Honorable Mention
Young playwright wins national competition

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Winning playwright Robert Rath, right, with, left to right, Adele Balderston, Kate Lau and Laura Quek at Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Robert Rath Age: 16. Personal: Kane'ohe resident; son of Robert Rath and Charlotte Vick; Castle High School sophomore Accomplishment(s): one of 10 winners – and the youngest – in the 2000 Young Playwrights Festival National Playwriting Competition Quote: "I guess that makes me a professional writer – though I have a long way to go." Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I think that I'm good at observation, so subconsciously, elements of people I know, even myself, wind up in my plays," said Rath, a Castle High School sophomore who recently returned home from a New York City trip. He was one of 10 winners — and the youngest — in the 2000 Young Playwrights Festival National Playwriting Competition.

"It was extremely exciting; I really couldn't wait to go," said Rath. "It was slightly intimidating, since everyone was at least a year older, and some had e-mail with addresses like harvard.edu But everyone was extremely nice, smart and talented."

Rath was 14 when he wrote "Spiffy," 15 when it was submitted in the contest (founded 20 years ago by the eminent Broadway tunesmith of modern times, Stephen Sondheim) and 16 when he made the journey to the Big Apple.

"Spiffy," a 30-minute one-act that incorporates people Rath has observed though the years, evolved in the Pacific Young Playwrights program coordinated by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. "It's about power and domination, a strange teenage adventure that takes place in a basement, and it's almost like a humorous version of 'Lord of the Flies,' " said Rath. "It has a little bit of the Columbine feel; the parents of the guys in the basement think they're just playing a game, but there's this other sinister thing going on. One character is trying to make the other two do things they really don't want to."

"Robert is a funny guy," said Daniel Kelin II, director of drama education at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and play-writing instructor of the 12 youths in HTY's

Pacific Young Playwrights program. "He is exceedingly intelligent, with a vast knowledge of the world that other kids don't have; that informs his writing. He has characters that look at the world in odd, unique ways; the thing he struggles with over time is structure."

Because Rath's award-winner is a short play, he's uncertain if theaters would be interested in producing it. It would generally be staged as part of a cluster of one-acts.

"But I'm already writing my third play," Rath said. His second, "Love in the Demilitarized Zone," a dark comedy, was staged by TheatreFest, HTY's culmination of the play-writing program, and the work is already entered in the next national Young Playwrights Festival contest.

Besides the thrill of experiencing a reading of his play by professional actors, Rath said he automatically has been made a member of the Dramatists Guild as part of his prize.

"I guess that makes me a professional writer — though I have a long way to go," said Rath. "I got paid for the staged reading, which went over very well, and it really was something to know that it was performed by a professional group of actors, directed by a professional director."

He particularly was impressed by the presence of Alfred Uhry, the prize-winning playwright and author of such hits as "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" and "Parade."

"He was an interesting personality we all enjoyed being around; he's very much a professional, and treated us like one. He was like the wise old man, giving us tips and advice, with helpful rules to follow about presenting your work. He really stressed the community aspect — to get a group of people to present your work to, to bounce off ideas, to get reaction. He said it was important to share and get opinions ... but not from friends, who may not tell you the truth, but from impartial people. This aspect, he said, often scares people away from writing."

The son of Robert Rath and Charlotte Vick, Rath said he's acted a bit and stage-managed shows. But he enjoys the writing process the most. Thus, as a Castle High School student who isn't caught in the Ronald E. Bright spell of musical theater that has produced numerous actors on Broadway and in touring shows, he is somewhat of a rarity.

"Playwrights, in a way, are getting to be a dying breed," he said. "People who write plays want to write for movies; it's understandable because of the money and the creative freedom. I want to develop my work, learn a lot more about play-writing, so the New York festival was terrific in that we took a lot of classes that dealt with how to protect our works, so people don't take advantage of us."

Rath said he was eager to come home to execute ideas he got on the trip, and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association strike, which canceled his classes, turned into a godsend, he said. "I've been spending a lot of time at the computer, writing, finishing projects."