script, as well as Sam and Ari for working together with us through the whole process!

***

Holy Hell! was inspired by my first watch through of the tv show Supernatural. The different characters in the show were very interesting and I wanted to create a dynamic that was as fun to watch as the pairs in the shows were. This experience with Sandcastle allowed me to collaborate with other writers and hear their own ideas. I enjoyed getting feedback because it helped turn my play into something that I loved. While I wasn't able to attend the later rehearsals the people at Sandcastle were always very kind and accommodating. I was able to receive notes to help improve my play. I hope that the audience will have a fun time and enjoy the ride. I'd like to thank Ms. Pollack for always having encouraging words throughout the process, my friends who were able to read my script over and over to give me helpful comments, and Sandcastle Theater Company for giving me this opportunity.

***

The process of writing It’s Showtime! has allowed me to recognize that writing is not a linear process; you may have to rework, revise, and restart in order to really get your vision to come to life. I hope the viewers will get a laugh out of all the hijinks I’ve thought up, but also connect with the deeper moments. I’ve allowed myself to be more expressive in my scriptwriting, giving me the ability to tinker with and explore new ideas and concepts. I think a lot of my inspiration comes from combining something I’m familiar with and something I’ve yet to explore, allowing me to blend them and explore their dichotomy.

***

I have always enjoyed writing scenes between two characters that are very different from each other, so my characters and their dynamic came easy to me. I have written scripts before, but I have never been a part of the revision or rehearsal process. It was all very new to me, and I was very nervous, but this experience has proved to be so valuable and fun. I've really enjoyed attending rehearsals and watching my writing of Lotus come to life; it's such a surreal experience and I feel so lucky to be a part of it!

***

Mother/Daughter Bonding started as a 5-page duo scene for a different assignment, and I’m so happy with the way it’s grown and changed into a play I’m truly proud of. Working with the Sandcastle staff was an incredible experience- from their editors feedback to workshopping a more natural flow with the actors, I dived deeper into this piece than anything I’ve written before. I hope this play shows you the importance of supporting each other. I want to thank my wonderful parents, who have always supported me and my goals- as well as Ariella for being so encouraging and understanding throughout this process.

***

This is my second time writing for Emerging Voices, I found the experience informative of how script writing is done professionally. I hope that the audience enjoys watching Tea and Biscuits as much as I did writing it.

SPECIAL THANKS

**Thank you to sponsor donors: Julie Hochman & Greg Wolfe, Shoana Hunt, Denise Maloney, Anonymous**

None of this would be possible without our partner teacher and program liaison, Rebecca Pollack (Creative Writing). Each year, your generosity and support of your students and this project makes a profound impact. To our partners at Marin School of the Arts / Novato High School: Thank you to Michelle Cortez (MSA Director) for her leadership, Shannon Miller (MSA Program Specialist) for her generous collaboration and facilitation of campus resources, Jahon Miles (Novato High School, Assistant Principal) for assistance in accessing rehearsal space; to Steven Hess (Center for the Arts Facilities Manager) for his assistance and advocacy, to Brooks Fletcher (Visual Arts) and Philip Chidel (Cinematic Arts) for supporting student opportunities for photography and videography, and to district custodial staff for their kindness and patience. To our actors, production team, crew, and all who contributed behind the scenes to this year’s workshop, rehearsal, and production process: our deepest gratitude for sharing your unique talents and bringing so much to this collaborative process. And the BIGGEST thank you of all to the student-playwrights. Thank you for giving us a reason to gather tonight. Congratulations!

MEET THE CAST

Fernando Monjaraz