Six Finalists Unveiled For 2025 Young Playwright Festival at Wharton Center
These one-act performances are a collaborative effort by professional mentors and collegiate and high school students.
Experience the original works of six 2025 Young Playwrights Festival finalists on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre. Written by Michigan high school students, these one-act performances are a collaborative effort by professional mentors and collegiate and high school students.
Wharton Center for Performing Arts and MSU Department of Theatre are honored to announce the six finalists of the 29th Annual Young Playwrights Festival:
Malayna Brink: Defiance in Name Only
Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
Cozmo Neubauer: Wired in Parallel
J.W. Sexton High School
Malia Reitz: The Chicanerous Murder of a Sunscreen Saleswoman
Holt High School
Richard Shelton: Count to 10
Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
Madison Snawder: Double Life
DeWitt High School
Charlie Valas: SUPER FUN SPACE ADVENTURE!!!
East Lansing High School
The Young Playwrights Festival is a showcase of six original works, written by high school students, produced by MSU Department of Theatre undergraduate and graduate students, and performed at Wharton Center on the campus of Michigan State University. These performances are free to attend and open to the public.
Michigan high school students are invited to submit a one-act play to a juried competition, and the jury selected the six finalists whose plays will be produced. Each finalist has been assigned a professional theatre mentor to help the playwright revise their play over two months' time: this year's mentors included Bella Boynton, Shawntai Brown, Joe Giardina, Jill Holden, Eric Marlin, and Emilio Rodriguez. Each finalist will receive a $200 cash award and a staged production of their play performed at the Pasant Theatre. The other six semifinalists will receive a $100 cash award.
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