The Blank Theatre Presents 28th Annual Young Playwrights Festival

Now celebrating its 28th Anniversary, The Blank Theatre's Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival is set to present 13 plays by playwrights aged 15-19 from nine different states. These plays will be presented as digital shorts on Vimeo by professional actors and directors, running from August 8 through September 19. They will then migrate to The Blank's 3rd Stage on Patreon.

In this year's festival, the plays will be produced under SAG/AFTRA's Short Project Agreement. All work will be performed and recorded remotely, with all cast and crew working safely from home. As in the past, the plays are divided up into weekly offerings of three plays each, with a first-time additional fifth week offering - a new feature called YPF Plus (YPF+). The play Parent, Legal Guardian, Angel, Other is nearly ready for professional production and will bridge The Blank's YPF and Living Room Series programs.

Producing the festival in this way is made possible by the technology available through Zoom, OBS Studio, VB Audio, Skype, and more. These online platforms and downloadable software packages have made theatre from home possible, albeit in new ways. The Blank has harnessed these services successfully for streaming solo shows that have been met with critical acclaim and thousands of views. The theatre will now expand on what it has learned technologically to keep YPF alive and continue to develop the Future of Theatre.

This year's winning plays are: Dust Bunnies by Caroline Chown, age 18, Virginia Beach, VA; Watch You're Mouth by Alyssa Ho, age 16, and Miya Matsumune, age 15, Upland, CA; Viewer Discretion Advised by Alethea Shirilan-Howlett, age 17, Jamesville, NY; Nuclear by Elizabeth Shannon, age 16, Frederick, MD; The Surly Bonds of Earth by Maggie Munday Odom, age 17, High Point, NC; Tiny Little Problems by Jane Brinkley, age 16, Eugene, OR; Blacktop Jungle by Jared Goudsmit, age 19, Kirkwood, MO; God on Vacation by Brigitte Boisson, age 16, Miami Gardens, FL; China Doll in Lavender by J. Xiang, age 17, Fremont, CA; What to Expect When You're Expecting Our Lord and Savior by Bailey Garcia, age 19, New York, NY; Mima by Remi Mark, age 18, Miami, FL; The First Year I Missed by Zoe Boray and Lea Mihok, both age 16, Burlington, VT, and Parent, Legal Guardian, Angel, Other by Zander Pryor, age 17, Dallas, TX.

The directors are (in alphabetical order) Ryan Bergmann, June Carryl, Snehal Desai, Kate Jopson, Asaad Kelada, Michael Matthews, David O, Angela Oh, Jesus Reyes, Michael A. Shepperd, Laura Stribling, Richard Tatum, and Constance Zimmer.

The mentors are (in alphabetical order) executive producer of The Closer and Major Crimes Adam Belanoff; TV producer/writer/developer and three-time YPF winner Beth Bigler; TV producer Ellen Byron; two-time Tony Award-winning librettist and lyricist of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Robert L. Freedman; LADCC Award-winner and four-time YPF winner Aliza Goldstein; Tony Award-winning playwright (The Humans, Sons of the Prophet) and three-time YPF winner Stephen Karam; five-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and librettist Michael John LaChiusa; executive producer of Hot in Cleveland, Grimm, and Sean Saves the World Todd Milliner; creator and executive producer of Sorry for Your Loss and four-time YPF winner Kit Steinkellner; creator of the TV series MDs and executive producer of Preacher and Medium Gary Tieche; playwright (Buyer and Cellar, The Twilight of the Golds) and co-executive producer of The Good Fight Jonathan Tolins; creator of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Broadway librettist, and five-time YPF winner Austin Winsberg; and winner of a Doris Duke Artist Award, Kesselring Prize, Horton Foote Prize, and two-time YPF winner, playwright Lauren Yee (King of the Yees, The Great Leap, Cambodian Rock Band).

Registration for Watch Codes:
INDIVIDUAL VIEW PASS - $10 each week [Suggested]
FAMILY VIEW PASS - $25 each week [Suggested]
FESTIVAL PASS (View all plays throughout the festival and YPF+ play/13 total) - $40 [Suggested]
Viewing instructions and watch codes will be sent out the morning of the debut stream for each week.

For a list of play descriptions and to register for watch codes, go to www.theblank.com.

 

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