Raven Gabrielle Koo-Koo Abbey

Promising Playwright, July 2013

Raven Gabrielle Koo-Koo Abbey is having a great time with YPT at camp this summer. She just started her second year at Camp Promise at the East County Recreation Center in Montgomery County. At camp, she and 120 other students get to participate in YPT’sSummer Playwriting Program, in addition to other arts, crafts and games. This is Raven’s second year at camp with YPT. She had a great time last year and she says, "I thought the activities were really fun - and it was really organized. And it was just really fun." She especially likes playing the theater games and acting out the plays written at camp.

Last summer, her play drew upon personal experience. "It was about a girl and her mom. They were having conflict because she was a basketball player and she had to decide whether to go to the basketball game where her friends were going to be, or stay at home and do her homework and miss out on the basketball game." She explains, "I’m an athlete, so I got that from my perspective."

This year, she is going in a "totally different direction." Raven can’t stop smiling as she explains the premise of a "really goofy play" that she is co-writing with several of her friends from camp. This year’s story is about a black panther, a pit bull with a red nose and its owner - all of whom breakdance! Raven likes dancing and is excited about the fun, lighthearted play.

A rising 8th grader, Raven does not have art classes in school. Art is offered as an optional after-school activity, but it conflicts with her schedule as a soccer player. This does not stop her from pursuing her artistic interests, though. An aspiring fashion designer, she draws designs on her own and hopes to break into the fashion industry. She also writes her own songs on piano and guitar.

Raven explained that with all of her interests, it’s difficult for her to sit still. She says, "I’m usually active. I don’t prefer to stay in one spot; I prefer to be moving around." However, when she’s expressing herself artistically, through writing, drawing or music, she finds that she can stay still because "I’m doing something I really want to do."

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