Young Playwrights From Across Florida And Abroad

Florida Studio Theatre Welcomes Young Playwrights

From Across the State of Florida and Abroad 

Play titles such as; An 'Eco' Carol, The Lucky Envelope, Never Give Up, A Small Boy in a Small Town, The New Snow White and The Last Wolf of Scotland  represent the creativity in the minds of the Young Playwrights from across the seas as part of Florida Studio Theatre's award-winning WRITE A PLAY program.  On Saturday, May 16, 2009, Florida Studio Theatre will celebrate the achievements of the winning playwrights with the Young Playwrights Festival Day 

The entries came from students ages 9 to 17 from the state of Florida and four foreign countries.  The foreign students have a unique relationship with Sarasota, as they are also citizens of Sarasota's sister cities of Dunfermline, Scotland; Siming, (Xiamen), China; Tel Mond, Israel, and Vladimir Russia.

(Photo By Amy Steinmetz) 

Among the foreign visiting playwrights is repeat-winner Callum Fairbairn from Dunfermline who won for the second year for his play An 'Eco' Carol.  Fairbairn has overcome obstacles which inspires. He was diagnosed with a very rare bone disorder called Olliers Disease at the age of two years and has undergone 10 major operations from the age of six. Callum has spent many months in the hospital and at home rehabilitating and has still managed to excel in his academic studies culminating in many certificates, trophies and ultimately winning in the Young Playwrights Festival for the last two years. 

Interestingly a second winner from Dunfermline is Craig Walton who is Callum's cousin and best friend.  Walton's play is titled The Last Wolf of Scotland. Walton's ambition is to become an author and he has been encouraged by success in the Scottish/Russian Pushkin Prize creative writing competition in 2008. 

Two winners this year come from Vladimir.  They are: Alina Lazutkina and Ivan Mednikov.  Alina wrote The Lucky Envelope and Ivan A Small Boy in a Small Town. 

Also coming to receive her award in person is Tal Hofman from Tel Mond, who wrote Never Give Up.  Tal has a twin brother, Ido, who also wrote a play. Both are multi-talented, Tal dances ballet and jazz and Ido is singing opera in a choir.  An older sister Gili also sings in the operatic choir. 

Five students from Siming collaborated on a winning play, The New Snow White, but because of time restrictions were unable to come this year.  They are: Wu Shuyin, Lin Ziyu, Dai Jingxuan, Li Xiaofeng and Zhu Jiaying. 

Three of the teachers who inspired them to "WRITE A PLAY" have all had previous winners at the Young Playwrights Festival.   They include Alla Zhizhaeva of the Humanitarian Linguistic Gymnasium #23, Valdimir; Miriam Foy of St. Columba High School in Dunfermline and Tami Philosoph of the Shelanu School in Tel Mond.   Yulia Skvortsova, who will accompany the two Vladimir playwrights to Sarasota, this year, is the teacher of Alina Lazutkina. 

Awards Day is special for all the young playwright winners, not only to receive an award for their special talent, but all playwrights will see their plays performed by Florida Studio actors in a professional setting. Over 300 people will travel to Sarasota from as far as Miami and across the seas (Vladimir, Russia and Dunfermline, Scotland) to see the plays and receive recognition, each with varying backgrounds. 

FST received over 3,000 play submissions this year! "This was a very successful year for the Young Playwrights Festival. We received submissions from over 5,400 playwrights. The plays written by the students were a dynamic mix, from comical farces to heart touching tales of struggle and determination," says Young Playwrights Festival coordinator Adam Ratner. 

Kate Alexander, Director of the WRITE A PLAY Festival said that whether humorous or serious, "we want the plays to reflect what students honestly think and feel; we do not tell them what to write- only to write from their hearts-to write authentically.  We want to see the 'child's view of the world' not what adults want them to see and say."  

Each year, Florida Studio Theatre receives thousands of plays for submission to the Young Playwrights Festival, which is a part of the Sarasota Festival of New Plays, and the culmination of the year-long WRITE A PLAY program.  In its sixteen-year history, the WRITE A PLAY program has reached over 1,000,000 children. The program continues to expand, thanks in part to various grants and funding received from local, state and national organizations.

Florida Studio Theatre--1241 North Palm Avenue
Sarasota, FL  34236
Administration: (941) 366-9017
Box Office: (941) 366-9000
Fax: (941) 955-4137
E-mail: info@floridastudiotheatre.org
Website: www.floridastudiotheatre.org

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