Playwrights Theatre Names 32nd Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest Winners

Playwrights Theatre has announced the Junior High School winners of the 32nd Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest. From the 345 plays submitted by young writers throughout the state in all three divisions (Elementary, Junior High School and High School), a panel of theatre professionals has selected three Junior High School plays. Due to the overwhelming amount of plays submitted in this category, more time was needed to evaluate this division. High School and Elementary School winners were announced in April 2015.

In each category, selection was blind; plays were selected without knowledge of playwrights' schools, grade or background. The 32nd Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest Festival will be held on June 1 and 2, 2015, at the Barn Theatre on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Select plays from this festival may be reprised at Playwrights Theatre's nationally-recognized Forum Reading Series in January 2015. This reading series brings together writers from all over the United States.

The Elementary and Junior High School plays will be presented on Monday, June 1, 2015, at 7pm and the High School plays on Tuesday, June 2, 2015, at 7pm. The readings will feature professional actors and directors and reservations can be made by calling 973-514-1787 X21, via email njypf@ptnj.org or online at www.ptnj.org. Admission to the readings is free, but reservations are required, as seating is limited.

"At 33 years, the New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest & Festival is one of the oldest young playwrights programs in the United States. That is a long and rich history of encouraging students' imaginations and critical thinking through the performing arts. This year we sought to further immerse playwrights in the play development process by requiring revisions to the scripts that reached the final round of judging in each division," said Jim DeVivo, Director of Education at Playwrights Theatre. "This not only brought about an improved batch of plays, but also extended the educational function of the Festival beyond the playwrights whose scripts were ultimately selected for production. We have an excellent group of plays to present this year, and I look forward to working with those playwrights in the weeks leading up to the Festival."

In the Junior High School Division (grades 7-9), the winners are:
The Angel Side by Evelyn Doskoch, Columbia Middle School, Berkeley Heights
Love Bites by Cathryn Mesce, Union County Academy for Performing Arts, Scotch Plains
Doppelganger by Paige Warnock, Union County Academy for Performing Arts, Scotch Plains

"Once again, the response to the NJYPC has been great, and we find this encouraging, that students are interested in the art and craft of playwriting, and are willing to share their work," said John Pietrowski, Artistic Director of Playwrights Theatre. "We are equally encouraged to find that there are numerous schools that include playwriting in their curriculum."

In the High School Division (grades 10-12), the winners are:
Pretty Girl by Laura Diorio, Middletown High School South, Middletown
Listen by Jack Kimber, Chatham High School, Chatham
Worn Thin by Gabrielle Poisson, Newark Academy, Livingston
Thanksgiving Surprise by Betsy Zaubler, Newark Academy, Livingston

In the Elementary School Division (grades 4-6), the winners are:
Sibling Rivalry by Artha Abeysinghe, Torey J Sabatini School, Madison
Storm in a Cup by Francesca Wan, St. Vincent Martyr School
Stitches - Dun, Dun, Dun by Josephine Walker, Torey J Sabatini School, Madison

This is the 32nd year celebration of the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival. Playwrights Theatre is reaching out to former winners to find out where their lives have taken them. Many have gone on to pursue careers as published prose and poetry writers as well as playwrights and journalists. Others have become have become lawyers, professors, and comic book illustrators.

For more information about Playwrights Theatre, visit www.ptnj.org or call (973) 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; Investors Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, 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.

Need more New Jersey Theatre News in your life? Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...