Reach Out
From Half Moon Bay Review, Spring 2000, with the publisher's permission
By Stacy Trevenon

Charged with anticipation, the Cunha Intermediate School multipurpose room Friday evening recalled metropolitan theaters just before the curtain rises. But this audience had assembled for something emotionally closer to home: a sampler of one-act plays written and directed by 10 students of Pilarcitos Continuation High School in Half Moon Bay, through Coastside-based youth theater program Each One Reach One (EORO). A month ago, the playwrights, age 16 to 18, couldn't have imagined themselves here. “We got something we didn't know we could do, and all of a sudden everyone came up and did. It hits you like a brick,” said Patrick Gardner.

Created two and a half years ago by Montara resident Robin Sohnen, EORO is a playwriting and theater arts program that aims to foster esteem and confidence in youth. Sohnen has brought it to at-risk or incarcerated youth throughout the greater Bay Area. In the program, the youth learn playwriting and acting techniques while working one on one with adult mentors. They write one-act plays, which are performed by professional actors. All of the adults are volunteers.

So far, roughly 150 young people in Marin and San Mateo counties have gone through EORO. “We open ourselves up to their process,” Sohnen said. “Each young person has a voice.”The Pilarcitos session was led by actor/playwright Tom Kellogg, artistic director of fofo, a Los Angeles multidisciplinary theater arts company. Back in the first week, the students worked on character development. Each chose an emotion and built it into a character by determining where it lived, what it saw or tasted, what it desired and what was its closest relationship.

“That's how you work on plays. From inside,” Kellogg said. “You need to be aware of what's going on in you.” Then students improvised scenes, learning conflict and resolution. “If you understand conflict, consequences, and urgency, the play begins to write itself,” Kellogg said.

Working with metaphor, he encouraged writers to use nonhuman characters to convey very human scenarios. “By pushing away from human characters, you're not losing humanity,” he said. “The imagination is more engaged.”He said the Pilarcitos students were very sophisticated in their writing and ideas. For some students, an emotion is a leap, he said. “Here, it's how to play it out. I want them to deepen the metaphor.”

The coaches offered suggestions for character development, but otherwise stayed out of students' way. That work is “very inspiring and rewarding, and yet challenging,” said Half Moon Bay native Glenn Wilson, who has been involved in theater most of his life and worked with EORO three times. He says he's the one who's learning: “Every time, I'm always surprised by their ideas, their thoughts, the things they write.” And by their courage. Theater is “putting a part of yourself out there for people to see. It's a very scary thing,” he said. “The risk (the students) take emotionally is extraordinary.”

A veteran of public relations and theater, Sohnen was inspired to create EORO after seeing a play written by Salinas Valley State Penitentiary inmate Mario Rocha. In her welcome to Friday's Cunha audience, she saluted Rocha, who “continues to be my inspiration.” But she may have found new inspiration in Pilarcitos students. “This was absolutely one of the most incredibly successful (EORO) programs, (due to) their willingness to commit, and dedication,” she said.

On Friday, each script was read by pairs of actors, while each playwright sat shyly at stage right. Their stories reflected universal themes. While in EORO productions with incarcerated youth, drug use and violence often surfaced; the often-witty local stories dealt with friendship, trust, betrayal, and just getting along. Each writer received a certificate and an ovation. After the production, the playwrights, mentors and actors gathered onstage for an emotional closing circle filled with thanks, laughter and not a few tears.

The first play, “Smiley's Luna Ilena” by Alejandra Flores, was about how Smiley the moon was upset because Speedy the wind brought clouds that hid her “Luna Ilena,” or special night. But Speedy, even while making the audience laugh by calling Smiley a “luna-tic,” explained that she brought the clouds only to give Smiley needed energy. “I'm normally shy, but you guys really helped me,” said Flores in the post-production circle.

In “Torn Between Two” by Renee Flavin, Titan the thoroughbred is in love with Xena the quarter horse. She must face leaving her family to go with him. “Stay With Me” by Eric Milanes is the story of two eagles at the zoo, and how one overcomes feeling abandoned when the other prepares to fly free. “Runaway Dreams,” by Jimmy Mannriquez anthropomorphized Lead the pencil and Pinky the eraser, who wanted to flee with the teacher to China. “If you can't be happy where you're at, you aren't gonna be happy anywhere else,” Pinky says.

In “The Map” by Joe Robertson, with Coastside stage veteran Elise Hunt, a pair of space aliens learn to let go when dreams change. “I never thought I'd be able to (write) something like that. But what I wrote sounded good,” said Robertson. “I wasn't self-confident, but with help, I can do a lot.”

“Why Lie?” by Maria Marin was a tongue-in-cheek tale about two bears during hunting season, who must cross a river to evade hunters. One, Luke, can't swim, but hasn't let his companion know that. The other bear scolds him for his deceit, and helps him ford the water .Marin said that EORO helped her cross barriers of her own. “It helped me a lot because I'm quiet, I keep things to myself and don't let people know,” she said. “This is helping. Now I can really talk and not feel embarrassed.”

“The Call of Life” by Nicole Smith is about an octopus who loved a mermaid. But she, her esteem low, is determined to kill herself. With all eight arms, the octopus tries to rescue her, but she learns to choose life for herself. “Unconscious Crush” by Ivy Davy pits Tinker the conscience against the too-impulsive Crush. “I know she's doing her job, but does she have to be such a worrywart?” fumes Crush.

“Something Different” by Gardner was an intense pairing of Pain and Anger, who really want to be happy but must overcome their negativity first. Gardner said he was jazzed after the show. “You get such a vibe from it,” he said. “Even if the audience is quiet, you feel they relate.”

Finally, “The Unexpected Truth” by Janett Lomeli, written in rhyme, told how Zena the lioness learns to depend on herself. “This was a lot of fun,” said Lomeli who, like others, said she wants to pursue playwriting.

The program was cheered by Pilarcitos principal Larry Rogers. “It was well worth the time,” he said. “It made the kids look inward, and academically, was a great tool.”

Sohnen said she has approached Camp Glenwood in La Honda about a session there. She didn't hide her enthusiasm over the Pilarcitos playwrights. “You have a voice, and society isn't listening enough,” she said in the closing circle. “You blew people's minds. People walked in not knowing what to expect, and they walked out with their jaws dropping.”