The granddaddy of statewide playwriting contests for young writers – the California Young Playwrights Contest – showcases the winners of its 22nd annual competition through Sunday on the Old Globe Theatre’s Cassius Carter Centre Stage. This year’s festival features readings of three plays by writers 14 and under and four fully staged one-act productions by writers under 19.

The four older writers explore the possibilities of meeting the person you need to meet in an elevator, the difficulties of being both teen and gay, the disastrous effects of divorce on kids and the personal costs of war.

In Elevated, 20-something Natalie (Kat Ochsner) practically has a breakdown in the elevator of her posh New York apartment after her boss evicts her from her panoramic-view office. Fortunately, Rudy (Jim Granby), the aging elevator operator, is there to commiserate, advise, amuse and dance with her. Ariel Cowell, the 15-year-old playwright, shows talent, wit and cleverness beyond her years in this delightful piece, which features spot-on performances (Granby is a standout) and fine direction by George Yé.

Stage Directions, by 17-year-old Thomas Hodges, explores the confusion, longing, embarrassment and fear of being a gay teen, and does it in a quite sophisticated way, with time shifts and inner voices by onstage actors. Nicely portrayed by the three actors (Marcus Cortez, Geoffrey Yeager and Andrew Kennedy) and well directed by Ruff Yeager (Geoffrey’s dad), Stage Directions is a fine piece.

When her parents announce their intention to divorce, Cass (Cindy Mersten) almost becomes “fatherless” when her mother, “the nutbar” (Dana Hooley), secretly files for full custody. Fortunately, Cass happens to see the paperwork before it’s too late and decides that “I’m keeping my dad” in The Aftermath of Cassidy Joan, by 17-year-old Katherine Quinn, well acted and sensitively directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg.

War themes are seen more and more often in the theater these days. John Glouchevitch, 18, of Los Angeles, goes back to the ’40s to explore the personal price of war in the affecting The Courier. Glouchevitch gives us the hardened Sarge Harold (Joe Solazzo) and his new courier, Billy (Andrew Jason Miles), who volunteered for courier service after he took shrapnel in the leg overseas. It’s “the only job they’ll let me do,” he tells Harold. Couriers are charged with the awful task of notifying families of servicemembers killed in action.

Sarge, who has been at this job for a dozen years, has steeled himself against the emotion he encounters. He has categorized the usual responses as “Crier,” “Hugger” or “Statue.” He tosses Billy into the pool alone on this, his first outing, and forces him to give the news to six families. This is a devastating script that peels away all the glorious political rhetoric and forces us to consider the result of war.

Beeb Salzer’s brilliantly creative doorframe on casters also serves as a car when put down flat. This is the only set needed for this wonderfully acted and Stephen Metcalfe-directed meditation on the tragedy of war.

The desire to escape poverty and drugs, a fantasy about travel and an avian revolutionary fantasy inspired by overtaxation were the subjects of the young writers whose plays were read.

Dana D. Walker’s Rain, Rain, Go Away shows the relationship between poverty and crime. Tabias, a young teen, has been selling drugs to help mom Melanie make ends meet. He wants out, but finds it not so easy to escape.

Once Upon a Muffin is a fanciful piece about Minoa Myceanea, an orphaned 11-year-old living with her “pea-brained” uncle Thomas Buttonhole. Minoa stows away on a ship to Paris (the Angelic Muffin) and ends up in Thebes, where she meets Thessalina Corinnia Attica, who prefers skipping to walking. Eventually, she realizes the importance of home and her caring uncle.

Taxation without representation concerns 10-year-old Nachiketa Baru. One part of his imaginative The Exploits of Crusher, Mighty Amazonian King was read. This part introduces Crusher the parrot (Rhys Green), who convinces Parasol the toucan (Catherine Miller) to come along and help him defeat the king who instituted the taxation that has reduced middle class birds and animals to poverty. Terrific interpretations by Green and Miller make this amusing piece come alive.

“We teach literacy and the excitement of words,” said Deborah Salzer, founder and artistic director of the local Playwrights Project, which runs the contest each year. And each year the plays seem to get better. Bravi tutti!

The Playwrights Project’s Plays by Young Writers continues through Jan. 21 at the Old Globe’s Cassius Carter Centre Stage. Shows Friday at 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Different programs are offered on different days. For more information, call (619) 239-8222.

That world-famous tilter at windmills is back, his story interpreted by those wild and wacky Flying Karamazov Brothers. Seven actors and two musicians play 40 roles in Paul Magid’s Don Quixote, a drama-cum-musical-cum-circus-cum-puppet show-cum-vaudeville (among other things) playing through Feb. 4 at San Diego Repertory Theatre and directed by Sam Woodhouse.

Magid, one of the founders of the Flying Karamazov Brothers, has the background to take on this Spanish story – he is descended from Sephardic Jews who still speak Ladino, an ancient form of Spanish. Magid’s basic plot thrust is a “can’t we all just get along?” plea for tolerance, filtered through the particular brand of stage lunacy that is the Karamazov trademark.

Magid narrates as Cide Hamete Benengeli, a Moor generally hated by all in polite Spanish society, who will eventually be tossed out of Spain as the Jews were before them.

Peter Van Norden plays Quixote, resplendent in a getup I won’t even try to describe and riding on the updated Rocinante – an oversized tricycle with a horse head as a sort of hood ornament. His Sancho Panza is Willie G., whose trusty steed is a child’s trike. Willie G. was last seen at the Old Globe as the Archangel Michael in the Christmas favorite La Pastorela de la Estrella.

Don Quixote’s particular form a lunacy is a childlike dedication to right and to the perfection he finds in a woman who doesn’t exist. But Quixote continues to fight for the downtrodden and for the honor of his beloved Dulcinea, though he always takes a beating.

This Don Quixote is overstuffed with goofy stage business, puns and a hit-and-miss collection of one-liners (e.g., “I like the lance a lot;” Quixote of Sancho’s steed: “Nice ass, Sancho”), trapdoors, giants on stilts, and lots of juggling and contemporary political references. Though the cast is admirably game for all this (and must be exhausted after each performance), the overall impression is, well, demasiado. There’s too much talk, the humor is too broad, too unsubtle and the whole – at two and a half hours including intermission – too long.

Nonetheless, it has its moments. Some of the best are the Moorish and medieval Spanish-sounding music by Gregg Moore, sung by Magid. (But there’s also an atrocious rap song by Willie G., featuring three Moorish maidens bouncing on exercise balls.)

Don Quixote is a mixed bag, featuring good music and bad, good jokes and bad, but always great juggling.

Don Quixote plays through Feb. 4 at San Diego Repertory Theatre. Shows Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. For tickets, call (619) 544-1000 or visit www.sandiegorep.com.