For months, elementary school students have been submitting plays to Florida Studio Theatre.
“So we get about 5,000 young plays a year,” reported Kate Alexander, who founded the award-winning education program at Florida Studio Theatre.
“We read every one twice,” she said. We stop the theater and have a read-a-thon. We all sit and just read plays with popcorn and drinks because you have to think like a child.”
“They can be [about] everything from dogs to golden bologna sandwiches to a girl who didn't wanna get her hair pulled in the classroom to shoelaces,” noted Caroline Saldivar, FST’s director of children’s theatre. “The characters are so creative. The stories that they tell are heartfelt and funny. Everything you could possibly want from a playwright.”
But don’t take Saldivar’s word for it, says Alexander, name dropping.
“Edward Albee, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, one of the best of the 20th century, said, ‘Oh my God, these are better than Broadway because these little essences were so true and so unique.’"
This year, Florida Studio Theatre will have a cast of young adult actors from its Professional Training Program perform the top 11 plays plus last year’s overall winner, “The Pirate Ship and the Sea Monster.”
“We'll do about 50 to 100 performances of it for school groups and on weekends,” said Saldivar. “So you can come and check it out March through May at Florida Studio Theater, whether it's on a weekday with the school group or on the weekend as a family.”
In addition to walking the red carpet at the opening, each young playwright received a medal.
“We ask them to write authentically and to be brave,” Alexander explained. “And then they're given a medal of valor for their chosen play. The Greeks gave their artists medals of valor … at their playwriting festivals … equal to their soldiers, because they said it took as much courage to write a play as it did to go into battle.”
MORE INFORMATION:
“The Pirate Ship and the Sea Monster & Other Winning Plays” is an imaginative and uplifting collection of original short plays written by elementary school students locally and around the world. A beloved tradition for more than 30 years, this annual production transforms the words of young playwrights into fully staged performances brought to life by professional actors.
“They're not long plays,” Alexander noted. “They're not three-hour treatises. They're one to five minutes. And they’re charming and authentic and just so cute. Like one title I loved was ‘I Dreamed I Married a Chicken’ or ‘I'm Looking for a Person with One Arm Like Me.’ They're just these authentic little pieces.”
The selected plays span genres and styles, from laugh-out-loud comedies and whimsical adventures to heartfelt stories filled with meaningful lessons. Together, they highlight the originality, humor, and emotional insight of young writers while celebrating the power of imagination onstage.
“Bringing these twelve humorous, touching, and ultimately inspiring plays to our Keating Theatre is a joy every single year,” said Saldivar. “It is especially important this year, when so many lean on AI to think for us. Showcasing these plays reminds us that every one of us is creative and has the power to create something original.”
The cast features performers from FST’s Professional Training Program, an intensive year-long acting apprenticeship that provides emerging artists with hands-on professional experience. Bringing these stories to the stage are Christiana Allison (“Deck the Halls,” “Snow White”), Ray Barber (“Deck the Halls,” “Snow White”), Grayson Buchanan (“Peter Pan”), Maya Carpentiere (“Peter Pan”), Ryan Dugan (“Peter Pan”), Amanda González (“Peter Pan”), and Sheila Wallis (“Peter Pan”).
The creative team includes Caroline Saldivar (director), Dellan Short (associate director), Richard Hopkins, Kate Alexander (additional artistic support), Casey Seiler (scenic design), Kate Landry (lighting design), Nicholas Christensen (sound design), Julia Hornsby (costume design), Audrey Smith (prop design), Tori Martinson (stage manager), and Jim Prosser (original music).
Tickets start at $12 and are on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or by calling (941) 366-9000.
Performance Schedule
Saturday, March 28 at 10 a.m. and noon;
Saturday, April 4 at 10 a.m. and noon;
Sunday, April 12 at 10 a.m.;
Sunday, April 19 at 10 a.m.;
Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m.; and
Saturday, May 2 at 10 a.m.
Additional performance dates may be added.
Winning playwrights get the full red-carpet treatment
The day the winning plays are first performed is known around Florida Studio Theatre as Young Playwrights Festival Day.
“It’s the most special day of the year around here,” said Saldivar. “[The winning playwrights] come with their favorite grownups, typically their parents, an aunt and uncle, and their siblings. We have them walk the red carpet and they are superstars. We want them to feel that way because they were brave enough to think something up and write it down and share it with us to bring to life.”
That’s just the start of the festivities.
“We have a special party just for them with a banquet of food,” Saldivar continued. “And they get to mingle with the actors that were in their play and talk to the actors and the directors. And, really, I hope that they feel celebrated that day by us, the adults in their community, and recognized as the brave storytellers they are. It's a very special day here at the theater.”
FST takes the show on the road
In addition to weekday performances for school groups and weekend shows open to the public, Florida Studio Theatre also takes the shows on the road to area schools.
“Part of Florida Studio Theater's mission is to be accessible and affordable to as many people as possible,” said Saldivar. “That includes touring and going out to the schools with the winning plays. So children who couldn't come to [Florida Studio Theatre] to see them, they still get to see those winning plays and get to see their work brought to life.
On occasion, that may include a winning playwright’s classmates.
“One of the best experiences I've had with the tour was going to McNeil Elementary, which is up in Manatee County,” Saldivar said. “We had a winning playwright in the audience. He wrote a play called ‘The Problem’ His name was Bryce and the actors got up and they said, ‘Our next play is ‘The’ Problem’ and the whole room, a cafeteria at nine o'clock in the morning, erupted like it was Madison Square Garden. They were so excited for their classmate and friend, and he was so proud of himself, getting to talk to him after, and everyone was just cheering him on.”
Bryce was a superstar at his school the rest of the day.
“Kids would stop him in the hallway and say, ‘I saw your play.' ‘I loved your play.’”
Saldivar draws great personal satisfaction from stories such as these.
“Often the kids who win are not the kids that you would think,” she said. “They're not the kids that are celebrated for academic achievement or athletic achievement. This is a whole different type of achievement. The idea of being celebrated for your creativity is something that goes all the way back to ancient Greece, right? They medaled their playwrights like Olympic athletes. And that's why we continue to do it during our Young Playwrights Festival, because it is a very unique talent that these children have.”
FST does more than tour the winning plays. They send theater professionals to visit schools throughout the year to inspire and teach youngsters how to write a play.
“That gets the kids writing and excited about writing. They show them some plays that have won the festival in the past, they improvise plays based on the kids' ideas, and they teach the kids how to write plays,” Saldivar noted.
Seven Up
Florida Studio Theatre also has a playwrighting festival for sixth through 12th graders.
“They also see their plays and medaled as well,” said Saldivar. “And that's through a series of workshops throughout the school year with our fantastic team of teaching artists. It's very nifty. It's a huge undertaking that we do every single year, but the return that we get can't be measured in anything other than the faces of these children when they are recognized for their plays. It's truly priceless.”
About Florida Studio Theatre
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is Sarasota’s contemporary theatre. Founded in 1973, FST has grown to a village of five theatres located in the heart of downtown Sarasota. Each theatre is small in size and large in impact – providing intimate and engaging settings for high-quality, professional performances.
Today, FST has established itself as a major force in American Theatre. FST is the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida and among the largest in the country, serving more than 225,000 live attendees each year across its diverse programs: Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, Children’s Theatre, Improv, The FST School, and New Play Development.
Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to as many people as possible. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. Hip and historical, entertaining and challenging, we are where everyone is welcome to engage in the art of theatre.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
