Anna and Kelly Banker of Oak Hill Road, seniors at Lawrence Academy, have made it to the finals of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild's statewide drama festival with their original play, heartskin. Their entry, the only play both written and directed by students, is one of 14 plays competing in the final round of the Festival and will be performed at the John Hancock Hall in Boston Saturday, April 2, at 12:30 p.m.

This latest theatrical feat will come as no surprise to many Harvard residents who have followed the Banker girls' productions over the past several years. Starting when they were in middle school, the girls created "Camp K&A," which offered youngsters a week at the Banker house with a variety of activities, the most important of which were rehearsals for a performance at the end of the week for families and friends. Kelly and Anna scripted adaptations, choreographed dances, and directed their fledgling casts through productions of The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. As their protégés got older and the group expanded, the Banker girls held rehearsals after school and moved the venue to Hildreth Elementary School for Annie and The Wizard of Oz. Their final successes before going off to Lawrence Academy were Grease and Back to the '80s.

Even with all this experience, it was a huge step to write and direct a play for high school students for statewide competition. The inspiration for heartskin came from Eve Ensler's book, I Am an Emotional Creature, a collection of monologues from the perspectives of different teenage girls. Anna and Kelly's play is a series of dramatic monologues confronting complex issues with honesty, compassion, and humor. The ensemble consists of three male and four female actors who, using only black folding chairs as props, keep moving, literally and emotionally, through a series of issues teenagers face in their daily lives. The underlying theme is that of avoidance versus confrontation, and the play moves toward resolution, showing the young adults' growth in understanding and in an ability to embrace opposing views.

Laura Greenwood, a classmate of the Bankers and part of the ensemble, describes the process by which the play came into being. "What makes heartskin special is that the script comes from our peers."

In the fall of 2010 Anna and Kelly distributed a simple template of seven topics to students at Lawrence Academy and Weston High School and asked them to express their feelings. Laura says, "Each entry was anonymous, which let us write our thoughts truthfully. For me the experience was therapeutic. I wrote without boundaries and without the pressure of a grade."

Anna and Kelly received more than 300 submissions, and they say that reading them was the best part of the whole process. As Anna puts it, "We were overwhelmed by people's willingness to share their most intense thoughts and memories. We were touched that we got so much trust."

They describe the entries as ranging from the "hilarious" to the "horrifying." It was in one of those submissions that they came across the word "heartskin" and knew immediately it would be the title of the project. They sorted the writings into seven topic piles, plus one catchall. Then they cut the entries into pieces, asked what each was really about, and sorted them again. The play evolved through 15 drafts, with multiple performances, to seek input.

Laura says, "It was overwhelming to be presented with such raw material. When I think back to the first draft of the script, it's impossible to believe heartskin is still the same play."

The Bankers and Greenwood agree that they felt a huge responsibility to express what the contributors submitted. As Laura says, "Their stories are ours to tell and deliver." It is the commitment to this responsibility that drove the writing and directing of the play and that unites the cast.

If heartskin is one of the plays chosen at the finals this weekend, it will go on to be showcased with plays from other states at the New England Drama Festival. Whatever happens, the authors/directors and the actors can be very proud of the creative and compelling way in which they have given voice to issues that shape teenagers' lives.