The Blank Theatre in Hollywood has announced a year-long celebration of its landmark 30th anniversary, beginning with announcing the winners of the 2020 Young Playwrights Festival. Thirteen plays by playwrights aged 15-19 from 10 different states have been chosen.
Despite being safer-at-home, The Blank Theatre remains committed to this year's YPF and these outstanding teenaged writers from across the nation. Although times are uncertain, it is The Blank's intent to make sure they have the most outstanding experience possible. To that end, mentors this year include two Tony Award-winners, Emmy Award-winners, Tony Award nominees, three TV series creators, several executive producers, a Doris Duke Artist Award recipient and two LA Drama Critics Circle Award-winning playwrights. Mentoring is at the heart of what YPF is all about.
This year's winning plays are: DUST BUNNIES by Caroline Chown, age 18, Virginia Beach, VA; WATCH YOU'RE MOUTH by Alyssa Ho, age 16, and Miya Matsumune, age 15, Upland, CA; VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED by Alethea Shirilan-Howlett, age 17, Jamesville, NY; NUCLEAR by
Elizabeth Shannon, age 16, Frederick, MD; THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH by Maggie Munday Odom, age 17, High Point, NC; TINY LITTLE PROBLEMS by Jane Brinkley, age 16, Eugene, OR; BLACKTOP JUNGLE by Jared Goudsmit, age 19, Kirkwood, MO; GOD ON VACATION by Brigitte Boisson, age 16, Miami Gardens, FL; CHINA DOLL, IN LAVENDAR by J. Xiang, age 17, Fremont, CA; WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING OUR LORD AND SAVIOR by Bailey Garcia, age 19, New York, NY; MIMA by Remi Mark, age 18, Miami, FL; and THE FIRST YEAR I MISSED by Zoe Boray and Lea Mihok, both age 16, Burlington, VT. This year, for the first time, a winner will go directly to The Blank's Living Room Series: PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN, ANGEL, OTHER by Zander Pryor, age 17, Dallas, TX.
The mentors are (in alphabetical order) executive producer of The Closer and Major Crimes Adam Belanoff, TV producer/writer/developer and three-time YPF winner Beth Bigler, TV producer Ellen Byron, two-time Tony Award-winning librettist and lyricist of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Robert L. Freedman, LADCC Award-winner and four-time YPF winner
Aliza Goldstein, Tony Award-winning playwright (The Humans, Sons of the Prophet) and three-time YPF winner
Stephen Karam, five-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and librettist
Michael John LaChiusa, executive producer of Hot in Cleveland, Grimm, and Sean Saves the World
Todd Milliner, creator and executive producer of Sorry for Your Loss and four-time YPF winner
Kit Steinkellner, creator of the TV series MDs and executive producer of Preacher and Medium Gary Tieche, playwright (Buyer and Cellar, The Twilight of the Golds) and co-executive producer of The Good Fight
Jonathan Tolins, creator of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Broadway librettist, and five-time YPF winner
Austin Winsberg, and winner of a Doris Duke Artist Award, Kesselring Prize,
Horton Foote Prize, and two-time YPF winner, playwright
Lauren Yee (King of the Yees, The Great Leap, Cambodian Rock Band).
During this unprecedented and uncertain time, The Blank hopes to be able to produce the Young Playwrights Festival in whatever form is safest for the winners and their families, the YPF creative team, and our audiences. Along with the rest of the world, The Blank awaits a better understanding of what the future holds.
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