Senior Adriana Beltrano won a performance of her written play, a publication and a cash prize of $250 for the 2018 Palm Beach Dramaworks Young Playwrights competition for ten-minute plays.

The winners were chosen by a panelist of eight professional playwrights and theatre practitioners over two rounds. Beltrano’s ten-minute screenplay “Outage,” a science-fiction play, won first place.

“I just started writing it, kind of as a joke. I didn’t think it was going to go anywhere but I did it and I kind of tried to make it like ‘Black-Mirror,’” Beltrano said.

Her play will be performed by professional actors and will be directed by professional directors on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Palm Beach Dramaworks theatre in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Beltrano has had numerous writing accomplishments, including her appointment as Editor-in-Chief for Jupiter High’s newspaper, becoming the Jupiter High Literature Pathfinder, earning a five on the AP English Language exam and receiving the Best Overall award in AICE General Paper.

Although Beltrano wants to study law, she still plans on continuing her passion for writing as a hobby.

“If I could do anything I would probably be a screenplay writer because I like movies…but it’s hard to make it there,” Beltrano said.

Beltrano revealed how she gets through finishing big projects and essays.

“I have trouble with finishing big projects, so finishing this play was kind of something new for me… something I’ve heard is ‘If you’re writing something, just finish it,’” Beltrano said. “When I was writing [Outage] I would say ‘I don’t know what to do next,’ but I was like ‘I’m just going to write then finish it,’ and then when it’s finished you can go back and edit it, but if it’s not finished it’ll never happen.”

You can call and reserve a seat free of charge for her play while seats last by calling Palm Beach Dramaworks at 561-514-4042. Their home address is 201 Clematis St, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.