Florida Studio Theatre's 2013 Young Playwrights Festival Winners Announced

The plays are here! Florida Studio Theatre's 2013 Young Playwrights Festival has begun. Over 3,000 plays were received from young playwrights all over Florida and across the globe. FST is has announced the winning plays of the UNDER SIX and SEVEN UP programs.

The winning playwrights will be honored on Saturday, May 11th at the Young Playwrights Festival awards ceremony. More than 300 people will travel to Sarasota to see the plays and receive recognition.

This year, Florida Studio Theatre had a unique opportunity to bring its WRITE A PLAY Program to several military bases throughout the state of Florida. Through a generous grant and partnership with Blue Star Families, FST's PLAYMAKERS Tour performed and taught playwriting workshops to inspire the students whose parents are serving in the armed forces. Young Playwrights Festival Coordinator and Teaching Artist Adam Ratner said, "this has been a watershed year for the WRITE A PLAY Program and the Young Playwrights Festival. Now in its 22nd year, new avenues were explored as FST, took a special version of our Playmakers Tour to several military bases around the state of Florida. Traveling from Sigsbee Naval Station in Key West to Eglin Air Force Base in Panama City, it was a whirlwind tour that helped inspire the children of soldiers in the Armed Services to have the 'courage to create'."

Many of the students had never had a theatrical experience prior to FST's visit to their schools. A student from Sigsbee Charter School at the Sigsbee Naval Station in Key West was inspired to write a play about two cultures clashing in the comedy The Fight. Two students from were selected as winning playwrights for FST's UNDER SIX.

The WRITE A PLAY Program was able to expand our international outreach this year with a tour to Kiryat Yam, Israel, made possible by a partnership between Florida Studio Theatre, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee and the Town Counsel of Kiryat Yam. It was a life-changing experience for all involved. This year, three of the winning plays came all the way from Kiryat Yam. In past years through a long standing relationship with the Sarasota Sister Cities Association, we have had the opportunity to reach schools in Vladimir, Russia, Tel Mond, Israel and Dunfermline, Scotland all of which submitted plays and has selected winners in both the SEVEN UP and Honorable Mention categories. Out of over 3,000 submissions received internationally only 21 plays were selected to be honored and performed at the Young Playwrights Festival.

Beth Duda, FST'S Director of Education, said, "Sarasota and Manatee counties are well represented in this year's selected plays. I am always delighted by the imaginations and fearlessness displayed by the young playwrights. This year a young writer from Sarasota County wrote a play entitled ABZ's, which beautifully expresses the concept that our collective strength comes from diversity and acceptance. One of the Manatee county student's touched our hearts with a play entitled Pressed, reminding us that kindness shown in the midst of the chaos and violence of war is always remembered."

Winners of the 2013 Young Playwrights Festival and their families will gather at Florida Studio Theatre's downtown campus to see their plays and celebrate their achievements. The playwrights will have the opportunity to see their winning plays performed in professional productions of UNDER SIX and readings of SEVEN UP. Winners will receive a special certificate and a medal honoring their courage to create.

In conjunction with the Sarasota Festival of New Plays, the Young Playwrights Festival includes a 7-week run of UNDER SIX, a world premiere production of an anthology of exemplary plays written by children in grades K-6. Directed by Beth Duda & Jason Cannon, and performed by FST's acting apprentices, carefully woven stories come together in this collection of plays with reverence to the written word of their young creators. Approximately 12,000 students from Sarasota and Manatee Counties are bussed to FST to see the work of their peers.

If you are interested in attending a performance of UNDER SIX, the show is running now through May 24 and costs $6 to attend. please contact Jennie Cole - WRITE A PLAY Manager - at (941) 366-9797 for show times or other questions.