Memphis' Professional Resident Theatre Company Announces Winners of Young Playwrights Competition

Playhouse on the Square announces winners of Play Slam! Year 5, a 10-minute Young Playwrights Competition!

Carter Yeargan, a tenth grader from Houston High School, was selected as the Winner of the High School Division for his play Public Transit. Keyana Campbell, Naomi Alterman, Isabella Parish, Adalee Walker, and Alyssa Gray were selected as Finalists in the division, with Gray's piece Clementine receiving the Runner-Up award.

In the Middle Division, Hannah Drane, a seventh grader at First Assembly Christian School, was selected as the Winner for her play Haircuts, with Cadence Drane, Patrick Jefferson, Bryan Cole, Elena Martines, and Lucy Gibson selected as Finalists. Gibson's play Bottled Up was selected as the Runner-Up in the division.

The Finalists and Winners from both the Middle and High School divisions will be presented in the Play Slam! Young Playwrights Festival at Evergreen Theatre May 19-21. The Finalists will have their script presented as a staged reading with local actors. The Winners will have their script staged with minimal props and costumes and performed and directed by local professional actors. The Winner of both divisions will also have their play submitted to the Playwrights for Change competition as the Playhouse on the Square representative in this national competition.

Play Slam! is part contest and part celebration of new works by local Mid-South aspiring writers and theatre enthusiasts. All scripts submitted are adjudicated by a panel of judges that consists of the Play Slam! Coordinator, Playhouse on the Square staff and Associate/Resident company members, along with local writers and directors. Play Slam! is presented in partnership with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education's (AATE) Playwrights for Change competition. PFC scripts revolve around a different social theme each year. This year's theme was "What No One Talks About."