Philly's Young Playwrights Holds Write On! 6/3 At World Cafe Live

In celebration of its 22nd year, Philadelphia Young Playwrights will hold its annual benefit, Write On! A Celebration of Student Voices, on Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. at World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia). The celebration will highlight the transformative effects of the Philadelphia Young Playwrights experience and feature the inspiring voices of past and present winning young playwrights, as the organization salutes some of the remarkable advocates who have made a lasting impact on the organization.

The impact of the recession on the region's students and arts education is only beginning to surface. In this moment of great challenge, Philadelphia Young Playwrights is implementing new and innovative ways to navigate through the current economic climate, from enhanced fundraising efforts to increased collaboration with Philadelphia's theater community. Young Playwrights is working to sustain theater arts education for Philadelphia's youth, maintain indispensable programming and provide students with accessible and essential creative outlets and the Write On! Celebration will help make that possible.

As part of the Write On! Celebration, Philadelphia Young Playwrights will honor Governor Edward G. Rendell with its Civics Award, recognizing the Governor's strong education platform and his stewardship of the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program. Young Playwrights will also highlight the achievements of Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown with the Young Playwrights Advocate Award for her extraordinary efforts on behalf of youth and her work in establishing The Fund for Children at the Philadelphia Foundation. Anne Spector will receive the President's Award for Special Achievement, for her work as an educator, administrator and advocate of Young Playwrights programming in the Cheltenham School District. Recipients of the annual Adele Magner Memorial Award - given each year to a student, teacher and teaching artist for their exemplary collaboration, perseverance and transformation in the program - will be announced shortly.

Honorary Chairs of the Write On! Celebration are Sandra Dungee Glenn, Karen and William Kiefer, Virginia and Harvey Kimmel, and Richard and Diane Dalto Woosnam.

Write On! will open with a cocktail reception featuring music by the Westminster Jazz Ensemble, followed by an awards ceremony and live performances. Young Playwrights' resident director, Myra Bazell, co-director of Philadelphia's SCRAP Performance Group, will direct the award presentation and the performance by winning young playwrights. Student board member Nathan Wainstein and former student board member Nia Davis, both former winning playwrights, will serve as the onstage hosts.

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 up to 50 public and private K-12 schools each year. Now in its 22nd year, the organization remains the only theater arts program in the region promoting literacy through playwriting and supporting the development of each student's distinctive voice.

Each year, the Young Playwrights program pairs Philadelphia-based theater professionals with individual classroom teachers and works closely with them to integrate playwriting into the curriculum. By teaching students to draw on their own personal experiences and imaginations during the creation of their plays, Young Playwrights helps them improve their writing, literacy and problem solving skills while simultaneously strengthening self-expression.

Young Playwrights offers an antidote to diminishing arts education and places an incredibly compelling learning process in the eager hands of our young people. For many students, working with Young Playwrights is a life changing experience, shaping new views of themselves as writers, artists and successful individuals. When students write about their lives, they are empowered to change them. The program's success can be measured by the growing level of self-confidence, increased literacy and community activism that its participants experience. PYP students' voices and plays have powerful impacts upon audiences of all ages.

Young Playwrights' programming is enhanced by the collaborative support of Philadelphia's outstanding theater community. Longtime partners in the organization's public presentations include Temple University Theaters and Philadelphia Theatre Company. In 2008/2009, the organization's Play Development Series partners include the Arden Theatre Company, Drexel University, InterAct Theatre Company, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, University of the Arts, Walnut Street Theatre and The Wilma Theater.

Young Playwrights is a past recipient of 2005 and 1997 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service, 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.

Write On! tickets start at $125, with admission for PYP students, alumni and teachers available for $50. Producers' Circle contributors ($1,000) will be invited to attend an exclusive pre-party hosted by Harvey and Virginia Kimmel on May 18. Tickets can be purchased by calling Young Playwrights at (215) 665-9226 or visiting www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org. The benefit serves as a fundraiser for Young Playwrights' programs throughout the year.

Generous support for Write On! is provided by award sponsors Beneficial Bank, Harmelin Media, Metro Philadelphia, and The Philadelphia Foundation. Advocates Circle Sponsors include Accordion Films, Henkels and McCoy Inc., Independence Foundation, Sheehan Events, and Target.

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