Theater -- High-flying Eagle

Tom Titus

Estancia High School’s drama department has a long history of turning out

exceptional young thespians (including, it must be noted, my own son and

daughter). But seldom does even EHS encounter an overachiever like Robin

Letostak.

Robin, a 17-year-old senior, recently reached for the sky on two fronts

-- and grabbed it with both hands.

First, she bested more than 200 other students at the Chapman College

Shakespearean Festival in February to win “outstanding female monologue”

with a segment as Rosalind in “As You Like It.”

Then she excelled over 100 or so others with an essay on “King Lear” for

the English Speaking Union in Los Angeles. She was one of three

finalists, and the only one representing a public school.

The Mesa Verde student, who lives with her mother, Jody Terry, on Orcas

Drive, would be the school’s valedictorian this spring -- if Estancia

hadn’t done away with such honors. She’s taking several advanced

placement classes and is carrying a 4.22 grade point average. She

recently scored 800 on the essay portion of her SAT and hopes to become

an English teacher.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said her drama instructor, Pauline Moranian,

calling Robin “an incredible person.””It was wonderful to see her honored

in this way, and it’s even more impressive that she wrote [the essay] in

an afternoon,” Moranian said. “She’s not only a fantastic writer but a

brilliant actress as well.”

Robin, who says she has “always loved performing,” caught the acting bug

as a young girl watching her older sister, Nicole, go through the

Estancia High program.

She has packed her own scrapbooks during her years at Estancia, with

roles in the school plays “Museum,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “A Funny

Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and

“Godspell” -- the latter show winning her a MACY award last year as

“outstanding actress.”

Currently, she has her fingers crossed. The school is putting on “The

Wizard of Oz” this spring, and she’s auditioning for the leading role of

Dorothy. And this week she was scheduled to compete in the Disneyland

Creativity Challenge.

She’s already won the MVP (most valuable performer) award in Estancia’s

production drama class. She hasn’t settled on a college yet, but hopes to

enroll at Pomona College in the fall.

Devoutly religious, Robin began publishing a newsletter for her United

Church of Christ youth group when she was in the eighth grade, which she

continues to put out when time permits.

Robin, in her four-page essay on “King Lear” titled “The Age of Reason,”

points out that “Most people strive to live their lives as a progression,

to gain understanding with time and age. Shakespeare, in his play King

Lear,’ presents a tragic hero whose ignorance makes him strikingly more

tragic because of his old age.”

She concludes, “He uses this play to remind his readers, young and old,

not to waste their years without gaining in maturity and understanding,

as well as to surrender to our spiritual journeys and appreciate the

sweetness of life, of love. He challenges us to face our actions, values

and the raw humanity within us.”

Pretty heady stuff from a teenager, and it made an indelible impression

on her drama teacher.

“Her grasp of wisdom is beautiful,” Moranian declared. “Reading her essay

is a humbling experience. The insight and wisdom Robin displays in her

essay is nothing short of brilliant.”

Despite her achievements in high school theater, Robin doesn’t plan on

setting out for Broadway or Hollywood once she’s out of school. She’d

rather have the chance to develop young minds and help turn out more

students like Robin Letostak.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear

Thursdays and Saturdays.