Marianne Murphy Women & Philanthropy Play Reading Series gives feedback to featured playwright on audience’s reactions to her work on the college admissions process
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By Matthew Overstreet
May 26, 2011 11:16 p.m.
The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
All UCLA students understand the pressures and anxieties that come with the college application process. It was this rite of passage that inspired third-year theater student Maggie Rose Yanniello to write her first play.
“That specific time frame really struck me because it’s always fraught with drama. Either you get accepted to your favorite school or you get rejected from it and everyone always has their battle story of college admission,” Yanniello said.
This afternoon, Yanniello’s play, “Admissions,” will be read by a group of actors as a part of the ninth annual Marianne Murphy Women & Philanthropy Play Reading Series at Chancellor Gene Block’s residence. The series is dedicated to plays dealing with women’s issues and will be hosted by Carol Block. The reading is open to the public, although it is limited to an audience of about 50 people.
“When people arrive at the reading, the actors are sitting in chairs with the script in their hands,” said Edit Villarreal, chair of the Master of Fine Arts Playwriting program.
Villarreal said she will introduce the series and Yanniello as well as Gary Gardner, a director, playwright and UCLA theater professor. A discussion will follow the reading.
According to Villarreal, this portion of the reading is important because it gives the audience the opportunity to tell the director and writer directly what they found most effective about the play.
“I’m honored. It’s also kind of terrifying because this is the first play I’ve ever written, so it definitely is a learning experience. But so far, I’ve been having a great time,” Yanniello said.
Villarreal, who produced the reading, said she also helped choose the play for tonight’s reading. Villarreal said Yanniello’s play stood out because it was comedic, while touching upon material that a college audience could relate to.
“I still remember vividly being turned down by Oberlin (College) and Stanford (University),” Villarreal said.
The subject matter of the play is not the only thing that makes this reading memorable though, according to Villarreal. Gardner cast both undergraduate and graduate acting students and prospective theater minors, as well as non-theater students.
“It’s not often that we have an opportunity to have such a mixture of students reading in a play,” Villarreal said.
Gardner helped Yanniello develop her play while she was a student in his playwriting course this quarter.
“A lot of the plays being written now are “˜life sucks plays.’ … It’s not slap-your-knee funny, but it gives hope to young people,” Gardner said.
According to Gardner, the moral of the play is that college is not the answer for everyone.
“Now if everyone that sees it drops out of school, I’ll feel guilty,” Gardner said jokingly.
As for the play itself, Villarreal said that she hopes the life of the play will not end simply with tonight’s reading. Villarreal said that future possibilities for the play may include showing a scene or two during fall orientation or staging the play in the Northwest Campus Auditorium. Yanniello, however, said that she is less concerned about the long-term direction of her play.
“I think you’re lucky to get either a very positive or very negative reaction,” Yanniello said. “I think the best thing about a reading is you can see what people react to.”
Gardner said that the ultimate goal of the series is to provide exposure for playwrights who might not otherwise have the opportunity to share their plays.
“It’s an educational thing really, to give the playwright a chance to hear her play where other people not in her class can respond or not respond with laughter or smiles or falling asleep,” Gardner said. “You can only learn so much in the classroom. The rest you have to take out into the practical world and see what plays.”
Correction: Maggie Rose Yanniello’s name was misspelled.
