Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival Reveals Winners

Now celebrating its 32nd anniversary year, The Blank Theatre’s Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) has chosen 12 plays by playwrights aged 15–19 from nine different states. The festival will be in residence at the Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz from July 11–August 4.
 
This year’s winning plays are: Crank 004 by Max Leventon, age 16, Greenwich, CT; Divine Hotline by Steph Prizhitomsky, age 19, New York, NY; Don’t Cry Little Lion-Bear by Ashlynn Frangella, age 19, Jacksonville, FL; John Cusack is for Dead People Too by Emerson Coffee, age 18, Dallas, TX; Gene by Alexander Sanfiz, age 15, Lyndhurst, NJ; Ketchup & Mustard by Anna Parker, age 16, Houston, TX; Honeybee by Dakota Darnell, age 17, Minneola, FL; American Magpie  by Brian Guan, age 17, Dublin, CA; Click to Add Title by Bridget Wolfram, age 17, Louisville, KY; Ode to Us and I by Audrey Hunter, age 18, Dallas, TX; Meet Me Here by Sydney Tate, age 17, Dublin, CA; and Still Life by Leo Eigen, age 16, New York, NY.
 
This year’s YPF selection committee included (in alphabetical order) Karlie Blair, Erik Carabasi, Cassandra Carmona, Major Curda, Berenice Diaz, Aliza Goldstein, Cassandra Hsiao, Michelle Lander, Scott Lowell, Annie McGrath, Jonathan Messer, Matthew Scott Montgomery, Jorge-Luis Pallo, Bree Pavey, Hannah Prichard, Diane Renee, Michael Shepperd, Sarah Steuer, and Dani True.
 
Mentors, directors, and casting will be announced later.

This year’s YPF is sponsored in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs – City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture, Plum Foundation, Caplin Foundation, Rosenthal Family Foundation, and YPFuture Founding Members.