It may have been good timing - or just plain hard work - that brought Jong Lee to this point.
Back in March, then a Grade 12 Gleneagle secondary student, Lee called up his former drama teacher to ask for a reference letter. Lee was applying to the Arts 1 program at the University of B.C.
Richard Dixon obliged but he also asked Lee how is creative writing was going, knowing that Lee was gifted in the craft. Lee responded that he was working on a play, and Dixon asked if he could read it.
And so Lee spent three furious days and nights working on a script that he had not yet conceived. Coffee was his best friend.
"It kind of just all poured out of me when I got going," Lee said, shaking his head. "I was under a lot of pressure but that's how I do well.... I wrote a lot at night because I feel that's how my brain connects better then."
The result was a 45-minute teen angst drama called Bones, a piece that's scheduled to close the first annual Port Moody Youth Arts Festival later this month and stars his fellow Gleneagle colleagues.
Besides writing and taking on the role of the father, Lee is also directing the play - his debut outside of the Coquitlam school.
Directing, he said, isn't that easy. A self-admitted introvert who achieved a 4.0 GPA in his final year, Lee said he doesn't especially like telling people where to go and what to do. Rather, he focuses on the story and tries to get the cast involved right from the start.
And there have been a few challenges right from the get-go. "We've had two dads. Two moms. And two teachers," he said, noting the change-overs have been because of personal commitments by the actors.
The play itself will be "minimalist, black-box theatre" similar to Dixon's style, Lee said, with only four chairs, crutches and a pillow for props. All costs are funded entirely by Lee, who is employed at Thrifty Foods.
He hopes any kinks will be ironed out in the two weeks prior to the festival. Then, Lee will host a private showing for Dixon as well as Gleneagle teachers and drama alumni to gain feedback.
Lee appears a little out of his comfort zone when he talks about his stage writing and directing abilities. "Honestly, I never knew I was going to be doing this until this year," the science whiz said, "but writing and directing is something that's become really close to me."
As for his future, Lee said film screenwriting is likely in the cards. "Most of the time, when I catch an idea for something, I write it down. And then it just sort of falls together and I can visualize the story in my head. It's like a movie playing and I can't stop [writing] until it's over."
jwarren@tricitynews.com
