Playwrights at Mason High School
Often talented students, for a host of reasons, go unnoticed. This changed for Gailee Maynard and Riley Ngubini this summer at the Riverwalk Theatre in Lansing.
It was a special evening for them as they sat in the audience and watched their creative writing unfold on the stage right before their eyes! I can’t imagine how their hearts must have pounded as they watched their words come to life!
Months before, the students developed short plays that, with Mr. Sundermann’s encouragement, they entered into the Riverwalk Theater’s Emerging Playwrights Festival contest. The contest awarded five, $1,000 prizes and well as the chance for students to have their work developed into full productions or staged readings. A panel of judges reviewed the scripts and Riley and Gailee were selected as two of the winners! Each playwright was also given the opportunity to have an active role in bringing their scripts to life on stage.
“As a teacher, it is just a great opportunity for students to have something they write get PUBLISHED, which is every writer’s DREAM. But by far, the simple act of hearing the voices of characters come to life outside one’s head is simply amazing,” said Sundermann.
Both students underscored the encouragement, exceptional feedback, and emotional support they received from Sundermann, their families and their peers. They said they were exceedingly helpful and kept them going!
Gailee indicated that it was her father who gave her the idea for Duncan’s Dragon and said it took her forever to “nail it.” She said that she first had to write a lot of things down in order to “get the junk out of her head” because it was taking up useless space, but once she had a clear head, she did a writing marathon.
The ideas for Lightning from Heaven, Riley’s winning piece, bubbled up during an in-class brainstorming session. She said her peers were extremely helpful and openly admitted it was surreal to see her work performed on stage.
As a lucky member of a packed house, I was enamored with not only the five performances, but also the attendees. They seemed to hang on to every word. Collectively, they were an amazing cheerleading section for these talented individuals.
So, what did these talented Mason High School students do after this experience? Riley headed for Michigan State University to study writing and Gailee has two more years at Mason High School with a goal of completing a couple of novels and creating more one-act plays with the intent of entering the contest next year.
Playwrights at Mason High School? You bet! What other hidden talents can I uncover? Stay tuned!
