This collection of new plays for young actors comes from the repertoire of the Young Conservatory, a professional theater training program for young people ages 8 to 18 at the American Conservatory Theater. Each of the five plays in the collection was developed in this way: an outstanding professional playwright is invited to create a new play with a youthful perspective; the playwright is given no less than 6 months to create the first draft of a play--a play that is not restricted in size, cast, length, or thematic content or style; with the first draft in hand, the director selects Young Conservatory students based on the play's demands and the strengths of the students' acting skills; the playwright rehearses for 2 weeks with the cast and crew, during which time script changes are incorporated into the rehearsal process; and at the end of a 5-week rehearsal period, public performances are given. The five new plays in the collection are: "Continuing the Quest" (Craig Slaight); "Eddie Mundo Edmundo" (Lynne Alvarez); "Class Action" (Brad Slaight); "The Less Than Human Club" (Timothy Mason); and "Every Seventeen Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy!" (Paul Zindel). The collection concludes with excerpts from the writings of some of the young actors who participated in the staging of the plays. Some of the excerpts are journal notes; some are reflections on a particular project. (NKA)