Public Invited to See Middle School Student's Winning Play

City Theatre is presenting the 2012 Young Playwrights Festival this weekend featuring original, one-act plays written by select middle and high school playwrights from western Pennsylvania. One of the six winning scripts chosen from more than 200 Young Playwrights Contest submissions includes an eighth grader from Upper St. Clair.

Claire Zalla, who goes to Fort Couch Middle School, wrote "Sherbet Homes and the Diamond Deception" in sixth grade. Her teacher, Diane Ecker, remembered to send Claire's information to the contest one year later.

To Claire's surprise, her play was chosen as a winner.

Claire met with a City Theatre associate three times a month during the summer and was able to observe the auditions and casting. Her favorite part of the experience was when they brought all the actors and playwrights together for the first reading.

Now her play will be performed in front of the public.

"I'm incredibly proud of her, of course," said Ann Kelly Zalla, Claire's mother. "And I'm so grateful to all the people involved in bringing about this opportunity."

Click here to learn how you can see the plays this weekend.

Here's the description of Claire's winning script:

Right in the middle of a fancy party filled with guests, a brazen burglar swipes a diamond necklace and escapes—but not before revolting everyone by eating a piece of (shudder) broccoli! Who is summoned to solve the case? Inspector Sherbet Homes, Private I, of course. Everyone’s a suspect, and each twist and turn is more improbable than the last in this hilarious parody of the whodunit that will leave you wondering: does anyone have a clue?

Share your congratulations with Claire in the comments below!