Road Less Traveled Productions Presents Buffalo Young Writers Night, 5/16

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) will present its third annual Buffalo Young Writers Night on Wednesday, May 16 ^th at 7:00pm in The Road Less Traveled Theater (639 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203). The evening will feature winners of the 2012 Buffalo Young Writers Contest, recognizing outstanding student playwrights in the Western New York (WNY) area.

RLTP launched its Buffalo Young Writers Contest in the fall of 2009 to give the area’s enrolled high school and college students the opportunity to have theatrical works professionally produced. In March 2012, RLTP announced the winners of its third annual contest, which includes $250 and a workshop production for the grand-prize winner and staged readings for runners-up.

The 2012 grand-prize winner, Caitlin McAneney, is a three-time Buffalo Young Writer participant; twenty-year-old McAneney of Canisius College was the 2012 grand-prize winner and a 2011 runner-up. Her new play, Just Enough , is a tense drama about a young mother struggling to provide for her family in a frighteningly imminent future, where desperate Americans scramble for rationed supplies.

RLTP Co-Founder, Literary Director, and Buffalo Young Writer Night Host Jon Elston called the play “another impressive step forward in the evolution of the writing of Miss McAneney, who has become an increasingly exciting local talent.”

On May 16 ^th , Just Enough will receive a workshop production directed by RLTP Emanuel Fried New Play Workshop Director Kyle LoConti. The 2012 runner-up winners will be presented as staged readings on May 16 ^th ; these are Katherine Boswell’s Making The Connection ; Hillary Hamp’s Kind Of Like Pigeons ; Megan Kemple’s Killing It ; and Marina Laurendi’s Cars, Teens, And Other Hazards . The evening will feature actors from the RLTP Ensemble as well as other local talents. 

Elston remarked enthusiastically about this year’s roster of winning playwrights. “For the first time, all of our Buffalo Young Writer winners are women!” RLTP’s 2012-2013 season has been unofficially deemed “The Year of the Woman” as it will feature the work of five female playwrights. That the Buffalo Young Writers Contest produced all female winners Elston calls a “happy coincidence.”

“I think the developments may very well be a testament to the recent groundswell of thoughtful and creative female writers in WNY,” he said. It is noteworthy, also, that playwright Megan Kemple joins Caitlin McAneney as a returning participant.   

Admission to the May 16 ^th Buffalo Young Writers Night at the Road Less Traveled Theater is only $10 per person. Due to seating limitations, reservations are recommended and can be made by phone at (716) 629-3069. Elston politely advised, “Buffalo Young Writers Night always sells out; it’s standing-room only! The students, their families, our industry – all of us – value and support developing writers.” 

RLTP will continue the Buffalo Young Writers Contest for a fourth year in the fall of 2012. Elston suggested that the 17-22 age restriction may be adjusted in the coming year to allow for an even greater number of young writers to participate in the ongoing event. More information will be provided at www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org. 

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