opening act

Oh Gary? He’s just our emotional support hostage by Frances Sveinson — GARY: Violet Neuner, GAIL: Sky Smulewitz, TODD: Emmerson Todd

Fraternizing by Amelia O’Brien & Sky Smulewitz — CARL: Nolan Braly, JIMMY: Jackie Barr, REBECCA: Rocklynn Coyle, BEAT BOX FRAT BOY CRUZ: Violet Neuner

Featured Plays

Answering Machine by Emily Smith — KEIRAN: Zolboo Namkhaidorj, NICK: Shailesh Sivanantham

Compensation by Izzy Mann — STEVAN WHISKERS: Daniel Silverman, HECTOR: Ezra T. Howlett, DESTRUCTOR9000: Ayla Tabrizi

The Murder on Murder Street by Raymond Rogers — MR. PLEASANT: Shailesh Sivanantham, MRS. PLEASANT: Zolboo Namkhaidorj, DR. SHMERLOCK SHMOLMES: Daniel Silverman, DEAD BODY: Rocklynn Coyle

Let’s Pretend by Grace Woelffer — ARTY: Arthur Leung, SPARKLES: Ezra T. Howlett

[INTERMISSION]

Oh, Brother. by Chloe Gillmer — TALIA: Gracyn Lei Garrett, OSCAR: Daniel Silverman, AIDAN: Shailesh Sivanantham

F-I-G-H-T Club by Lillian Braly — JONNY: Shailesh Sivanantham, MARCO: Arthur Leung

Am I? by Morgan Olsen — VALENTINE: Gracyn Lei Garrett, ROWAN: Zolboo Namkhaidorj

5 Minutes (Until the End of the World) by Biana Toussaint — TONI: Gracyn Lei Garrett, HERMEA: Ezra T. Howlett

[Run Time: Approx. 100 min. The program will include a brief intermission. Content Warnings: mature themes and language, recommended for ages 12+] 

Production Team

CO-DIRECTOR / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Ariella Wolfe

CO-DIRECTOR: Lana Richards

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Rose Curfman

LEAD TECHNICIAN (sound/lighting design): Corinne Balmain

COSTUME DESIGN & COORDINATION: Caitlin Gurtner

PROP DESIGN & COORDINATION: Rose Curfman

PLAYWRIGHT COACH: Nicholas J. Maurer

STUDENT VOLUNTEER STAGE CREW: Justin Rauch, Emily Smith

PRODUCTION SUPPORT: EJ Agata

Directors’ Notes

It has been such a joy to work with Sandcastle and the students from MSA for Emerging Voices 2026! I’ve left each rehearsal inspired and in a better mood than when I arrived, and that has to do with the ensemble we’re creating, and the incredible plays straight from the minds of these brilliant students. 

I’ve approached this project as I would any professional endeavor, and I can say wholeheartedly that the students have as well. These stories are strange, treacherous, adventurous, expansive, familiar, tear-jerking, and laugh-out-loud funny. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working on them. 

As with all great theater, these plays capture the highs and lows of the human experience, reflecting back the world we live in and showing us what our world could be (for worse or for better). Thank you so much to Ari, Rose, and the whole Sandcastle team for your incredibly hard work, and for bringing me along on this ride!

– Lana Richards, Co-Director

***

The process of Emerging Voices is full of possibilities.

When we meet the writers at the beginning of the program—6 months before we ever see anything onstage—their ideas are still tiny sparks. Along the way we ask them to trust us with their precious ideas and go on a journey to explore what those sparks could become.

So, as you watch the shows tonight, we invite you to see not just the power and inspiration of each of these plays, but also the hours and hours of care and attention that went into crafting them. These student-playwrights are an inspiration to all of us professional artists, and it’s our honor to work with them and make sure to do their plays justice.

I’ve learned so much from working on each of these plays: about letting go, about speaking up, about staying true to yourself, and taking responsibility. Each play holds its own potential for how it connects with you as an audience, and it’s such an exciting experience to share them all with you.

Thank you to each and everyone one of you for supporting the possibilities of live theater!

– Ariella Wolfe, Co-Director (Artistic / Program Director) Sandcastle Theater Company

Playwrights’ Notes

Emily Smith: I came up with the story of ANSWERING MACHINE after listening to a song. The characters and story have grown to be incredibly special and important to me and have become little pieces of me. The wonderful people at Sandcastle have been so pivotal in helping me turn this play into reality, and I truly would not have been able to do this without them. I really hope the audience will walk away from this play thinking deeply about how they deal with their own grief and emotions. I hope people will feel as deeply about the play as I do and truly take something away from it. Big thank you to Ari, Rose, and Ms. Pollack for helping me push myself and see the play through and also to Shailesh and Zolboo for bringing it to life.

***

Izzy Mann: In COMPENSATION, I wanted to write about two protagonists that suck at their narrative purposes. Whiskers is a sleazeball that becomes difficult to root for, and Hector fails at every attempt to appear malicious. I think that sort of dynamic is funny to watch and fun to write. Throughout the writing process I was able to enhance my play's writing thanks to working with the actors in-person and feedback from the Sandcastle team. I hope audiences will come away from this play thinking these two old men bickering is pretty funny, and that grudges can't always be resolved.

***

Raymond Rogers: Many of the stories that I write are based on the experiences and realizations that have shaped the course of my life and my view of the world. THE MURDER ON MURDER STREET is not one of those stories. While I did fit in some commentary on our ignorance and oppression of women—expected for the 50s, but still prominent today—the primary purpose of this play is to be entertaining, not symbolic. So, enjoy!

***

Grace Woelffer: LET’S PRETEND comes from the part of myself that is scared of losing that "Creative Soul" in myself. While writing this script, it helped me process my ideas and dread that I carry to eventually be moving on from a school that really allows me to express the side of myself that loves to create. I hope that the audience will acknowledge the impact that not being able to do what you love has on oneself and either encourages themselves or others to keep doing what they love. I would like to thank Ms. Pollack and Sandcastle for giving me a space and opportunity that lets me do what I love.

***

Chloe Gillmer: OH, BROTHER. was inspired by my desire to write something comedic, and my love for writing odd family dynamics. I had an excellent time writing the play, especially developing my characters and each of their unique voices. The feedback from Sandcastle was so interesting, and helped me look at my piece in a new way — especially when all the playwrights got together and discussed our plays with each other. I hope that, after watching my play, people will realize the importance of taking responsibility for your mistakes and that family is more important than any grudge you might want to hold. A huge thank you to the whole Sandcastle team for allowing me to go through this process again! It’s truly incredible :)

***

Lillian Braly: I've never been very good at playwriting: my ideas always ended up being far too short or way too long. Desperate to start my draft, I turned to the prompts our creative writing teacher, Ms. Pollack, put on the screen. I decided to write the dialogue starter: "I need you to punch me in the face". It was easier than I thought it would be from there! I had been hesitant to use a prompt, but it ended up helping me create characters and a story I really liked. I hope that you enjoy F-I-G-H-T CLUB and I hope this helps some people know that it's okay to get help when you're trying to get inspired. Creativity has to be sparked somewhere!

***

Morgan Olsen: I got the inspiration for AM I? as a way to express what I, and many of my peers, had personally been struggling with. After constantly hearing stories about how this society has chosen to oppress women, as well as the pressure to be a “perfect” version of yourself placed by social media, I felt a need to express this in the best way I know how. This is my first year working with Sandcastle and I could not have enjoyed it more. From the in depth notes to the many table reads, I was given a glimpse into what it means to be a professional writer and the vast amount of work it takes. I loved getting to work with the team on both the literal writing of the script but also how to bring that script to life. It has been wonderful to see the play evolve, and I am so grateful for this experience. I hope you as the audience member take what I have written and connect it to your daily life whether that be a small moment or large. With both the growth of social media and underlying sexism which has shaped every bit of our society, it can be hard to realize just how much it is affecting us when it feels impossible to escape. But I believe it is when we refuse to ignore the impact, that we take a step closer to healing. I’d like to give a special thanks to my family for always supporting me no matter what and who has helped me navigate this crazy world. I want to thank Sandcastle Theater Company, as well, for making all of these amazing plays a reality.

***

Biana Toussaint: 5 MINUTES (UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD) was inspired by the inaction I felt in my life and how I wanted to realize more of my potential. The driving question I thought of was "if you thought you couldn't make a difference, would you still try?", which is explored through Toni's character. I believe everyone has potential to do great things but the hard part is unlocking that potential. It was also inspired by movies such as the Matrix and Donnie Darko that I had watched for the first time in the fall. I was very inspired by the futuristic elements and tone of the Matrix as well as the time travel elements found in Donnie Darko. The Emerging Voices experience was great. This is my third time being in the program and I have enjoyed every step of the way. My favorite parts of the process are working on revisions in order to strengthen first drafts. I hope the audience feels inspired to accomplish the goals that they've set for themselves, as well as enjoys the characters growing out of their preexisting notions for themselves and working together to do something great.

SPECIAL THANKS

**Sponsors: The Social Klub, Amy Wolfe, Denise Maloney, Julie Hochman & Greg Wolfe

In our 5th year of partnership with MSA on Emerging Voices, we are so fortunate to not only have worked closely with our program liaison, Rebecca Pollack (Creative Writing), but also with Margaret Hee (Theatre) to involve more students in the program and production than ever before. We owe our deepest gratitude to our partners at Marin School of the Arts / Novato High School: Michelle Cortez (MSA Director), Shannon Miller (MSA Program Specialist), Jahon Miles (Novato High School, Assistant Principal), Steven Hess (Center for the Arts Facilities Manager), Brooks Fletcher (Visual Arts), Philip Chidel (Cinematic Arts), and the amazing district custodial staff. To our co-directors, actors, production team, crew, student volunteers, and all who contributed behind the scenes to this year’s workshop, rehearsal, and production process: our deepest gratitude for sharing your unique talents and bringing so much to this collaborative process. Last, but certainly not least, we give a huge thanks to our student-playwrights. Thank you for trusting us with your stories, and we hope you take the well-earned opportunity to celebrate all your hard work!