Touchstone Theatre's 17th Annual Young Playwrights' Festival is Back in Person Next Month

Touchstone Theatre presents the seventeenth year of its acclaimed Young Playwrights' Festival. This showcase of new plays written by local elementary and middle school students performs on May 21st, returning to Zoellner Arts Center's Baker Hall for the first time since 2019.

Young Playwrights' Lab is an eight-week arts and literacy residency developed by Touchstone and the Bethlehem Area School District using theatre as a "Trojan Horse" to improve student attitudes toward writing and to provide a platform for creative self-expression. Through theatre improvisation, writing exercises, and collaborative critique, each student writes an original one-act play to be considered for performance in the annual Young Playwrights' Festival. The plays that emerge are a rich indicator of the wide variety and depth of their imaginings, and while they often include light-hearted elements like talking animals, princesses, and imaginary worlds, they also explore universal themes of love, resilience, importance of family, and bravery in the face of adversity.

Over 125 plays were submitted from this year's programs with five exceptional scripts chosen for full production in the Festival: The Perfectly Perfect Not So Perfect Paisley by Anna Zsilavecz of Spring Garden Elementary; The Young Playwrights! by Sophia Emarie Colon of Marvine Elementary; Starr is Who You Are by Emmy Dandridge of Governor Wolf Elementary; The Bad Bully by Jordan Colon of Fountain Hill Elementary; and Cloud's Secrets by Juliet Broskey of Buchanan Elementary. Directed by Touchstone's ensemble of artists and guest directors, the plays are performed by Touchstone actors, community performers, and students from area schools.

Select scenes from five runner up plays will be performed by Touchstone Ensemble Members and Young Playwrights' Lab teaching artists: School Lunch Trading Nightmare by Alexander Koch of Nitschmann Middle School; Princess in the Warrior Clothes by Mariah Marie Randolph of Lincoln Elementary; The Bat Story by Julius Avila of Donegan Elementary; Dragon Gates by Avery Pierce of Farmersville Elementary; and Untitled by Raiden Reyes of the Casa Guadalupe Center.

"The Young Playwrights' Festival gives the Lehigh Valley a rare opportunity: the chance to look deep into the hearts and minds of our youngest artists," says Mary Wright, Touchstone's Education Director. "The combination of the kids' imaginations and Touchstone's own creates a one-of-a-kind evening of theatre. We invite everyone to celebrate with us the whimsy, wit, and wisdom of our youth."

The Young Playwrights' Festival Naming Sponsor is Peron Development. Touchstone's season is sponsored by Astound Broadband. Media sponsorship is provided by WDIY, and print sponsorship is provided by Working Dog Press. Touchstone is also generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

The Young Playwrights' Lab program is gratefully supported through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program by: Commonwealth Charitable Management, Embassy Bank, Fidelity Bank, Fulton Bank, Peoples Security Bank and Trust, PPL, QNB, and UGI Utilities and by the following local corporations and foundations: The Dexter F. & Dorothy H. Baker Foundation, Bethlehem Rotary Foundation, Charles H. Hoch Foundation, and Just Born.

The 17th Annual Young Playwrights' Festival takes place on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at the Zoellner Arts Center. Preshow festivities, including music by Dave Fry and "red carpet" photo ops, begin at 7pm, with the Festival performance from 7:30-9pm in Baker Hall. Festival tickets are $15. Advance tickets may be purchased at 610-867-1689 or online at www.touchstone.org. According to venue regulations, masks are optional with distanced seating available. The Festival will also be livestreamed; tickets are $15/household.