TEN OUT OF TEN

Aspiring playwrights will find inspiration in these Ten Winning Plays Selected From the Young Playwrights Festival 1982- 1991, while young would-be actors will unearth plenty of thespian opportunities (after securing the authors' permission, of course). Here are the best of the best pieces produced by The Foundation of the Dramatists' Guild (some have appeared in previous anthologies). Among the entries: ``Third Street'' finds three buddies at a parting of the ways; ``The Birthday Present'' is a tangy portrait of parental influence gone berserk; ``Hey Little Walter'' renders terrible truths about drug-peddling in the inner city; and ``Sparks in the Park'' takes a fractured look at the angst of play-writing itself. Accompanying comments from the writers (on the experience of having their plays produced, on what their lives have been like since) root the selections realistically, revealing the hope behind the hard work of these young professionals and their expectations for future success. For those interested in the stage and its many aspects, a volume well worth perusing. (Plays. 12+)