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Patricia Rose Brady, 18, a senior at Lake Gibson High School, has learned she’s a finalist in Theatre Odyssey’s Student 10-Minute Playwriting Festival.
Only the works of eight Florida student playwrights were accepted.
Their plays will be performed on May 10 and 11 at the Jane B. Cook Theatre, inside the FSU/Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, at 5555 Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota.
Brady is competing to win a $1,000 grand prize. The runner-up will receive $500.
“This is the fourth consecutive year Lake Gibson High School has produced one of the eight finalists for this competition … we are extremely proud of Rose to continue that tradition,” said her teacher, Greg Burdick.
A push to end gun violence: Brady’s play, “A Memory Away,” was written in response to an assignment to create an anti-gun violence play for the Enough! initiative, a national campaign.
“A Memory Away” is about a mother and daughter growing apart in the aftermath of a school shooting.
Lifelong love of theatre: This is the first play Brady has written. She said she has loved all aspects of theater since she can remember.
“As a kid, I always pranced around the house in my costumes acting,” she said. “Once middle school hit, I got into cosplaying. So it was pretty obvious that once I got to high school, theater was for me.”
She continued: “I did acting for a year, but learned about the playwriting class. I tried that because I loved writing in my free time. The moment I wrote my first play, “A Memory Away,” I was hooked — and learned that I liked being behind the scenes more.”
Finalist on the first try: Brady has been revising “A Memory Away” for the past two years.
She was apprehensive about submitting her work, but said Burdick encouraged her to compete.
“When the finalists were announced, at first I didn’t believe it,” she said. “I had to ask (Burdick) if it was real. He confirmed that it was, and I automatically called my mom.”
Making it to the finalist round has motivated her to write even more.
“Now that others see beauty and potential in my work, I have so much motivation and confidence knowing I can continue to touch others.”
The Future: Brady plans to pursue a career in child care after graduation in June, but is now considering attending college in the future to study creative writing.
Theater at Lake Gibson: Burdick has overseen the theater arts program at Lake Gibson High since 2003. A playwright himself, he teaches introductory theater, intensive performance, playwriting and technical theater design and production.
The school hosts two productions per season. Its world premiere of a new, student-written one-act play, “Snapshots,” will be performed April 10, 11, and 12. Brady and 12 other student playwrights are featured in it.
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