Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) today announced it will present its second annual Buffalo Young Writers night on Wednesday, May 25th at 7:00pm at The Road Less Traveled Theater. The event features winners of the 2011 Buffalo Young Writers contest, developed by RLTP to recognize outstanding student playwrights in the WNY area between the ages of 17 and 22.
RLTP launched its inaugural Buffalo Young Writers contest in the fall of 2009 in order to give students enrolled in high school and college the opportunity to have plays professionally produced. Winners receive staged readings; the grand-prize winner receives a cash prize and a workshop production. Winners of the second annual contest were announced in February 2011; results will be presen
Ted May 25th.
2011 grand-prize winner Jon Zelasko's Enjoy It is a bittersweet and comical evocation of two estranged lovers reuniting... and finding each other drastically different than their idyllic memories would have them believe. Zelasko was a runner-up in the 2010 contest and also a member of the 2011
Emanuel Fried New Play Workshop. As the 2011 contest grand-prize winner, Zelasko will receive $250 and Enjoy It will be presented as a workshop production directed by New Play Workshop Director Kyle LoConti on May 25th.
Five 2011 runners-up will be presented as staged readings on May 25th; they include Stefan Brundage's I'm Okay; or: When The Night Has Come; Megan Kemple's The Rules; Caitlin McAneney's Second Love; Courtney Ricigliano's The Unseen; and Taylor Zito's The Sonambulists. Playwright McAneney was the 2010 contest grand prize-winner; Brundage was a 2010 runner-up. The five staged readings will be directed by Kristin Bentley, RLTP: Blacklight Director Drew McCabe, and RLTP Literary Director Jon Elston.
Featured actors on May 25th include Kristin Bentley, Arin Lee Dandies, Darryl Hart, Amy Jakiel, Elexa Kopty, Aaron Krygier, and RLTP Resident Actor Bob Grabowski.
Elston voiced enthusiasm about the sophistication of the new works. "Many of the plays in last year's batch were fantastical works of science fiction, horror, and the absurd," he said. "The 2011 selections show a greater interest in character development, human relationships, and deep philosophical concerns... but still with plenty of laughs, as well as a few tears." "I'm proud to produce the very mature work of these very young and developing playwrights."
Admission to Buffalo Young Writers night is $10. Due to seating limitations (the 2010 Buffalo Young Writers night was standing-room only), reservations are recommended and can be made by phoning the Road Less Traveled Theater Box Office at (716) 629-3069. The Buffalo Young Writers contest will continue in its third season in the fall of 2011.
About Road Less Traveled Productions
Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) is a professional theatre company founded by Scott Behrend and Jon Elston. RLTP is dedicated to the development and production of new theatrical works by Western New York playwrights as well as presentations of esteemed modern dramas of outstanding literary merit. RLTP is located at 639 Main Street in the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre in the Downtown Buffalo Theatre District. For ticketing information, please visit
www.RoadLessTraveledProductions.org or call (716) 629-3069. RLTP's work is made possible through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
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