Young Playwrights' Theater to Honor Paula Vogel with the 2013 Giving Voice Award

On Saturday, February 9, at 7pm, DC-based arts education non-profit Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) will honor Paula Vogel with the 2013 Giving Voice Award at the Edison Place Art Gallery at 701 9th Street NW. The evening will celebrate Paula Vogel's commitment to giving voice to the voiceless and inspiring others to realize their full potential.

"We are thrilled to honor Paula Vogel for her commitment to developing new artistic voices," says YPT Executive Director Brigitte Moore. "When I first spoke with Paula about coming to DC to accept this award, her first question was, 'Will I get to meet the young playwrights?' We are hosting this big gala in her honor, and all she wants is to have lunch with our students and make them feel special. What an incredible woman."

Established in 2009, the YPT Giving Voice Award recognizes extraordinary individuals from all walks of life who, through their work and generosity, have exemplified YPT's spirit and vision. Vogel has made it her life's mission to develop and nurture new playwrights, and YPT applauds her for inspiring artists across the nation to discover their voices through playwriting.
Paula Vogel first came to national prominence with her AIDS-related serio-comedy The Baltimore Waltz, which won the Obie Award for Best Play in 1992. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for her play, How I Learned to Drive, which has been produced all over the world. During her two decades leading the graduate playwriting program and new play festival at Brown University, Vogel helped developed a nationally recognized center for educational theatre, culminating in the creation of the Brown/Trinity Repertory Company Consortium in 2002. She left Brown in 2008 to assume her current posts as adjunct professor and the Chair of the playwriting department at Yale School of Drama, and the Playwright-in-Residence at Yale Repertory Theatre.

The Giving Voice Award Gala on February 9 will feature live music, a short performance of a student-written play featuring professional actors, and unique silent auction prizes, from a seven-night Caribbean vacation to tickets to opening night at the Shakespeare Theatre to a play about the highest bidder's life written by YPT students. Proceeds from the event benefit YPT and bring standards-based playwriting programming to more students in the DC area. Tickets are $100 per person, and can be purchased at www.yptdc.org.

Tickets are on sale now through January 25. Event information is available at www.yptdc.org.