"The Dorm Room" at Santa Monica Playhouse

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Or so we learn in "The Dorm Room," a Santa Monica Playhouse presentation that showcased months of hard work by the performing youth.  The play, set in the same room over four decades, explored the commonality in emotions related to growing up. 

A group of twelve talented young actors played thirty characters in the combined efforts of the Santa Monica Playhouse Advanced Youth Ensemble, the Pre-Advanced Program and the Teen Performance Lab.  The group provided a unique perspective in their storytelling, since the subject touched on issues they were already dealing with firsthand. 

And, as we learn, no matter how much the times change we all make the same emotional journey to adulthood.

Written by Evelyn Rudie with Serena Dolinsky and directed by Chris DeCarlo, "The Dorm Room" featured Clarisse Wiedem, Angela Tuckerman, Antonio Russo, Emily Priebe, Emma Peitzer, Nicole Moradifar, John-Michael Lisovsky, Jasmine Gutierrez, Kenia Gonzalez, Karen Fukuhara, Alex Holtzman, and Serena Berman. 

It was hard not to recognize the emergence of a few young stars, the most prominent being Emma Peitzer, who played Erica.   Peitzer's expressions seemed so genuine that you wonder why you haven't yet seen her on the big screen. 

But all the young actors shined on stage in a way that showed the audience they'd completed a journey of their own - an exploration in acting.

The Santa Monica Playhouse Teen Performance Collaboration is one in a series of youth events.  The theater is currently trying to raise enough money to buy the property it's been sitting on for forty-two years.  The Save the Playhouse campaign needs to raise $100,000 more in order to reach their goal and is actively seeking donations.

To find out more, visit SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com.