Fifteen-year-old playwright and director Robert Hill, of Hammond, didn't have to look too far for inspiration for his cautionary drama "Runaway Valley."
"A few of my friends ran away from home before," he said. "I asked them 'why would you do that?' and they said 'I don't know.' They thought that running away from their problems would make things better, but it turned out that it made things even worse."
Debuting his play today with a second performance Sunday at Hammond's Beatniks on Conkey, Hill, who is a sophomore at Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City, was bitten by the theater bug when he was 11, when he became a member of Chicago's Apostolic Church of God's Drama Guild.
From there, Hill made his way to Free Street Theater on Chicago's north side. The company is dedicated to instructing youngsters in acting and writing and it's where Hill explored other creative outlets.
"They wrote their own plays, and we had (an exercise) where we had to write down and express our feelings, and that's what made me want to become a writer," Hill said. "Writing is one thing to do for a (school) assignment, but when you express your feelings and words on paper, it means a lot and shows a lot."
Michelle Morelli served as theater director at TF North and worked with Hill last year when he had a featured role in the school's production of the musical "Once on this Island." She also advised Hill when he brought a series of short plays to the TF North Auditorium.
Now teaching at St. Benedict High School on Chicago's north side, Morelli said Hill stood out amongst many of the other students under her wing.
"What I love about Robert was his excitement and his drive," she said. "Nothing would stop him from doing theater. He always wanted to learn more about it and he always took constructive criticism very well because he wanted to do better. He wanted to learn every aspect of theater. It wasn't just a fun club to be in. It was training for the rest of his life."
In March, Hill formed his own theater ensemble, RH and Company. Their first public production, the Hill-penned and directed "Justice is No Fairy Tale," was staged in August at Calumet City's Memorial Park.
Following graduation, Hill plans to pursue the theater arts in college. In the meantime, he wants to build a fan base for future RH productions in Indiana and beyond.
"Indiana has a lot of theater, and that makes me want to stay there," he said. "From there, I'd like to expand to Illinois and to the Midwest and so on."
A few months ago, Beatniks owners Rip and Bonnie Johnson were contacted by Hill, who set his sights on staging "Runaway" on their stage and discovered the venue from their Web site.
Once they gave him the greenlight, Hill went to work to hold up his end of the deal; last month, at Calumet City's Labor Day parade, he followed its route, passing out flyers for his forthcoming production.
"He's a self promoter. He's a hustler," Rip Johnson said. "He's an ambitious young man, and as polite and as nice as I could ask. I feel confident that it's going to be a good show. The pieces that I've seen are interesting. They're lively and they're well acted out."
"Runaway Valley" is recommended to viewers 13 and older.
'Runaway Valley' 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Beatniks on Conkey, 418 Conkey St., Hammond
COST: $10
FYI: (219) 852-0848; BEATNIKSONCONKEY.COM; RHANDCOMPANY.COM
