YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL 2024 SCHEDULE
Congratulations to all of the winners!
You will be able to begin reserving seats by May 30th!
You can reserve weekly, or register just ONE TIME for a Festival Pass and be sure you get to see all 12 winning plays!
WEEK 1: STREAMING JULY 8 – 14
UNDER MY SKIN
by Disha Catt, age 16, Kirkland, WA
MENTOR: Tessa Williams
DIRECTOR: Jillian Terwedo
Two sets of mothers and daughters explore coming of age, identity, independence and friendship while bra shopping.
LEMON
by Cady Walls, age 17, Snellville, GA
MENTOR: Bob DeRosa
DIRECTOR: Tor Brown
An absurdist examination of sexuality, gender and marriage told with educational citrus. Vibrant, brisk, sour and hilarious.
STAND. UP. HIT!
by Wyn Alyse Thomas, age 18, Buffalo Grove, IL
MENTOR: Beth Bigler
DIRECTOR: Danielle Ozymandias
A self-defense class and the mantras they share helps guide a young woman through the questions faced when trying to discern when an unwanted contact crosses the line and deserves a response.
WEEK 2: STREAMING JULY 15 – 21
I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER
by Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine, age 19, Sarasota, FL
MENTOR: Ellen Byron
DIRECTOR: Angela Oh
This slice of life explores the relationship between the elderly Harriette, who's mental state is in decline and the memories she still has of her husband, daughter, and moments in time.
GRAY AREA
by Simone Chaney, age 17, Interlochen, MI
MENTOR: June Carryl
DIRECTOR: Shelli Boone
Two sisters share a bathroom and their conversation gets serious when family differences are discussed, and realities confronted, profoundly, and directly, in the most honest teenage tone.
THE LEGEND OF CAENEUS
by Zander Pryor, age 19, Dallas, TX
MENTOR: Jonathan Tolins
DIRECTOR: Melissa Coleman-Reed
Caeneus leaves his mother, Hippea, as a daughter and returns as her son and the object of Poseidon's interest. Hades pursues Caeneus so Poseidon hides Caeneus in a cave. As Caeneus explores the world and those who control it, he comes to see that others will accept and love him for who he is.
WEEK 3: STREAMING JULY 22 - 28
SO-FISH-TICATED
by Ava Ditto, age 17, San Antonio, TX
MENTOR: Arthur M. Jolly
DIRECTOR: Jefferson Reid
A fisherman and a fish realize they have a history that set them both on a path to discovering friendship and purpose in the most unlikely circumstance.
HERE'S TO ALL THE BROKEN GIRLS
by Elizabeth Shannon (ELLIS), age 18, New York, NY
MENTOR: Jenna Martin
DIRECTOR: June Carryl
Five graduates recall their time at The School of St. Cecilia and the abuses they experienced, creating a rich depiction of the potential viciousness of adolescent friendship and its greater possibilities.
DOLLFACE
by Jeremino Sutton, age 17, San Antonio, TX
MENTOR: Aliza Goldstein
DIRECTOR: Michael Shepperd
A subway ride unravels when a woman helps a life-size, sentient, yarn doll repair a slash on their leg, while exploring all the identities we knit into our selves.
WEEK 4: STREAMING JULY 29 - AUGUST 4
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT AND OTHER WILD FROG FACTS
by Alethea Shirilin-Howlett, age 19, Jamesville, NY
MENTOR: Gary Tieche
DIRECTOR: Laura Stribling
A writer, a doctor, a science teacher, a student and a Congresswoman discuss loss and untimely death with an animatronic frog during the reading of a will at a children's themed cafe.
DROPLETS PELLETS BULLETS
by Isabel Beatriz Tongson, age 18, Winter Park, FL
MENTOR: Lee Sherman
DIRECTOR: Andrea Fiorentini Del Río
Droplets Pellets Bullets conceptually explores the phenomenon of false memories as often experienced by students and teachers who witness school shootings and recall vivid memories of the event that conflict with evidentiary accounts.
WEEK 5: SPECIAL YPF+ AWARD – STREAMING AUGUST 5 - 11
VENUS, AND WHAT ELSE IS NOCTURNAL
by Dylan Malloy, age 18, Aliso Viejo, CA
MENTOR: Kit Steinkellner
DIRECTOR: Victoria Hoffman
Jude has become shut in and isolated following the death of his brother, Liam, the hometown hero. Liam and Jude both admired and adored one another so much that Liam's absence drives Jude into an obsession with weather, water and chat rooms trying to discern if his feelings are rooted in grief, science or cosmic destiny.