Playwrights Theatre Announces the NJ Young Playwrights Festival Winners

Playwrights Theatre is pleased to announce the winners of the 27th Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest. From the over 350 plays submitted by young writers throughout the state, a panel of theatre professionals has selected four High School plays, four Junior High School plays and four Elementary Schools plays. The 27th Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest Festival will be held on May 17 and May 18 as part of a partnership between Playwrights Theatre and Premiere Stages at Kean University.

The plays will be presented at the University Center's Little Theatre at Kean University on Monday, May 17 at 10am for the Elementary and Junior High Division winners and on Tuesday, May 18 at 10 am for the High School Division winners' plays. The readings will feature professional actors and directors and reservations can be made by calling Jim DeVivo at 973-514-1787 X14 or via email njypf@ptnj.org. Admission to the readings is free, but reservations are required, as seating is limited.

"We have quite an eclectic group of plays to present this year, full of imagination and critical thinking," said Jim DeVivo, Director of Education. "I am encouraged by the playwrights' eagerness to engage in revisions based on the suggestions of the Festival readers and selection committee. We all look forward to the continued development of the plays throughout the Festival process."

In the High School Division (grades 10-12), the winners are Steven Maier, an 11th grade student from Bergen County Academies in Hackensack for his play Final Draft. Sheli Paige Frank, a 10th grade student from Tenafly High School in Tenafly for her play A Sister's Gift. Justine DeSilva, a 10th grade student from Bergen County Academies in Hackensack for her play Why You, and James Just, an 11th grade student from Bergen County Academies in Hackensack for his play Tempus Fugit.

The aforementioned winners will receive a New Jersey Governor's Award in Arts Education, which is co-sponsored by New Jersey Arts Education Partnership and the New Jersey Department of Education, at the Governor's Awards Ceremony on April 29 at 5:00pm at the State Museum auditorium in Trenton. The Governor's Award is the highest honor in arts education in New Jersey.

"We are very proud of the work of these students. In these times of shrinking arts budgets and programming, this should be a reminder to policy-makers that the arts play a crucial and active role in the lives of these students," said John Pietrowski, Artistic Director. "More than 350 students in the state wrote plays this year, and we're here to celebrate and applaud that effort."

The four winners of the Junior High School Division (grades 7-9) are Cory Gagliano, a 9th grade student from Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung for her play The Write Way. Janine Puhak, a 9th grade student from Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung for her play The Tangerine Dress. Laura O'Shea, a 9th grade student from Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung for her play It's Good to Be Queen, and Rachel Chowdhury and Hannah Rubenstein, co-authors and 8th grade students from at Millburn Middle School for their play iLove.

The Elementary School Division winners (grades 4-6) are Sarah Vincent, a 5th grade student at St. Vincent Martyr School in Madison for her play The Haunted House. Kiersten Farrell, a 4th grade student from Milltown Primary School in Bridgewater for her play Amanda & the Bully. Aidan Carney, a 4th grade student at Lafayette Elementary School in Chatham for his play Express From Denver to Geartown and Taylor Sorensen, Emily Budine, Maggie Spector-Williams and Alex Vaporis, 5th grade students from Spring Garden Elementary School in Nutley for their play The Million Dollar Cake.

About the High School Playwrights:
Steven Maier is currently a junior attending the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey. He has participated in numerous productions including: An Absolute Turkey (Redillon), Children of Eden (Father), The Author's Voice (Gene), and Into the Woods (Director of Movement Ensemble), which won him a Cappies Critics' Award and a Papermill Rising Star Nomination for Student Choreography.

Sheli Paige Frank, age 15, is a sophomore at Tenafly High School (THS). An avid reader and a prolific writer, she is excited about this opportunity to share a sample of her work, her first-ever contest entry, with the general public. In addition to her passion for writing fiction, Sheli is a staff writer for the THS News Magazine, Echo, and is also its Art and Photo Editor. Sheli is Co-Secretary of the Chinese Cultural Club at THS and recently performed as a Featured Dancer and chorus member in the THS musical, Anything Goes.

Justine DeSilva is an Honor Roll Sophomore at the Bergen County Academies in the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts in Hackensack, N. J. At the Academies so far she's participated in multiple mainstage productions, including Into the Woods (as Lucinda) and The Cradle Will Rock (as Sadie and the Clerk). Her passions include acting, singing, reading teen fiction, and writing. Her favorite disciplines are Theatre, English, and Technology. Justine has been writing since a young age, but Why You is her first play.

James Just is an AVPA: Theatre Junior at Bergen County Academies from Glen Rock. Roles on the BCA stage include Reverend Salvation in the theatre in the round production of Mark Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, Shem in the main stage musical Children of Eden by Steven Schwartz, and Jake in the one act play A Stye of the Eye by Christopher Durang. James has an interest in acting, loves to sing, and loves to create visual art. He also loves math and science. James is currently a member of the award-winning BCA concert choir, chamber choir, boy's choir, and 5-guy acapella group Bergen Sound.

For more information about Playwrights Theatre's Main Stage Season, FORUM, Creative Arts Academy, Summer Camp for Kids and Teens or Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Writers Project, please visit www.ptnj.org or call (937) 514-1787.

Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest receives generous funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and Travelers Foundation, Bank of America, Investors Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, PSE&G, The Bay and Paul Foundation and the Provident Bank Foundation. The New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival and New Jersey Young Playwrights Program are registered to the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

About Playwrights Theatre:
Playwrights Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional (Actors' Equity) theatre. A community of professional playwrights, theatre artists, and arts educators, Playwrights Theatre provides opportunities for writers to develop their works in a nurturing environment and connect with new audiences. Our New Play Development Program is a multi-step process through which playwrights, theatre artists, and audiences collaborate to bring selected texts from rough draft to finished production. Our Education Programs introduce students of all ages and backgrounds to the possibilities inherent in thinking and communicating creatively. Playwrights Theatre's New Jersey Writers Project provides hands-on workshops led by professional writers-in-residence to students in schools and community centers throughout the state reaching over 15,000 students annually. We place an equal emphasis on New Play Development and Educational activities, and encourage our community and audiences to participate fully in both.
We are honored that for the years 2010-2012 the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) designated Playwrights Theatre as a Major Arts Institution. This means that the Council considers Playwrights Theatre to be "an anchor institution that contributes vitally to the quality of life in New Jersey" (along with Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, The Shakespeare Theatre Of New Jersey and the McCarter Theatre Center).

Funding for Playwrights Theatre is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, Inc., The Prudential Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, Bank of America, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, The Turrell Fund, Atlantic Mutual Companies, Novartis, Pearsall Family Foundation, Pfizer, PSE&G, St. Paul Travers, and many other corporations, foundations and individual contributors.

Playwrights Theatre is a member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the National New Play Network, The New Jersey Arts Education Collective and Madison Arts & Culture Alliance.

About Premiere Stages:
Premiere Stages is committed to serving the cultural needs of the Kean University campus community and the northern and central New Jersey regions through the production of premiere Equity productions, professional development and training programs and the cultivation of emerging artists. In a time when the majority of theatres are producing revivals, Premiere Stages is committed to ensuring that emerging artists are afforded the opportunity to have their work developed and produced in a safe and nurturing environment. Premiere Stages is a model professional university program, actively engaging and enhancing the specialized training programs at Kean University while embracing and serving a culturally diverse audience, children-at-risk, and a broad pool of local artists.