Friends Like These
As a junior in high school, Mark set out to write, co-direct, and produce a play on the Warren Harding Administration. After coming across the scandal-ridden administration while pleasure reading through his history textbook, Mark was inspired to capture the rise and fall of Warren Harding on stage. Harding put great trust in his friends, who later betrayed him through their unscrupulous dealings as members of the cabinet. Shortly before Harding died mysteriously in office, he said he wasn't worried about his enemies, noting "It's my damn friends who keep me walking the floors at night". For this reason, the play was titled,
Friends Like These. Mark feels greatly indebted to the talented students and faculty at South Windsor High School who made his dream of producing the play a reality. Friends Like These was performed at South Windsor High School on June 13, 2003, and was chronicled in the local newspaper.
In addition, the 105 page three-act play placed as a national semi-finalist in the Stephen Sondheim young playwright's competition. The play also received an honorable mention from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, placing among the top 10 plays written by high school students in 2003. Reviews of the play by professional playwrights can be found below.
Reviews from the Sondheim Young Playwright's Competition
