Theater Project's Young Playwrights Competion Honors MKA Seniors

Hot on the heels of his success in the starring role of Pseudolus in the Upper School winter musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, senior Rob Gelberg has won first prize in the 2010 Theater Project's Young Playwrights competition.

His one-act play, "To and From on the Earth" is set in a café where God and the Devil have decided to meet and catch up. Says Gelberg, "Like anything worth writing down, the idea came without warning or any real prompt- the idea just popped into my head one day.  When I received a phone call from a Theater Project representative telling me that I had won, I was shocked, humbled, honored, and scared all at the same time. To win this competition just from doing something that I love to do, something I did at nights before I went to sleep, just for kicks, that was the greatest thing about it."

In a remarkable double, Gelberg’s fellow Forum cast member, senior Julie Longthorne, was also recognized, receiving an Honorable Mention for "Do You Love Me?" her play about a woman trying to find the meaning of love and dealing with the consequences of an affair.  "The fact that Julie was also honored in the same competition is just the icing on the cake," notes Gelberg, "We are hopefully doing our senior May Term project together, in which we plan to put on these plays as well as several others, so both of us winning this competition is a very exciting way to start the experience."

The Young Playwright's annual competition is open to all New Jersey high school students, and The Theater Project, Union County College's Professional Theater Company, will present the winners and honorable mentions at its 8th Annual Young Playwrights Festival on Saturday, March 13.  In addition to attending the ceremony, Gelberg and Longthorne will enjoy the rare opportunity of seeing their words come to life when performed script-in-hand by a cast of professional actors of The Theater Project.