9-year-old’s play to debut on radio

“Sliced by an Artist,” a seven-minute radio play by Los Angeles elementary school student Kenny Juarez, will be performed with the help of some stellar talent during National Public Radio’s broadcast of “Day to Day” Friday. It will be heard on KPCC-FM (89.3) between 9 and 10 a.m. and KCRW-FM (89.9) between noon and 1 p.m.

Dustin Hoffman narrates the fantasy about a restaurant drinking straw who’s hoping to avoid his father’s fate: being shredded for a piece of artwork. Hoffman will be joined by a cast of veteran voice actors.

Nine-year-old playwright Juarez wrote the play during his participation in the Young Storytellers Foundation, a creative arts mentoring program that pairs Hollywood professionals with fourth and fifth graders in L.A. public schools.