I went to Tarragon Theatre’s Paprika Festival last Sunday to watch under-21s act, direct and write. My brother’s daughter, Emma had a play which she wrote and had a part in. Topical stuff, especially with the whole “guns in schools” thing happening again. She was the grubby, punk kid involved in a school shooting.

Out of them all, I enjoyed her play, Janet (Biased? Not really, it had some harsh words towards the Media and showed an anger that surprised me)and the last play, The Zoo-Keeper’s Love Song a funny story of a semi-disfunctional family versus a has-been American Slasher movie queen. Suitably impressed for Emma since she had to pare down her play 10 minutes a few days before, and she was up against some much older teens (she’s 14). I think she held her own and did a great job.

Of course she came out of the dressing room wearing a cool t-shirt that made me so envious.

Check it out, it’s free, but call ahead. It sells out the day of the performances.