Trinity Rep Announces Winners of Student Playwriting Competition WRITE HERE! WRITE NOW!

Trinity Rep's sixth annual playwriting competition for New England High School students, Write Here! Write Now!, announces this year's winning playwrights: Bella Lillsebbas (10th grade, Lincoln School, Providence, RI), Anna Tarasuk (10th grade, Chariho High School, Richmond, RI), Jordana Kagan (12th grade, Framingham High School, Framingham, MA), and Laura Costello (12th grade, Rockville High School, Vernon, CT). Each award-winning student will have their ten-minute play presented by professional actors as a staged reading at Trinity Rep on May 1, 2017 at 7pm, a free event open to the public. Students also receive the chance to workshop their writing through the Tony Award-winning theater, including individual feedback sessions with playwright in residence Deborah Salem Smith.

Write Here! Write Now! is presented each year as part of the "Beyond Trinity Rep" Community Education movement at the organization. Creative writing, English, and theater teachers are asked by Trinity Rep's education department to assign a ten-minute play as a part of their classroom curriculum. All completed plays are then submitted - free of charge - to the Write Here! Write Now! competition. Scripts are adjudicated through a blind evaluation process by Trinity Rep's education, artistic, and literary staff. Each year, four winners are selected with at least one winner from a Providence, RI high school. In addition to seeing their plays performed on stage, winners also receive a scholarship towards any Trinity Rep Young Actors Studio afterschool class and 20 free tickets to a Project Discovery student matinee performance during the 2017-2018 season for their school. More information on Trinity Rep's education programs or the Write Here! Write Now! Event is at www.trinityrep.com. This year's four winning plays range from utterly hilarious to powerfully contemplative.

Tenth grader Bella Lillsebbas studies at the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island . Her comedy, Catch 42, revels in wit as four moms confront their differences at an elementary school PTA meeting.

The Story of the Night Sky by Anna Tarasuk, currently a tenth grader at Chariho High School in Richmond, Rhode Island, paints the picture of a young artist who provides for her village through a celestial sacrifice.

Jordana Kagan, in twelfth grade at Framingham High School in Framingham, Massachusetts, scripted Watermelon Boy, the story of 10-year-old Matthew who learns the hard way that it might be a bad idea to swallow watermelon seeds.

Twelfth grader Laura Costello at Rockville High School in Vernon, Connecticut wrote the insightful drama Eliza's Artist, wherein a college art student finds herself critiqued as if she were a piece of art herself.

"We believe that giving high school students the opportunity to write for the stage is an exciting way to engage their literary minds and imaginations, and it shows," says Matthew Tibbs, school partnerships manager and teaching artist at Trinity Rep. "We hope students gain a sense of confidence, possibly a new skill set, and perspective."

Trinity Rep's director of education, JorDan Butterfield, adds, "It is refreshing and invigorating to hear young voices express their perspectives. This year's winners are witty, beautifully descriptive and they capture vibrant moments of human existence."

Trinity Repertory Company

The State Theater of Rhode Island, Trinity Repertory Company is now in its 53rd season. Since its founding in 1963, Trinity Repertory Company has been one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. Featuring one of the last permanent resident acting companies in America, Trinity Rep presents a balance of world premiere, contemporary, and classic works for an estimated annual audience of approximately 110,000. Since 1963, the theater has produced 67 world premieres, mounted national and international tours, and trained hundreds of new actors and directors through its MFA program.

Subscriptions for the 2017-2018 season now on sale. Trinity Rep's 2016-2017 season concludes with Faithful Cheaters running April 20 - May 21 and Like Sheep to Water, or Fuente Ovejuna by Lope De Vega, running May 11- June 11. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the box office at (401) 351-4242 or visit Trinity Rep's website at www.trinityrep.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.