By Nathan Duke
In early April, the borough's QTV television station filmed seven- to 10-minute plays written by 12- and 13-year-old students from IS 110, but performed by city-based thespians from stage and television at the Astoria Performing Arts Center, said Taryn Drongowski, the center's executive director.”These kids have wide-open, imaginative thoughts, but they are also older and sophisticated,” she said. “They wrote really multi-layered stories and were really pleased with what the actors did with their material.”A total of 17 students took part in the program, which was split up into two sections, she said. The second section was filmed by QTV.In the playwrighting program, students took part in improvisation exercises, learned how to develop characters and wrote letters to themselves from their characters, Drongowski said. The students included a variety of unique characters in the plays, including the sun, meteors, animals, teddy bears and a few actual humans, she said. Actors only had one hour before filming to rehearse the plays, which were shot on minimal sets, she said.The plays will be shown on QTV at a yet-to-be-decided date.Sabrina Aguilar, a 13-year-old IS 110 student who took part in the program, said learning how to write a play was an invaluable experience.”You have to be able to use your imagination and let it expand,” she said.The program, in its third year, was made possible through a $25,000 grant secured by City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), who introduced one of the plays.”Arts are important to any community,” the councilman said. “They transform neighborhoods into more vibrant, more interesting places to live and to visit.”Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
