Week One Cast Set For The Blank Theatre's 32nd Annual Young Playwrights Festival

Casting has been announced for week one of The Blank Theatre's 32nd Annual Young Playwrights Festival. The first three of 12 winning plays by young playwrights aged 15–19 will be presented live onstage July 11–14 at the Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz. The plays are Crank 004 by Max Leventon (age 16, from Greenwich, CT); Divine Hotline by Steph Prizhitomsky, age 19, from New York, NY); and Don't Cry, Little Lion-Bear by Ashlynn Frangella (age 17, from Jacksonville, FL).

 
Crank 004 will feature (in alphabetical order) Alexis Beckly (Gaslit, Straight Up, Mania, The Big Break, Room for Improvement, Stitchers), Nathalia Coppa (Hacks, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia), Amanda Kruger (The Last 40 Miles, Jennifer Day TV, Contract, Hi-Fi Rush video game), Ash Maeda (Call the ADA, Harlan Coben's Shelter, The Exchange), Daniel Edward Mora (Abel, The Kill Floor, Learn With Me, Casa Grande, Snowfall, Promised Land, Coyote), and Philip Michael (Mamma Mia!, Ulysses Coyote, The Millennial, Fair City, Legend of Mantamaji). A dark and ominous room, powered by a crank. A group of people try to figure out where they are and how to get out of the cycle they are stuck in.  All must take their shift turning the crank to have their basic needs met — food, oxygen, and warmth.  But when a new person arrives, will their questions be answered, or will they be freed? The playwright was mentored by Kit Steinkellner. Directed by Kenneth Castillo.
           
Divine Hotline will feature (in alphabetical order) Annissa Borrego (A Hollywood Christmas, Station 19, Monster, This is Us, A.P. Bio, The Bleeding!, Besitos, The Goldbergs, Henry Danger, Abracadabra, Incoming), and Frankie Zabilka (Chang Can Dunk, Forgive Me Father, Rebel, Entropie, The Week Of, Video World, Mini Golf). Neurotic Cami sits in the confessional (AGAIN!) of a very hungover Father Owens talking about a text from a girl she has a crush on. Father Owens is barely hanging in there. She wants to know what to do next and passes him her phone so he can read the text. He advises her to text back ... except he passes back his phone by mistake. She sees he's been texting someone named Jessica and playing solitaire on his phone. Who the heck is Jessica and what should Cami do? Maybe Father Owens has the answers ... or maybe he's still playing solitaire. The playwright was mentored by Lee Sherman. Directed by Madison McLaughlin.
 
Don't Cry, Little Lion-Bear will feature (in alphabetical order) Lincoln Bonilla (That Girl Lay Lay, Mayans M.C., The Bystanders, Primo, Side Hustle), Diana Peremoga, Sydney Kowalske (It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story, Blue Bayou, Girl in the Basement, (Dis)Connected, Doom Patrol), Chloe Kuo (Journey to Eden), Aaron Leddick (Another Coffeehouse Chronicles Movie, Survival, All American, The Devil's Tail, S.W.A.T.), Bryce McBratnie (NCIS, Young Sheldon, Another Coffeehouse Chronicles Movie, Hawaii Five-O, Doubt, Gomorrah), Trodarius Provo (Tattooed Lips music video), and Lyndon Smith (Devil on My Doorstep, National Treasure: Edge of History, Fool's Paradise, The Walking Dead, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, Truth Be Told, Sorry for Your Loss). As a war rages on above them, a mother comforts her child as they hide in the basement by creating a story for them about a little lion-bear and its friends. A frightening place made better by a story of growing up, acted out by wilderness creatures alongside reality. When two soldiers enter the basement, will the hidden child be discovered, or will they remain safely tucked inside their imaginary world? The playwright was mentored by Cris Eli Blak. Directed by Shelli Boone.
 
Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended and may be made online at www.theblank.com. Skylight Theatre is located at 1816 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, 90027.

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