Feb 6 17
SSES Student Wins Playwriting Award
The true story of an English slave trader whose life-changing experience inspired him to write the hymn “Amazing Grace” was the subject of the winning play written by SSES junior Luke Valadie (pictured second from right) in Theatre Odyssey’s Fifth Annual Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival at State College of Florida in January. Scripts of the plays in the festival were evaluated by Robert Gratzer, theatre teacher at Palmetto High School; L’Tanya Evans, head of Visual and Performing Arts at Out-of-Door Academy; and Marjorie Kammerlohr, theatre teacher at Riverview High School. Valadie received a $500 scholarship from Theatre Odyssey and a plaque for Best Play, bearing the names of the current and previous winners, will be displayed at Saint Stephen’s through the year. The eight plays selected for production were among more than 30 received from area students. Including Valadie’s, six of those eight plays were penned by Saint Stephen’s students: “The Lies in a Perfect Life” by Guinevere Pijor; “Tomorrow” by Pierce Carnell; “The Price of Friendship” by Demetrius Davis and Fred Billy; “The Scientist” by Kassandra Hackman; and “The Battle” by Emily D’Amico.
