Wash High playwright selected for festival

Pittsburgh’s City Theatre offered Washington High School senior Shelby Studt an opportunity that few experience. Her one-act play, “Like Oprah Said,” was chosen as one of three winning scripts in the EQT Young Playwrights Festival to be performed at City Theatre.
“The contest received nearly 400 entries this year from 40 schools in Western Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia,” said City Theatre’s Kristen Link. “The plays are read and evaluated by a literary committee of theatre professionals, and the final picks are made by the senior artistic staff at City Theatre. The cast is comprised of 10 professional actors who make up the ensemble of all six plays.”
Studt’s fellow Washington High School stage class will see the play Oct. 25. Other students from the region will have the opportunity to attend performances from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3. Public performances will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 and at 1 p.m. Oct. 29 at the theatre, located on the South Side.
Writing a one-act play was part of Studt’s performing arts stage class, taught by Brandy LaQuatra.
“Shelby is such a special young woman whom I am blessed to teach and know,” said LaQuatra. “Her play is a charming comedy filled with sarcasm, plot twists and pop culture references. Shelby has a true gift for comedy, which is rare to see in adolescent writing. Her play adds lightness to the other darker winning plays. She has a true talent and I am excited to see where it takes her.”
“Like Oprah Said” is about a young woman named Emma whose father plays practical jokes on her on April Fool’s Day. Emma was accustomed to the jokes, but she could never expect the commotion that two positive pregnancy tests and an Oprah Winfrey documentary could cause with her boyfriend, father and his girlfriend. The romance takes a farcical look at how disruptive a prank can be.
Studt, who has been writing since a young age, started playwriting in ninth grade.
“Shelby started with Teen Outreach as an eighth grader and was trained as a peer educator right away,” said Washington Hospital Teen Outreach Executive Director Mary Jo Podgurski. “Her first task as a ninth grader was to create a play called ‘Invisible’ for the eighth grade to perform. She did an outstanding job, not only in creating the play, but also directing it.”
Theatre is one option that Studt, the 18-year-old daughter of Richard and Jamie Studt of Washington, is considering for a college major.
“I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be taking, but it will likely be something in theatre, or possibly child psychology,” she said. “I’m looking at California University and Robert Morris University.”
When she’s not writing plays or reading, Studt serves at Teen Outreach, which she has done for five years. She’s been the youth coordinator for Washington’s Students Helping Others committee, the group that plans and executes the “Washington’s Got Talent” annual fundraiser.
“She is an amazing performer with our educational drama group, the Real Talk Performers. As such, she helps write and perform educational dramas to present to other young people and at professional groups. This year, she has volunteered to edit our annual anthology of young people’s original fiction, plays, poetry, art, and photography,” said Podgurski.
Studt said one of her goals is to help people through her writing.
“I like to write, and if I can do that to help someone, that’s even better,” she said.
For ticket information for Studt’s play, visit www.citytheatrecompany.org or call 412-431-2489.