By Aanya Jain, 2027
On Friday, May 3rd, Bedford High School hosted their annual Playwrights Festival! This is a student-led event where people can sign up to write, direct, act, and design in plays, being a great way for students to express their creative ideas! BHS students Healy Weisman (2024), Emma Purtell (2024), Joseph Choi (2027), and Aiden Green (2027) share their time participating in the festival along with some insight for people who want to take part in this enticing experience next spring!
Lookout: How was your experience with the Playwright’s Festival?
Healy: “I think it was really positive! I really liked that it’s entirely student driven- its student written, student designed, student directed, students act in it. There’s a lot of autonomy for the students which is really nice, and it creates a nice community. This year we had a small group, but it was still really fun because we were all involved in all the shows”
Emma: “I’ve done playwrights for 3 years now and I can tell you that I have never had a bad experience. It’s a whole lot of fun and everyone always has lots of laughs throughout the process. The experience is truly a unique one, being entirely student run, and I think that it makes it super fun!”
Joseph: “I really enjoyed it even though it was my first experience. It was very fun to do, and I got to bond a lot with the other grades. It was almost like a second musical season which I thought was pretty fun”
Aiden: “Unique… It was a great exposure into the world of art at BHS”
The Lookout: What was your role in the Playwrights Festival?
Healy: “I directed and designed two different shows, and I acted in three of them”
Emma: “This year I acted as Character B in Four People Attempt to Make a Sandwich at 3AM and as Stella in Grasping at Straws”
Joseph: “I directed my play A Wife’s Murder and co-directed Aiden’s play A Counselor’s Murder”
Aiden: “Direct and design two murder plays: A Counselor’s Murder and A Wife’s Murder”
The Lookout: What was the most challenging thing you experienced throughout the process?
Healy: “The most challenging thing was probably how few people there were, so we had to take on a lot of different roles. There was a lot going on, but I think it was worth it!”
Emma: “The most challenging experience during this process was really digging deep into each character to figure out how to truly capture their personality. I think this was especially hard for me as my two characters were wildly different, but it was interesting to see how I could bring them to light”
Joseph: “Maybe trying to translate what I had in mind to the stage because I had this original thought of stuff like this, but then when I saw it happen on stage I was like ‘Oh this might not work or that might not work’ but I think it ended up well because the actors who played it did a phenomenal job; they pulled it off and executed it really well”
Aiden: “Finding costumes”
The Lookout: What was one of the best memories you had?
Healy: “I think directing both of the shows I directed, acting in the shows, and any rehearsals where I ended up laughing, which was most rehearsals”
Emma: “I think one of the best memories that I’ve had was going to rehearsal and reading our lines in silly accents to work on line memorization. We burst out laughing so many times as it was just a silly situation to be in. Additionally, jamming out to music before the show was really a fun bonding experience”
Joseph: “Probably when Healy suggested that we use ‘Darling guess who’s back from jail!’ in Aiden’s play because it added an extra flare to the whole thing and I thought that was really funny”
Aiden: “Channeling my inner Faulstich”
The Lookout: What was your favorite play?
Healy: “I’m sort of involved in all of them so I don’t wanna play favorites, so I don’t know. They’re all great!”
Emma: “My favorite play was definitely 4 People Attempt to Make a Sandwich at 3AM since I’m a sucker for funny plays. Additionally, this was the sort-of sequel to a play we did last year, so it was really fun getting to come back and perform the same characters with the same cast as last year. I also think Character B is really fun to play because I get to be as silly as possible”
Joseph: “I think Aiden’s play was really funny!’
Aiden: “A Wife’s Murder, Joseph’s play”
The Lookout: What are some tips you have for people who want to do the Playwrights Festival in the future?
Healy: “Do it! It’s super fun and it’s very chill. It’s low stakes, and there’s a super fun outcome. Most of the shows are pretty funny, if not they’re just cool or interesting in some way. I highly recommend it. Join with your friends, write a play, direct a play, act in a play, be on stage crew”
Emma: “Be as involved as possible! If there’s a role or play you’re interested in, definitely give it a go! It’s super low key and chill and a great way to explore acting, directing, or designing if you’re interested in that without having to go through the whole audition process of the fall/spring shows!”
Joseph: “Plan it out ahead of time, and if you’re not sure sign up anyways cause you can always back out. I think that it’s a really fun experience to bond with everyone and if you don’t like the stage lights then you can do backstage, or you can do directing or designing. I think you should try out just to have fun and do silly stuff!”
Aiden: “Memorize your lines”
