YPT Presents New Play Festival, 4/11-13

On April 11, 12 and 13, 2011, at 7:30pm, at GALA Hispanic Theatre (3333 14th St. NW), Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) will premiere fifteen new plays written by DC area youth over three nights of free performances.

DC's finest professional actors and directors will present fifteen extraordinary plays written by elementary, middle and high school students from Washington, DC and Arlington, VA. YPT selected the students to be honored in the New Play Festival from the more than 1,000 students served by YPT's In-School Playwriting Program in the spring and fall of 2010. The In-School Playwriting Program integrates the art of playwriting into the classroom in order to enhance student literacy, creative expression and communication.

"The New Play Festival will provide a window into the thoughts and dreams of Washington, DC area youth," says David Snider, Producing Artistic Director and CEO of Young Playwrights' Theater.
"Working with YPT was the best experience I ever had in school. I say that because they gave me a chance to actually open up and experience better ways of writing," says eleventh grader Saviya Brown of Bell Multicultural High School. "This is something that I will really remember as the best thing from all my years of high school." Saviya's play Taken 4 Granted, which explores a young man's struggle to overcome gang violence and find a better life, is one of the fifteen plays to be shared in the New Play Festival.

On April 11, YPT will present plays by elementary and middle school students that explore topics ranging from a flatworm's fear of peanut butter to the challenge of having superpowers. Plays presented April 11 will be family-friendly and suitable for all audiences. On April 12-13, YPT will present plays by older students that explore themes that range from navigating a relationship with a gay parent to the devastating impact of addiction on families. Plays presented April 12-13 include mature themes and language and may not be suitable for children under thirteen.

Throughout DC public schools and public charter schools, YPT works primarily with students who are ethnically diverse, economically disadvantaged, and chronically underserved. Plays to be presented in the New Play Festival were written by students at Bancroft Elementary School, Bell Multicultural High School, Lafayette Elementary School, Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Plummer Elementary School, Swanson Middle School, Watkins Elementary School and Wilson High School. Summaries of plays to be produced can be found at www.yptdc.org.

"My experience with YPT has given me the opportunity to participate in and learn about the processes involved in producing and directing a play to get it from paper to the stage," says fifth-grader Lauren White of Lafayette Elementary School, who wrote Flatworm's Courageous Act. "This has been a great experience and I can't wait to see all of the plays on stage!"

 

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