Young Playwrights Festival examines teen concerns

All Michael wanted to do was learn how to create an Excel spreadsheet.

Unfortunately, the office worker failed to get answers from his manager or the senior managers above him. A trip further up the corporate ladder revealed a startling truth: No one knew how to use the software.

That scenario didn’t happen at a Fortune 500 company, but onstage at the Chicago Dramatists theater in West Town. Titled “Offices Etc.,” the absurdist comedy poking fun at corporate culture wasn’t written by a disgruntled office drone, but a Chicago high school student, Clark Tavas.

The piece is part of Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s 39th Young Playwrights Festival this month, which showcases four one-act productions penned by teens but directed, designed and performed by professionals. Attendees can see the shows during matinee and evening performances Jan. 23-24.

Through partnerships with Chicago Public Schools, the program teaches students playwriting techniques and exposes them to a career path in theater. Professional playwrights are placed in classrooms, and students submit scripts to be considered for the festival. This year’s selections were narrowed down from about 300 submissions.

The chosen playwrights’ stories feature a host of colorful characters, including customers trapped in a store during a blizzard, a trio of sisters who cast an ancient spell and two strangers conversing before the world ends. Ultimately, they present topics that are top of mind for young people: workplace dynamics, family, friendship and grief.

“Sometimes they’re inspired by content that they’re working on in their classrooms,” said ILesa Duncan, executive and producing director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago. “But they could also be mining things about their own families or neighborhoods or communities. … I’m always amazed at what they think to write about.”

A recent graduate of Lane Tech College Prep High School, Tavas, 19, said his play was inspired by the corporate workers he met while playing golf in the summer at Chicago’s public courses.

“My dad would drop me off at 9 a.m. and I would play until 6 p.m. and just talk to so many different people along the way,” said Tavas, who grew up in Lincoln Park and now studies finance at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Tavas’ story sends the message that it’s OK to lighten up.

“Some things just don't matter,” he said. “You don’t have to be so rigid. If something doesn’t work or you can’t figure something out, just be OK with the chaos of it, or be able to laugh at things that may not immediately seem funny to you. Just have that ability to meander through life in a happier and carefree way.”

Watching industry professionals develop his play was an invaluable experience, Tavas said.

“There are so many little things that aren’t necessarily in the writing, like these directorial nuances or cues that they add,” he said. “All the things that these professional actors and directors added just magnified what I had imagined by so much.”

Young playwright Lola Zimmerman had a similar experience while watching her play, “A Question,” come to life.

The Senn High School junior was especially excited to go to a design meeting and interact with lighting professionals, costumers and painters.

“It was so wonderful to see people taking so much care with this thing that I had written,” said Zimmerman, 17, of Mayfair.

She described seeing her play on opening night as an “out-of-body experience.”

“It felt so fulfilling,” she said.

The 10-minute production follows two people who meet on a park bench and reflect on their lives before an asteroid collides with Earth. Inspired by the 2010 coming-of-age film “Submarine,” Zimmerman said she wanted to highlight meaningful dialogue. She also wanted to tackle themes of grief and loss following the death of her grandfather.

“I’m a pretty anxious person,” she said. “I always think of end-of-the-world scenarios. Why not write about that?”

Overall, she hopes the play communicates the importance of human connection.

“Right now, it’s so hard to feel like people are good and not the enemy,” she said. “I'm a pretty introverted person, and so sometimes people just feel like an annoyance. But when we actually sit down and have conversations with people who are different from us, you realize why being alive is so special and important.”

Zimmerman said she is fortunate to learn about theater at school and from family members who are actors and artists. But she noticed that other students don’t have the same opportunities.

“It’s not something many people get to do,” she said. “We aren’t pushing it out for people to see how there’s so much good theater for young audiences. I’m so lucky to go to a school where we go on field trips to see stuff like that.”

Tavas also said some of his peers at other schools have not had the same exposure to the arts.

“There’s definitely an inequity,” he said. “I don't think that most schools even have a creative writing class or a deep emphasis on drama.”

Pegasus Theatre Chicago seeks to fill that gap with the Young Playwrights Festival, which has had participants go on to have careers as television writers, directors and designers, ILesa Duncan said.

But she believes they can take what they’ve learned into any field.

“Our goal here at Pegasus is that they continue to write,” she said.