Playwrights Theatre Accepting Submissions to the 27th Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest

Playwrights Theatre is currently accepting submissions for the 27th Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest.

Plays are accepted in the following divisions: Elementary (grades 4-6), Junior High (grades 7-9), High School (grades 10-12), Rewrites (grades 10-12) and Podstages (Grades 10-12). Interested young playwrights must submit their plays online at http://www.njypf.org/. High School, Rewrites and Podstages entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on Friday, January 8, 2010. Elementary and Junior High School entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on Friday, January 15, 2010. For complete details and submission guidelines, visit www.njypf.org, or contact Jim DeVivo, Direction of Education at 973-514-1787 X14 or jdevivo@ptnj.org, or visit the New Jersey Young Playwrights Blog at http://njyoungplaywrights.blogspot.com/

There may be up to three winners in the Elementary, Junior High, and High School divisions; and one winner in the Rewrites and Podstages Division. High School, Rewrites and Podstages winners receive a New Jersey Governor's Award in Arts Education, cosponsored by the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership and the New Jersey Department of Education. Winning playwrights who individually write their play (i.e. without a co-author) may be eligible to receive a scholarship to attend Camp Premiere, the summer theatre program at Premiere Stages. Elementary and Junior High School award recipients will receive Certificates of Achievement.

The Podstages Division is an opportunity for students in grades 10-12 to submit a new script in the format of a radio play. The winner in this division will have a live play reading of the script, and a possible recording on Playwrights Theatre's Podstages website.

Previous New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest winners have gone on to win the National Young Playwrights Contest and have careers as journalists, playwrights and screenwriters.

For over 26 years, the New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest has been deepening the writing experience for young writers by providing entrants with detailed feedback from theatre professionals about their play. For the fourth year in a row, winning plays will be presented as staged readings with professional actors and directors during the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, a partnership between Playwrights Theatre and Premiere Stages at Kean University. The Festival is held during school hours so authors and their school communities are able to attend the Festival together. The festival will be held in May 2010. Admission to the readings is free, but reservations are suggested, as seating is limited.

For more information about the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, Playwrights Theatre's Main Stage Season, Creative Arts Academy or Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Writers Project, please visit www.ptnj.org or call (973) 514-1787.

Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest receives generous funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and Travelers Foundation, Bank of America, Investors Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, PSE&G, The Bay and Paul Foundation and the Provident Bank Foundation. The New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival and New Jersey Young Playwrights Program are registered to the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

Playwrights Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional (Actors' Equity) theatre. A community of professional playwrights, theatre artists, and arts educators, Playwrights Theatre provides opportunities for writers to develop their works in a nurturing environment and connect with new audiences. Our New Play Development Program is a multi-step process through which playwrights, theatre artists, and audiences collaborate to bring selected texts from rough draft to finished production. Our Education Programs introduce students of all ages and backgrounds to the possibilities inherent in thinking and communicating creatively. Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Writers Project provides hands-on workshops led by professional writers-in-residence to students in schools and community centers throughout the state reaching over 15,000 students annually. We place an equal emphasis on New Play Development and Educational activities, and encourage our community and audiences to participate fully in both.

For the years 2010-2012 the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) designated Playwrights Theatre as a Major Arts Institution. This means that the Council considers Playwrights Theatre to be "an anchor institution that contributes vitally to the quality of life in New Jersey" (along with Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and the McCarter Theatre Center).

Funding for Playwrights Theatre is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, Inc., The Prudential Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, Bank of America, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Investors Savings, Bay and Paul Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Karma Foundation, MCJ Foundation, The Turrell Fund, Provident Bank, Pearsall Family Foundation, Union Foundation, PSE&G, Travelers, and many other corporations, foundations and individual contributors. FORUM is supported by grants from The Shubert Foundation and The Dramatist Guild Fund.

Playwrights Theatre is a member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the National New Play Network, The New Jersey Arts Education Collective and Madison Arts & Culture Alliance.

Premiere Stages is committed to serving the cultural needs of the Kean University campus community and the northern and central New Jersey regions through the production of premiere Equity productions, professional development and training programs and the cultivation of emerging artists. In a time when the majority of theatres are producing revivals, Premiere Stages is committed to ensuring that emerging artists are afforded the opportunity to have their work developed and produced in a safe and nurturing environment. Premiere Stages is a model professional university program, actively engaging and enhancing the specialized training programs at Kean University while embracing and serving a culturally diverse audience, children-at-risk, and a broad pool of local artists.

 

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