Junior Sophie Ice’s Play Selected for the 14th Annual New Voices Young Playwrights Festival
Assumption High School and Assumption’s Rose Theatre Company are delighted to share that Junior Sophie Ice’s play “Circle of Leaf” has been selected for the 14th Annual New Voices Young Playwrights Festival. This year, 836 students submitted plays in consideration for the New Voices Festival. This includes students from 32 schools in 6 counties in Kentucky and Indiana. Selected plays for the festival were chosen by a group of 37 readers, made up of Actors Theatre staff and volunteers. The winning playwrights represent seven different high schools including Assumption’s very own Sophie. Sophie’s play will be part of our BLOOM theatre project and will be shown on February 22 and 23 at 7:00 p.m. (FREE, General Admission, No Tickets Required).
When asked about her play, Sophie shares that she was inspired to write the play during last year’s BLOOM theatre project as she enjoyed watching students’ work come to life on stage. After getting into the workshops for playwriting, Sophie realized her idea wasn’t going to work and she decided to scrap it. Inspiration soon followed when she was looking out the window one day and saw a tree with a small patch of dead leaves. She shares “As bad as it sound I think the word ‘dead’ resonated with me. The play is about two leaves coming to terms with what ‘falling’ in fall time means.”
“Sophie has crafted a delicate and nuanced script that beautifully captures the complexities of companionship through change and loss,” English teacher and Circle of Leaf director, Andrew Stairs, shared. “The actors have brought such earnestness and truth to Sophie’s words that, Abby, our stage Manager and I tear up almost every night. We are excited for others to discover what’s happening on our branches. We Rose Theatre faculty are thrilled that she has been recognized for her exceptional emerging voice. Sophie is a natural playwright, and we look forward to seeing the stories she has yet to tell.”
After finding out that over 800 plays were submitted, Sophie was shocked as she went into the contest with the mindset that she wouldn’t get it due to the multitude of submissions. Following the call, she was happy, excited and very emotional as it was unexpected. Sophie is most excited about everyone seeing the play once it’s shown. She shares, “This story has been my baby for a while now and it feels like this big secret so I am very excited to share the story of Maple and Chestnut with everyone. I am also excited to get to work with the people at Actor’s Theatre. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t wait to get more involved. It will also help me further my career in theatre and that is something I am really excited about. My experience so far with Actor’s Theatre has been incredible. It is such an inclusive environment with a very diverse group of people. Everyone there is so kind and welcoming. I can’t wait to continue this journey and to see what else is in store.”
Sophie’s experience with Rose Theatre at Assumption includes set crew, acting, and playwriting. She would like to keep theatre part of her life and would enjoy studying theatre in college if given the opportunity. Sophie is also considering continuing with playwriting because of how much she enjoyed the process.
Circle of Leaf will be debuted at Assumption High School free of charge February 23 and 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Sophie’s play will be shown at Actors Theatre of Louisville April 23, 24, 25 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $5, plus sales tax and fees.
For the full press release by Actors Theatre, visit https://actorstheatre.org/2019/02/05/actors-theatres-2018-19-season-culminates-with-the-14th-annual-new-voices-young-playwrights-festival/