Wrapped in a black scarf dotted with pink flowers over a blue-collared shirt, she busily strings bead after bead together. ‘Bracelets for Haiti,’ the sign reads. She blends into the crowd, and it’s easy to pass her off as just another civic-minded, driven Northwestern student.

‘Sorry, I was undercover,’ she says, standing up from the Norbucks table before introducing herself. ‘I’m Emily Acker.’

A freshman theater major in the School of Communication, Acker, was one of 10 winners of the 2009 Young Playwrights Inc. National Playwriting’ Competition, emerging from a pool of 700 applicants. Her winning play, Milk and Honey, tells the story of an Israeli and Palestinian boy who form a relationship. ‘It’s a little bit of a social commentary on conflict (by) making it (into) a real-life situation,’ Acker says.

Acker originally submitted the play to Philadelphia Young Playwrights as part of a school assignment before deciding to submit it to the National Playwrights. Inspiration for Milk and Honey stemmed from Acker’s personal experience of living and attending school in Israel. ‘After coming back to America, it was something that was on my mind, and I decided to write about it,’ she says.

As a winner of the National Playwriting Competition, Acker traveled to New York for eight days and attended the Young Playwrights Conference. The play was staged in an off-Broadway theater (with) professional actors and directors, making the endeavor more realistic than your typical school play. Seeing her own work on stage and hearing her words spoken was immensely helpful, she says.

The firsthand experience with working actors and directors was one of the best bonuses. Rehearsals ran all week, during which she got to talk to working actors and directors in New York City. They took her to shows, paid for her flights and hotels and gave her a taste of the theatrical life in the city. She modestly admits it was not a full production, only one act spanning 50 minutes, but Milk and Honey will grace the stages of Philadelphia’s Temple University in March.

Acker has a full theater repertoire, ranging from acting to writing and even working backstage in her high school theater program. ‘I like to do a little of everything. I like to do writing because you’re your own boss’ she says, ‘but (acting) is an important and creative way to see the world through someone else’s shoes. I think we live in a world that’s kind of self-absorbed. (Acting is a) really neat way to open your eyes and understand different perspectives.’

When she isn’t busy jotting down new ideas in her journal or holding callbacks for her play, the newly pledged Tri-Delt makes bracelets with two of her friends in order to raise money for Haiti. Acker also finds time for Hillel, although she is ‘not as active’ a member as she wants to be, though Judaism is a big part of her life. Although Acker jokes about being ‘undercover,’ her wide range of involvement and dedicated pursuit of her passion for theater proves otherwise. ‘