‘ALYS HOWE has done it
‘again — for the second year
in a row the North Van-
‘couver’ playwright has had
‘one-of her plays accepted by
the Vancouver Fringe Festi-
Val °

_-By Robyn Brown. <4

ZAP! Contributor 5

: While that. in itself is a
wonderful accomptishment, what

makes it so ‘remarkable -is that -

“Howe is just 14 years old. And on

op of that, she wrote her play,

‘entitied The Ownership of
“Women, i in-just four days.

And..if that weren’t enough,
-'there’s also the fact that the artic-
late ‘14-year-old chose to write
‘about: a: subject that most 14-
year-olds aren’t: typically aware

- of: women’s oppression.

The. Ownership’. af Women,
which-. opened . last .. Wednesday
night, is: described in the Fringe
Festival program as ‘‘a glimpse of
“the: unsafe: position of Sahailah

“Tabrizi’.:::(who) finds herself held
prisoner.in an Jranian jail merely
for having committed the offence
of being born female.’’

-Wow! That. sounds powerful.
Where, did she ever come up with
the: idea to write about such a
‘serious topic?

sWell, Howe has - an
friend. ;

“rh didn’ t really. think very much
‘about. fran or the way that.women
were™-treated there or women’s
rights. ‘or anything like that until!
-this year,”’ she says.

: “But. this: year there’s a girl at
‘my ‘school named. Nassin, whose
family comes .from Jran, and —

from -knowing her’ — “i realized
that if she went back to Iran she

: ‘would: not really have much fun. .

oy “And T just thought that that’s

” really. scary, and it made me aware

Iranian

of what it’s like for a woman in,

Aran” oe

‘Howe,;: who attends ‘Windsor

House school in North Vancouver, :
-has involved -her’‘drama teacher .

‘.and ” several classmates. in The
Ownership of Women. . Teacher
“Meghan Hughes is the director,
while eight students appear in the
play,
The. group has shown tremen-
- dous devotion to the production,
going so far-as giving up part of
their summer for August rehear-

GVRD seeking
student input

(THE GREATER Vancouver

Regional District (GVRD) is
seeking student and choral groups
to write and perform original
songs for an environmental
cassette,

Groups have until Nov. 1, 1993
{o produce an original song,
record it on cassette and send the
recording and the: lyrics to the
GVRD.

For more information, call
436-6964, fax 432-6399 or just
‘mail an entry to: GVRD, {9th
floor, 4300 Kingsway, Burnaby,
B.C. V6H 4G8.

directed by teacher Meghan Hughes.

sals ... now that’s dedication!
Howe points to her. drama
teacher as the person who got her
interested in writing for the Fr-
inge.
Three years ago Hughes en-

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couraged her students to write a
play as a class project and, when
the ciass didn’t have much success
writing together, Howe sat down.
and wrote a play on her own. En-
titled Critics, it was accepted at

THIS

WEEK’S ZAP! story is about a cre-

ative teen who has succeeded with her
work. Do you think teens have the oppor-
tunity to develop their creative talents? Do
you think there are places for teens to
present their creative work, either through

school or outside of school?

NEWS photo Brad Lediuldge

THiS IS more than just a teenage “stage.’’ Windsor House students Ben Middleton, Alys Howe (sit-
ting) and Elizabeth Mann (standing) get their lines down pat during final rehearsal of The Ownership
of Women. The play, which will be staged three times this weekend, was written by Howe and is

last year's Fringe Festival.
Although she has twice been the
youngest playwright in the. festi-
val, Howe doesn’t know if she will
make a career in the theatre.
“I want to write historical

“THE. OWNERSHIP
OF WOKEN -

When:
Friday, Sept..17, 6:15 p.m. .
Saturday, Sept. 18, 6:15 p.m. .
Sunday, Sept. 19, 6:15 p.m.

’ Where:

Mount Pleasant Conimunity Centre
3161 Ontario St. (at 16th Avenue), ”

Vancouver

Tickets: $6.50 and -$4.25,
available: at the door 30, minutes

‘ before the show or by phoning the

Fringe charge;sine,. 873- 9949 (Visa .
or MasterCard) - “ : :

novels,” she ‘says, “because 1 really .
like historical fiction; But I -like

~ theatre, too, and J really. love .

acting ... so.I don’t know.””

| But the :well-spoken’ teen has
good advice to give other young
people who want to follow her
lead: ‘‘Just keep writing down
everything that comes to your
mind,”’ she says. ‘‘Just keep doing
it — and show it to people and get
their opinion.”

Finally, can we. expect to see
this teenage talent again in future
Fringe productions?

‘*} hope so,”” she says. I want”
to do a musical next year.” -

Somehow that’s not at all sur-
prising coming from this extraor-
dinary young wornan. Break a 1 leg.
Alys! :

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