Playwrights Showcase Talent at Page to Stage
The culmination of a year of playwriting practice, Page to Stage featured staged readings of excerpts and one-act plays from seven students: Anel Cabrera ’25, Maddie O’Brien ’25, Matilda Blue ’25, Kelly Kwok ’25, Marvelous Aderibigbe ’26, Daniel Yang ’26, and Caroline Weld ’25. Backed by sound and lighting effects, student and faculty readers performed for an attentive crowd at the Chelsea Morrison Theater in the Holbrook Arts Center.
First up, Kelly presented an absurdist comedy about a job interview that rapidly devolves into psychological torture. Olivia Biller ’27 and Angus Watt ’28 then delivered an emotional reading of Matilda’s drama centered around a fraught relationship. Anel brought a sign-language interpreter to the stage for her play, which featured patients in a hospital dealing with trauma from an uncertain diagnosis.
Caroline shared an excerpt from her chilling Black Mirror-like play that has a diabolical café owner paralyzing patrons to play with as human dolls, and Daniel cast a lineup of faculty readers, who adopted southern drawls to bring his Western saloon scene to life. Maddie explored mental health issues in her play about a deranged kidnapper, and Marvelous closed out the show with a story about bar owners dealing with a nefarious crime boss. You can watch all the readings below:
Renowned playwright Neil LaBute, who is quickly becoming a fixture on campus, was on hand for the readings. The performances were a follow-up to the monologues he led students to write during a series of classes earlier in the school year. He stayed after the show to share feedback and interact with the students, and he even took the time to send further notes to Theater Director Elaine Lifter the next day. “It’s so nice to have a local writer willing to engage with us in this way!” Lifter commented.
Thanks to LaBute, Lifter, and a slew of other visiting professionals, the 2024–2025 school year has been magical for Millbrook’s budding playwrights and actors. The invaluable wisdom and inspiration imparted by our arts faculty and their famous friends was evident in this year’s Page to Stage performances.
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Thanks to LaBute, Lifter, and a slew of other visiting professionals, the 2024–2025 school year has been magical for Millbrook’s budding playwrights and actors. The invaluable wisdom and inspiration imparted by our arts faculty and their famous friends was evident in this year’s Page to Stage performances.
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