On March 27th the Osher Studio will debut a collage of space heroes, handicapped dancers, radical revolutionary feminists, deviant French films, the monster under your bed, and shrilling nurses that all meld perfectly into the Berkeley Rep Teen One Acts Festival.
The festival will be entering it’s fourteenth year as a product of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council where high school students are given the opportunity to learn from theatre professionals, explore Bay Area productions, wade through all different aspects of theatre, and create a safe environment and community for theatre kids from all over the East Bay. Teen One Acts is entirely written, directed, produced, designed, and performed by teens with the guidance of Berkeley Rep’s post-graduate fellowship program. This year the Festival includes A Little Bit Less Than Infinity written by Berkeley High senior David Kaus and directed by Castro Valley High senior Anna Talajkowski and Blast Razor: Viral Hero written by Berkeley High junior Eli Gaal and directed by OSA sophomore Chloe Xtina. Many students from Oakland School for the Arts are involved including Abram Blitz (Actor), Eleanor Maples (Producer), Maya Simon (Actor), Evan Streshinsky (Scenic Designer), Chloe Xtina (Director), and Ella Zalon (Actor).
“It’s given me a lot of perspective on what it’s like to work in theatre. I keep hearing ‘you have to be multi-talented’, ‘you have to be flexible’, and ‘you have to be willing and able to do all of these things’. And I think it’s part of just how they market it but I have also heard it from teachers at OSA and at TCG, which is another Teen Council [event we take part in].” says Eleanor Maples, a senior who has been participating in One Acts since her freshman year. “It’s been nice to have the opportunity to to sample all of those roles before going out into the professional role or before even before going out into college and either not getting a chance to do any of those things or being thrown in without a mentor. So because Berkeley Rep gives you a mentor to work with, their fellows, it’s a lot easier on you and also it’s not like you’re blindly searching through all of this chaos of random advice.”
Berkeley Rep provides fellows for each playwright, director, producer, and designer to give insight on the production as it develops. These fellows give advice on to how the production looks, suggest solutions to make their department stronger, and give the teens a “real world” perspective. Actors, however, are not given a personal fellow. “I feel like as an actor I get to be more of an observer and I get to watch and experience a really incredible thing.” reflects Ella Zalon “The One Acts is unlike any other program I’ve done because it’s free to participate and it’s pretty much all in the hands of the teens but we also such incredible resources so it’s not like, you know, we’re putting on a play in our backyard. We have access to professional sets and costumes and really, really brilliant mentors and sometimes the mentors will come in and we’ll get to watch the other people were doing this process with learning from their mentors which is really cool and we get to hear the advice who are really in the business while also having our own creative license throughout the entire thing . . . [Not having a mentor] still gives me a chance to really have an understanding . . . [or a] glimpse of what’s behind everything.”
The festival will be entering it’s fourteenth year as a product of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council where high school students are given the opportunity to learn from theatre professionals, explore Bay Area productions, wade through all different aspects of theatre, and create a safe environment and community for theatre kids from all over the East Bay. Teen One Acts is entirely written, directed, produced, designed, and performed by teens with the guidance of Berkeley Rep’s post-graduate fellowship program. This year the Festival includes A Little Bit Less Than Infinity written by Berkeley High senior David Kaus and directed by Castro Valley High senior Anna Talajkowski and Blast Razor: Viral Hero written by Berkeley High junior Eli Gaal and directed by OSA sophomore Chloe Xtina. Many students from Oakland School for the Arts are involved including Abram Blitz (Actor), Eleanor Maples (Producer), Maya Simon (Actor), Evan Streshinsky (Scenic Designer), Chloe Xtina (Director), and Ella Zalon (Actor).
“It’s given me a lot of perspective on what it’s like to work in theatre. I keep hearing ‘you have to be multi-talented’, ‘you have to be flexible’, and ‘you have to be willing and able to do all of these things’. And I think it’s part of just how they market it but I have also heard it from teachers at OSA and at TCG, which is another Teen Council [event we take part in].” says Eleanor Maples, a senior who has been participating in One Acts since her freshman year. “It’s been nice to have the opportunity to to sample all of those roles before going out into the professional role or before even before going out into college and either not getting a chance to do any of those things or being thrown in without a mentor. So because Berkeley Rep gives you a mentor to work with, their fellows, it’s a lot easier on you and also it’s not like you’re blindly searching through all of this chaos of random advice.”
Berkeley Rep provides fellows for each playwright, director, producer, and designer to give insight on the production as it develops. These fellows give advice on to how the production looks, suggest solutions to make their department stronger, and give the teens a “real world” perspective. Actors, however, are not given a personal fellow. “I feel like as an actor I get to be more of an observer and I get to watch and experience a really incredible thing.” reflects Ella Zalon “The One Acts is unlike any other program I’ve done because it’s free to participate and it’s pretty much all in the hands of the teens but we also such incredible resources so it’s not like, you know, we’re putting on a play in our backyard. We have access to professional sets and costumes and really, really brilliant mentors and sometimes the mentors will come in and we’ll get to watch the other people were doing this process with learning from their mentors which is really cool and we get to hear the advice who are really in the business while also having our own creative license throughout the entire thing . . . [Not having a mentor] still gives me a chance to really have an understanding . . . [or a] glimpse of what’s behind everything.”
Not only are teens learning about the process of theatre, they’re literally creating new works of art. In fact, the decision of what plays are selected are in the hands of teens. A volunteer for the play-selecting committee includes One Acts actor, Maya Simon, who says “It’s painstaking at times but also you get to see the potential for shows . . . you get emotionally invested in shows and sometimes they don’t get picked . . . I want to go up to the playwright and tell them how much I loved their show . . . but we don’t know who the playwrights are. [Some] of the playwrights are by my friends and I find out later that some of the plays I loved were written by [them][I] get to tell my friends that I loved their play . . . At the same time, it’s really cool to see this play you selected come to life.” Zalon says that the process was “really cool because we all had different opinions . . . I was actually kind of surprised by the other opinions because I kind of thought since were all kind of theatre folks but it was actually a lot more difficult to be on the selecting committee than I thought it would be.”
This year, the plays are two very different yet extremely thought provoking plays that bring light to the handicapped community and the childhood idea of how to become a hero. Kaus’ A Little Bit Less Than Infinity explores the mind of an adolescent boy who is seldom reacting to the news that he will never walk again. Abram Blitz tells me about his role of the main character’s brother in Infinity and it’s challenges to create a lighter statement in a very emotional and serious environment. “I’m the comic relief . . . and [it’s hard]. I can’t be the . . . vitriol to everyone’s [fuss].” Gaal’s Blast Razor: Viral Hero centers around a man who will do whatever it takes to become the most beloved hero across the galaxy which happens to be more challenging, both literally and mentally, than originally thought. “It’s really cool because I’m a different character in every scene.” says Simon who is playing both an ensemble member in Blast Razor and a nurse in Infinity. “[For every new scene,] I’m using a different voice or I’m using a different movement or I’m jumping on a different block then I was jumping on before.” Simon is referring to the comic book world that is created in Blast Razor which completely defies our typical understanding of a one-act play with it’s numerous scenes and characters along with it’s zany nature. Both plays have a wide range of worlds, characters, and concepts from intergalactic to suburban, revolutionaries to dancers, and flexibility to recognition. Yet somehow both plays fit together so perfectly as they fiddle with the ideas of acceptance and change.
This year, the plays are two very different yet extremely thought provoking plays that bring light to the handicapped community and the childhood idea of how to become a hero. Kaus’ A Little Bit Less Than Infinity explores the mind of an adolescent boy who is seldom reacting to the news that he will never walk again. Abram Blitz tells me about his role of the main character’s brother in Infinity and it’s challenges to create a lighter statement in a very emotional and serious environment. “I’m the comic relief . . . and [it’s hard]. I can’t be the . . . vitriol to everyone’s [fuss].” Gaal’s Blast Razor: Viral Hero centers around a man who will do whatever it takes to become the most beloved hero across the galaxy which happens to be more challenging, both literally and mentally, than originally thought. “It’s really cool because I’m a different character in every scene.” says Simon who is playing both an ensemble member in Blast Razor and a nurse in Infinity. “[For every new scene,] I’m using a different voice or I’m using a different movement or I’m jumping on a different block then I was jumping on before.” Simon is referring to the comic book world that is created in Blast Razor which completely defies our typical understanding of a one-act play with it’s numerous scenes and characters along with it’s zany nature. Both plays have a wide range of worlds, characters, and concepts from intergalactic to suburban, revolutionaries to dancers, and flexibility to recognition. Yet somehow both plays fit together so perfectly as they fiddle with the ideas of acceptance and change.
A largely celebrated aspect in the One-Acts festival is a sense of community. Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council is known for it’s inclusive, enthusiastic behavior that brings hundreds of teens to their programs. Teen Council hosts nights for teens to see plays at the Rep main stage for $10 along with dinner from a local restaurant and an interview with the director or playwright of the show. Teen Council also brings teens to shows outside of Berkeley Rep and provides themed workshops to learn more about theatre world from professionals and each other. These events are put together by other teenagers on the Core Council who are selected based off of their commitment and enthusiasm to Teen Council. Any teenager can participate for free with Teen Council. The One-Act program, itself, draws in about thirty teens each year, half have participated in the One-Acts before and the other half are new to the festival.
“Teen Council is this hella cool program [where] you get a lot of learning experience and have free access to all these really fun workshops. You just basically have a ton of opportunities and resources . . . It doesn’t cost to join Teen Council, it doesn’t cost to go to the workshops . . . it’s a really great resource for teens in the Bay Area who are interested in acting. [Because of it’s low cost] it gives people a lot of opportunities they may not have if it didn’t exist.” notes Zalon. On Core Council she adds, “We are advocating for arts in the Bay Area . . . We’re working really hard as a group to try and get people involved and trying to get teens . . . know that they do have a place [to learn].”
“It’s amazing. I’ve made some of my best friends in the world there. I look forward to going everyday. I’ve made connections in the theatre world that are invaluable . . . connections with a high level professional theatre company so if I want to come back and get a fellowship [with them or with another theatre company] I have the tools to do that, they’ve given me the tools to do that.” says Simon.
The Berkeley Rep Teen One-Act Festival premieres this Friday, March 27th to Sunday, March 29th at the Osher Studio in Downtown Berkeley. Click here to learn more: http://www.berkeleyrep.org/school/teencouncil.asp#tabbed-nav=oneacts
“Teen Council is this hella cool program [where] you get a lot of learning experience and have free access to all these really fun workshops. You just basically have a ton of opportunities and resources . . . It doesn’t cost to join Teen Council, it doesn’t cost to go to the workshops . . . it’s a really great resource for teens in the Bay Area who are interested in acting. [Because of it’s low cost] it gives people a lot of opportunities they may not have if it didn’t exist.” notes Zalon. On Core Council she adds, “We are advocating for arts in the Bay Area . . . We’re working really hard as a group to try and get people involved and trying to get teens . . . know that they do have a place [to learn].”
“It’s amazing. I’ve made some of my best friends in the world there. I look forward to going everyday. I’ve made connections in the theatre world that are invaluable . . . connections with a high level professional theatre company so if I want to come back and get a fellowship [with them or with another theatre company] I have the tools to do that, they’ve given me the tools to do that.” says Simon.
The Berkeley Rep Teen One-Act Festival premieres this Friday, March 27th to Sunday, March 29th at the Osher Studio in Downtown Berkeley. Click here to learn more: http://www.berkeleyrep.org/school/teencouncil.asp#tabbed-nav=oneacts