Backstage Pass: Annual Read-a-Thon readers narrow 3,000 submissions

Nearly 35 studious people sit in Florida Studio Theatre’s Court Cabaret the afternoon of Feb. 26. Each person quietly concentrates, only pausing to sip on a juice box or to refill a bowl of popcorn. Occasionally, one person erupts with giggles. The roaring laughs usually signify a check in the “yes” column. These 35 patrons, actors and staff members of Florida Studio Theatre are participating in the 22nd year of the Read-A-Thon.

The Read-A-Thon, originally founded by FST theater executives Richard Hopkins and Kate Alexander, involves reading through the 3,000-plus script submissions from students around the world ranging in age from kindergarten to 12th grade. It’s part of the Young Playwrights Festival (YPF). YPF brought area students to the theater to attend the production of  “Androcles and the Lion.” Then, FST acting apprentices visit classrooms to help students write an original play. The Read-A-Thon helps narrow the 3,000 to around 30 winning plays.

The winning submissions are categorized by age: the Under Six program (sixth grade and under) and Seven Up program (seventh grade to high school). Beginning March 18, professional actors will present the winning submissions as full-fledged productions complete with set, costumes, light, sound and music.
During 10 weeks of performances 12,000 students from Sarasota and Manatee counties will attend.

Today, the readers will barely make a dent in the number of reads that take place. After this, FST staff will read any chance they get: between meetings, during coffee breaks and during intermissions.

Once they decode some of the handwriting, readers are looking for strong characters; a clear beginning, middle and end and strong connected emotional feelings. Some students might not be able to spell treasure the right way yet, but they can still dream up an exciting plot about pirates, booby-traps and buried “tresher.”

The topics range in everything from alien encounters to talking food. For instance, one fourth-grader’s submission is a thrilling chase story about a carnivorous hot dog bun chasing a scared and bewildered hot dog. Some are more heartfelt. A fourth-grader submitted a play about the invisible Blob of Nothing who just wants to be noticed by his classmates. Others have morals. One first-grader turned out a script about an alligator with no friends because he eats them all — the lesson learned?  Friends taste good.

Extravagantly imagined sets and plots aren’t limitations. If the script calls for an outer space and a flying saucer — they’ll make it happen.

“Our job is to make it come alive,” Kate Alexander, FST’s associate director, says.

By the Numbers
20 plays per packet
35 participants in Read-A-Thon
3,000-plus playwrights
12,000 students from Sarasota and Manatee counties attend the performances of the selected productions
2 reads for each play
1,200 approximate number of scripts read at the Feb. 26 Read-A-Thon