Ensemble Theatre Company Is Accepting Applications For 6th Annual Young Playwrights Festival

Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara's professional theater, is now accepting applications for its 6th Annual Young Playwrights' Festival for aspiring writers aged 14-19. This four-month-long program provides young writers a safe and nurturing environment in which to learn the craft of playwriting. As part of the process, the participants develop a 10-minute play that is subsequently presented with professional directors and actors for a public audience. This free program will accept up to 20 students from Santa Barbara County.

The deadline to apply is December 15, 2022. Applications may be found online at https://etcsb.org/education/young-playwrights-festival.

Students in the Young Playwright Festival program will receive multiple and varied opportunities to develop their creativity and gain artistic skills. Phase One includes weekly classroom instruction focusing on the study of playwriting techniques, a brief history of American theater and a lively forum for discussion and critique of student work. By the end of this first phase, students will have completed a draft of a 10-minute play. Phase Two provides one-on-one mentoring from a professional playwright to guide students through the revision process resulting in the final draft of their play. In Phase Three, students explore the final steps in the theatrical process by participating in a live casting session and learning how to develop a creative collaboration with theater directors and actors, culminating in festival of a staged readings of their plays on stage at The New Vic theatre. "The development of storytellers for the future of the American theater may be one of the most valuable educational programs that the ETC can offer the Santa Barbara community," said Education Director Brian McDonald. "Thanks to the generous support from The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, we are able to offer this unique dramatic writing program free to all participating students and provide a supportive team of nearly 30 theater professionals." ABOUT ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY Founded in 1979, Ensemble Theatre Company is Santa Barbara's leading professional, resident theater company. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Fox and Managing Director Scott DeVine, ETC has attracted accomplished performing artists from around the country. ETC's 2022-23 Season has been generously sponsored by Dana White.    Ensemble Theatre Company's mission is to engage audiences with entertaining, compelling, and thought-provoking theatrical productions and provide engaging theater education programs for youth and our theater audience. We present important new plays and interpretations of the classics for a broad audience in Santa Barbara and the region.

Summary of core organizational programs and services: An annual season of five productions lies at the heart of ETC's artistic programs. The company's goal is to present groundbreaking new plays and inventive interpretations of the classics with the highest level of artistry by engaging top actors and designers and fully utilizing the scenic advantages of the company's theater space the New Vic, a newly renovated state-of-the-art theater that seats 294 audience members. ETC's season offerings draw nearly 20,000 patrons annually in Santa Barbara and the south/central California coast region.

In addition to presenting professional theatrical productions, ETC also utilizes its artistic resources and state-of-the-art venue to engage youth and the community through its Education Outreach initiative, which includes student and teacher workshops, a Student Matinee Program, master classes, The Young Playwrights Festival and summer youth performance camps and intensives.