On May 12, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center held its 14th annual Young Playwrights Festival, and this year three of the five plays produced were by local high schoolers. A crowd of nearly 200 packed the theater for a night of short plays.

Montville High School’s Holly Richmond, Waterford High School’s Dominic Brunaccioni and Kayla Roy of Clark Lane Middle School in Waterford wrote plays for the festival.

Holly Richmond’s play, “The Strange Case of Project Amelioration,” was one of the most highly original during the evening, while Dominic Brunaccioni’s “Good Opportunity” earned a standing ovation for his head-on tackling of emotional issues surrounding a father’s real-life arrest and conviction for serious crimes.

This year, the Young Playwrights Festival received a record-setting 229 entries, choosing five to perform along with inviting in another 16 finalists to participate in the process.

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