Actors Theatre of Louisville Announces New Voices Young Playwrights Festival

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival, a fully produced evening of new ten-minute plays written by students throughout the region and presented by the 2012-2013 Apprentice/Intern Company. The New Voices Young Playwrights Festival runs April 22-23 at 7 p.m. in the Bingham Theatre. Tickets are free and now available to the public by calling 502-584-1205. Limit six tickets per household.

"It is our responsibility as artists to give young people the opportunity to explore the arts and to create their own work," said Les Waters, Artistic Director. "The New Voices Young Playwrights Festival allows them to do that. With the support of Actors Theatre, these students are able to see their own creativity come to life on the stage."

This year's festival showcases eight ten-minute plays written by local young playwrights. The evening will feature a love-struck zombie, a mango with a plan, a band of alley cats, an improper princess, a ballerina brawl, a lonely goldfish, Al Capone and a not-so-normal day at the grocery.

Led by Actors Theatre Education Department, New Voices classroom residencies teach the basics of playwriting to high school students. This year nearly 600 students participated in the program. The eight winning plays to be performed during the festival were chosen from more than 500 entries written throughout the residency program and independently.

The selected playwrights for this year's festival represent five schools in Jefferson County, Ky. and Floyd County, Ind. The plays include:

Postmortem Proposal by Bunny Buckalew (Floyd Central High School) Floyds Knobs, Ind.
Cameron the Mango by Chanze Castro (Valley Traditional High School) Louisville, Ky.
Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby by Bonnie M. Hopkins (Floyd Central High School) Floyds Knobs, Ind.
Strangely Ever After by Christine Oser (Eastern High School) Louisville, Ky.
Battle of the Sugar Plums by Lily Payne (Floyd Central High School) Floyds Knobs, Ind.
Life From a Fish Bowl by Hannah Watkins (South Park TAPP) Louisville, Ky.
Please by Jennifer Winstead (Eastern High School) Louisville, Ky.
Paper or Plastic by Clare Wolz (Mercy Academy) Louisville, Ky.