The annual Cathedral Catholic Young Playwright’s Festival will be held this Saturday at 7:00pm on campus by student directors who only had two and half weeks of planning, directing, and rehearsing. With free admission, anyone is able to attend this one-night-only performance featuring works written, produced, and directed by students for students.

Actors, directors, and techies alike have been working hard to get everything ready for the production, and all within a tighter schedule than ever. Because the calendar change this year placed the end of the first semester before Christmas Break, students were given a shorter working time to prepare for opening night. The plays were read and chosen on a 24-hour deadline, and auditions were held over two days.

Only about fifteen plays were submitted this year, as opposed to last year’s overwhelming number of over one hundred submissions. Eight finalists were selected and reviewed by the administration before the final five were chosen for production.

Drama teacher Miss Wilson said, “We chose each play for various reasons, for content and to add variety to the show. While some of the writers are completely new this year, for others, it’s their fourth time. That’s what I call tenacity. We have such a ridiculously focused and talented group working this year.”

This year’s festival will be introducing brand new aspects that have never before been attempted. A DVD of the performance will be available, and this year will be the debut of Cathedral’s first original musical, an Elton John tribute written by seniors Noah Fujioka and Zak Myers.

Other plays one can expect to see Saturday night include an nonsensical absurd comedy in which Chuck Norris sings opera, a portrait of teen angst, a Scooby Doo mystery, and a coming-of-age story.

“It’s been pretty crazy and interesting,” said writer and sophomore Mylinh Nguyen. “I am one of the only underclassmen working on this production, so it’s a really new and exciting experience. I’m so excited and nervous for opening; we’ll have to see how it goes!”

Senior production assistant Maria Thompson agrees. She said, “It’s great seeing all our creativity coming together.”