Interview: Aria Proctor on the Winners of the CALIFORNIA YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS CONTEST at Playwright's Project

Thanks to the Playwright’s Project, the future of theatre writers is alive and well as they enter the 40th season of their “Plays by Young Writers.”  The winners and finalists for the 2024 California Young Playwrights Contest were announced this past weekend on November 2nd. Playwrights Project’s Managing Director, Aria Proctor, talked about what audiences can expect in their public performances in March 2025.

At the ceremony this past weekend, audiences enjoyed cheering for the winners and finalists and seeing snippets of the works that will be produced for the upcoming 40th season of the “Plays by Young Writers” Festival.

391 scripts were submitted from young writers all over California, which were then evaluated and reviewed by a group of volunteer theatre professionals. Proctor was delighted to see so many talented young writers participate, tell their stories, and never give up on their works.

“The 2024 California Young Playwrights Contest submissions far exceeded the last two years, meaning we are returning to pre-COVID submission numbers. We are encouraged to see so many young people writing and hope that the feedback from our letter writers inspires them to keep telling stories through theatre and keep submitting to the Contest! Similar to one of this year’s winners who was a semi-finalist in 2022, a finalist in 2023, and now a winner in 2024!”
 

 The winners and finalists announced on Saturday that they would now get to work with theatre professionals to see their works come to life and experience the process of bringing their stories from script to stage.

Aria says the “Plays by Young Writers Festival” is for ages 11 and up and includes fully produced productions for writers aged 16 and 17 and a staged reading for writers aged 13 and 10. Aria says that 

“We are thrilled to be producing work from 3 local San Diego County students in the 40th Plays by Young Writers Festival. Our two younger winners, who will receive staged readings, were also in a Playwrights Project residency at their schools.”

Young playwrights may write these plays, but as Proctor explains, the shows tackle very nuanced and complex themes for such young writers.

“The plays in this year’s Festival deal with themes of social pressures and complex family dynamics. All the characters are exploring ways to maintain their individuality and balance the demands of our ever-changing world. It is encouraging to witness student writing that centers on real-world issues but has some fun too.”

Below is a brief synopsis of the playwright's works  that you can see and support in 2025 is below:

 Staged Reading                                                Playwright

The Farewell to Esc                                    Aldo Ledesma, age 13, San Diego

Ride the Wave                                             Jaydon Franco, age 10, San Diego

Aldo Ledesma Ramirez’s fun and imaginative play, The Farewell to Esc, brings to life a PC who wants its owner to play video games with him instead of doing schoolwork and playing outside. 

Jaydon Franco was 10 when he wrote Ride the Wave during a playwriting residency led by Playwrights Project’s Teaching Artist Courtney Flanagan in Jason Bailow’s 4th-grade class at iHigh Virtual Academy. In the play, three hermit crabs discover the true meaning of life in a shell-tastic adventure.  

Full Productions                                               Playwright

Cheaters                                                  David Hernandez, age 16, Santa Ana

Ghost with the Most                                     Jenna Knott, age 17, San Diego

Losing Hope                                               Kaya Sparnicht, age 17, Irvine

David Hernandez’s insightful and original script, Cheaters, is set in a classroom where a group of students suspected of academic dishonesty find solace with one another. 

Kaya Sparnicht was 17 when she wrote her play Losing Hope which follows three orphaned sisters in a dystopian future taken over by Artificial Intelligence. In this allegory of a family coping with loss, the sisters struggle with clashing ideologies. 

Jenna Knott was 17 when she wrote Ghost with the Most. In the play, an eccentric ghost teams up with a tired millennial to rid their home of unwanted guests. The play explores difficult family dynamics in a humorous way with fun physical comedy. Jenna wrote this script while attending Westview High School.

How To Get Tickets 

The “Plays by Young Writers Festival” features professional productions of winning scripts from the 40th annual California Young Playwrights Contest. The first public performance will be on March 1st, 2025, at 7:30 p.m., followed by an in-person reception. The productions will also tour schools from February 26 to 28 before their public performance debut.

Tickets to the public performance are available starting December 4, 2024, and you can find ticket and showtime information at www.playwrightsproject.org/productions/pbyw

 

Photo Credit: Playwright’s Project

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