Stephens City Student Wins Wayside Theatre's Young Playwrights' Competition

Wayside Theatre has announced the winner and runner up of the Young Playwrights' Competition. The winners were chosen by a panel of readers on Wayside Theatre's staff, who read and judged the plays without knowing the identity of the playwrights.

Libby Powell, a senior at Sherando High School in Stephens City VA, has been named the winner for her play, Death at a Bus Stop. Ms. Powell has been heavily involved in Wayside Theatre's educational programs. Past involvement includes stage managing Young Performers' Workshop classes, writing for the fall Emerging Artists production of Mary Shelley: A Spark of Being, and stage managing fall and spring Emerging Artists productions, including the current production of The Tempest. Ms. Powell has been accepted to Mary Baldwin College on a scholarship to study theatre. As the winner, she will receive a $100 gift card from First Bank, two tickets to a play of her choice in Wayside Theatre's upcoming season, the T. Carter Fussell Award for Excellence in Playwriting, and a professionally produced public staged reading performed on the Wayside stage.

This year's runner-up is Kayla Borden from Musselman High School in Bunker Hill, WV, for her play How it Starts. She will receive a $50 gift card from BB&T Middletown and two tickets to a play of her choice in Wayside Theatre's upcoming season.

At Wayside Theatre, the month of April is dedicated to Education and the Arts. Wayside Theatre hosts a variety of educational opportunities through the Education in Action program, and is putting the spotlight on these opportunities throughout the month of April. The Young Playwrights' Competition will be the closing event to Education Month at Wayside Theatre.

A staged reading of Death at a Bus Stop will be presented April 30th at 7pm. The reading is open to the public and admission is free. The staged reading will be directed by Wayside actress Thomasin Savaiano. The cast will feature professional actors, including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee's Karen O'Connell, Brandon Shockey, and Josh Shelor, and community actors, such as Ann Heap. There will be a talkback afterward with Ms. Powell to ask questions and provide feedback. The Young Playwrights' Competition is sponsored by First Bank and BB&T.

Call the box office at (540) 869-1776 for information about the Young Playwrights' Competition and the staged reading on April 30th. Additional information can be obtained on the theatre's website at www.waysidetheatre.org. Wayside Theatre is located in Middletown, Virginia on Route 11, Main Street, just north of the intersection of I-66 and I-81.

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