Philadelphia Young Playwrights Hosts Professional Readings of Winning Student Plays

Philadelphia Young Playwrights presents Professional Readings of Winning Student Plays June 14th at The Wilma Theater & June 15th at InterAct Theatre Company Student works explore youth violence in Philadelphia and the challenges facing teenagers living in disadvantaged communities

WHEN: Monday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. at The Wilma Theater, 265 S Broad Street (Broad & Spruce Streets), Philadelphia
Tuesday, June 15 at 7 p.m. at InterAct Theatre Company at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

WHO: Student playwrights and representatives from Philadelphia Young Playwrights will be available for interviews. Student playwrights will participate in talk-backs after each performance.

INFO: Admission is free; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information about PYP call (215) 665-9226 or visit www.PhillyYoungPlaywrights.org.

WHAT: In June, Philadelphia Young Playwrights (PYP), in collaboration with The Wilma Theater and InterAct Theatre Company, will present two inspired Play Development Series readings of winning student plays exploring youth violence in Philadelphia and the many challenges facing young teenagers living in disadvantaged urban communities. Violence continues to be a major concern for Philadelphia's youth as the city's homicide rate remains alarmingly high and news of disturbing "flash mobs" and disruptive teen activity has taken spotlight in both local and national media headlines. Young Playwrights offers students an opportunity to use playwriting to make powerful statements against violence, document the struggles they face within their communities, and share their story with the public in a positive forum.

The first reading will be held at The Wilma Theater (265 S Broad Street) on Monday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. Young Playwright's collaboration with the Wilma will feature a reading of Beads by Haley Gordon, an 8th grade student at Cedarbrook Middle School in Wyncote. Haley has been working one-on-one with Wilma Dramaturg and Literary Manager Walter Bilderback to develop her play. In Beads, a sixty-five year old nun thinks about her vocation, revisiting her past with the help of a questioning teenager. The dramatic play also explores the experiences of children in foster care, tragic loss and the effects of violence on friends and loved ones.

The Tuesday, June 15 reading at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street) at 7 p.m. will showcase Young Playwrights' collaboration with InterAct Theatre Company and present student playwright Tiara K. Taylor's The Youth of Black America - a timely piece about the increasingly violent world in which we live and the ways in which school-aged children cope. Tiara, an 8th grade student at Beverly Hills Middle School in Upper Darby, has been working in-depth with InterAct's Literary Manager and Dramaturg Rebecca Wright to develop the piece.

Through the Play Development Series, Young Playwrights continues to build lasting collaborative relationships uniting professional theater artists, educators and students writers. Students like Haley Gordon and Tiara K. Taylor, are paired with a director or dramaturge and work one-on-one to develop their play and to create a professional staged reading. Throughout the partnership, the student writers are at the center of the public presentations, participating in casting, rehearsals, marketing, press relations and talk-backs with audiences.

All of the works featured in the Play Development Series are winning plays from the 2009 Annual Playwriting Festival. Over 760 students ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade in city and suburban schools submitted scripts to the Festival. Student plays explore a wide range of subjects and universal themes, while offering compelling stories, a peek inside new worlds, and countless imaginative characters. Winners were chosen at each grade level, and each student who submitted a play received detailed comments from theater professionals who read his or her script.

READING SCHEDULE

Monday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. - The Wilma Theater

The Wilma Theater
265 S Broad Street (Broad & Spruce Streets), Philadelphia
Content is appropriate for middle school students and above. Time subject to change.
Beads
by Haley Gordon ~ Cedarbrook Middle School, Grade 8
Directed by Wilma Literary Manager and Dramaturg Walter Bilderback
About: A sixty-five year old nun thinks about her vocation, revisiting her past with the help of a questioning teenager.

*All Play Development Series play summaries are written by the student playwright of the work and subject to change as the playwright is actively revising and reworking the play.

Tuesday, June 15 at 7 p.m. - InterAct Theatre Company

The Adrienne Theater
2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia
Content is appropriate for middle school students and above. Time subject to change.

The Youth of Black America
by Tiara K. Taylor ~ Beverly Hills Middle School, Grade 8

Directed by InterAct Literary Manager and Dramaturg Rebecca Wright
About: Jamal, who is 17, is forced to move down to Philadelphia, PA with his dad. Jamal has never met his dad, so he is very upset when he has to live with him for his last year of high school.

*All Play Development Series play summaries are written by the student playwright of the work and subject to change as the playwright is actively revising and reworking the play.

About Philadelphia Young Playwrights
Founded in 1987 by Adele Magner, and led today by Executive Producing Director Glen Knapp, Philadelphia Young Playwrights is an award-winning program that taps the potential of youth and inspires learning through playwriting in more than 50 public and private K-12 schools each year. A leader in the region's educational programs for youth and built upon its primary belief that all students have something important and valuable to say, Young Playwrights has enriched the Greater Philadelphia community, touching the lives of thousands of students, teachers and parents for the past twenty years. Since 1987, approximately 60 professional playwrights have led workshops, and nearly all of Philadelphia's professional theater companies have participated by performing, producing, or directing student works. Nearly 60,000 students have seen peers' work produced in class or by professionals. Young Playwrights' Literary Committee includes more than 60 educators, writers, parents, and former Young Playwrights students who read and critique each student script. Young Playwrights has been recognized as a Champion in Action by Citizens Bank and is the past recipient of a 2005 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service, a 1997 Barrymore Award for Theatre Education, a 2003 George Bartol Award for Excellence in Arts Education, a national "Points of Light" designation, and a 2004 Eastern University Award for Nonprofit Excellence. For more information about PYP, visit www.PhillyYoungPlaywrights.org.

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