Actors from the American Stage Theater company acted out a Lakewood High School student’s play at James Museum which lasted for 10 minutes during the Lift Every Voice Play Festival.

Senior Ciratee Carter, from St. Petersburg, created the play in his creative writing class with teacher Elizabeth Halstead, called “Making it out of the Ghetto.”

The play was chosen to be directed and performed by the actors of American Stage to showcase Carter’s talent.

“The actor that played young Carter had all of the emotions and embodied him in every word,” Halstead said.

The play was on March 4 and 5, and told the story of the hardships that Carter has encountered with school, violence and getting out of the city and environment he grew up in. The accuracy of the actors and their roles made Halstead “laugh and cry,” she said.

“I was so nervous man I had to go to the bathroom and breathe,” Carter said.