Marin Theatre Company’s Teen Advisory Board has selected eight finalists from the thirty plays submitted by Marin high school students for the Marin Young Playwrights Festival.

Each submitted play was read by at least three members of the Teen Advisory Board, and the process was blinded — the readers did not know the playwright’s name or school. After the first round of voting and discussions, we determined that there were well more than eight plays that deserved to be finalists. To narrow it down to eight, and to ensure that no more than two finalists would be chosen from any one school, we read some plays aloud, went through several rounds of voting, and held a heated debate. Finally, a consensus was reached. Here are the finalists, in alphabetical order:

A Different Sort of Art by Gwen Hicks, Marin School of the Arts

A Locked Door by Chris Madera, Redwood High

A Love Hate Relationship by Lauren DeBiasio, Sam Maher, and Emelliano Salas, San Marin High

Death of a Barista by Sam Stecklow, Marin School of the Arts

I Did the Washing and Tidying Up by Cindy Diaz and Bonnie Kate Wolf, San Rafael High

Lost Play by Keira Sullivan, Redwood High

Mr. Goodyshins and His Numerous Dinner Guests Find A Murderer Under the Sea In Their Polka-Dot Submarine by Sander Lutz, Tamalpais High

Toby by Jasper Hirose, Terra Linda High

The eight finalists will be performed at MTC in the Marin Young Playwrights Festival at 7pm on Monday, February 1, 2010. The cast for each play will be either members of the Teen Advisory Board or students from the playwright’s high school, as decided by the playwright. This event will be open to the public. MTC’s Artistic Staff will serve as judges, and will select one winning script.

The winning script will be presented as a staged reading with professional actors and a professional director at MTC, in conjunction with MTC’s New Works Series, on February 11 at 7pm.