Fifteenth Annual WiseWrite Fest Celebrates Young Writers’ Accomplishments

Works by fifth-grade students from Wyland and Hudson Elementary Schools will take center stage at The Rep on Friday, April 8, 2011 for the Fifteenth Annual WiseWrite Young Playwrights' Festival.

Presented continuously on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), from 10:30 am until 1:45 pm, the event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the WiseWrite Festival, call (314) 968-7340.

Each year The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, in collaboration with Springboard, sends teaching artists into area schools to help fifth-grade students improve literacy and written communication skills by learning to write plays. Students are exposed to all aspects of the creative process and also introduced to the world of the theatre by working with performing arts professionals and through performances by The Rep's Imaginary Theatre Company.

At the end of the program, each student playwright receives a published copy of his or her own play and, as a celebration of the hard work invested by the more than 80 young playwrights, attend the WiseWrite festival at The Rep. During the festival, volunteer theatre professionals and drama students perform selected plays. Also in attendance are proud parents and friends, including the fourth-grade classes that will participate in next year's program.

The WiseWrite playwriting program is a unique collaboration between The Rep and Springboard. Springboard provides "hands-on" programs and "minds-on" learning for students in the St. Louis region and beyond. Springboard, an affiliate of Young Audiences Arts for Learning, offers resources to stimulate curiosity, motivate creativity and inspire learning by integrating creative experiences in arts and culture into school curricula. Springboard is the region's largest provider of in-school arts and cultural integration and enrichment programs, offering more than 200 distinct educational programs to close to 72,000 students annually.

The WiseWrite program is just one of The Rep's many programs designed to introduce young people to the magic and power of live theatre and to making the arts an important, integral part of their lives. Each year, nearly 50,000 bi-state area students participate in an array of theatrical activities, including student matinees of Mainstage productions (supported by curriculum-appropriate Study Guides), classroom visits by a corps of experienced volunteer docents, performances by The Rep's touring Imaginary Theatre Company, participation in the theatre's free Kids ArtStart programs and more.

WiseWrite is presented with generous assistance from Mary Ann Lee, The Missouri Arts Council, The DeWitt and Caroline Van Evera Foundation, DCA Family Foundation and the Clifford Willard Gaylord Foundation.

For more information about the WiseWrite program, the Fifteenth Annual Young Playwrights' Festival, or any of The Rep's educational programs, call (314) 968-7340 or visit http://www.repstl.org. For more information about Springboard programs call (314) 289-4120 or visit http://www.springboardstl.org.

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