User:Toadesangst

//El Centro BascoItalic text is a play in one act written by Scott Ryan White of Berkeley, California (born 1992, San Francisco, California). It was first produced and performed by the Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre in April 2009 (1)http://www.berkeleyrep.org/school/teencouncil_oneacts.asp; see also (2)http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/06/DDET160C8J.DTL; (3)http://broadwayworld.com/article/Berkeley_Rep_Announces_Winners_of_Teen_Writing_Competition_20090225; (4)http://www.contracostatimes.com/berkeleyvoice/ci_12002155).

The play is copyrighted and was first published December 2008 (ISBN-13: 978-0-615-26900-9).

The play illustrates how five students at fictitious Emery Bay High School deal with ambition, temptation and loyalty over a period of 43 months as they make the transition from high school into the real world. The principal source of temptation is Vincent Cortez, aka the Carnitas King, who first meets the main male character (Bernie), his basketball teammate (Flipper) and the lead female character (Alicia, a budding linguist and Flipper’s girlfriend) at a Basque restaurant (El Centro Basco) in Chino, California. In an interview by Nirmala Nataraj, the author of the play said it is about “making a transition from your sheltered life in high school to the real world, where you have to make tough decisions, maintain your morality, and decide where your loyalties lie, with friends or family, or if you are motivated by self-interest. The main character represents this push and pull. Some of it is inspired by literature and film, and the idea of maintaining morality is a big theme in Shakespeare. Reconciling self-interest with loyalty to your community is not as easy as being the villain.” “Target Teen One Acts Festival at Berkeley Rep,” Theatre Bay Area, Vol. 34, No. 4 (April 2009) p. 39.