YPI News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 (212) 594-5440

YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS INC. TO HAND OUT AWARDS

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2006

TO NEW YORK CITY’S YOUNGEST PLAYWRIGHTS --

WINNERS OF THE 2006 WRITE A PLAY! NYC CONTEST

Featured speakers to include:

DAVID HENRY HWANG, TONY AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT

KATE MOIRA RYAN, PLAYWRIGHT

Hosted by NANCY GILES, ACTOR/WRITER/COMEDIAN

Young Playwrights Inc. (YPI), founded in 1981 by Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, is pleased to announce the WRITE A PLAY! NYC Awards Ceremony a celebration of New York City student playwrights and their plays, this Tuesday, June 6, 2006 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at the Donnell Library, 20 West 53^rd Street in Manhattan.

Featured speakers will include Tony Award-winning David Henry Hwang and playwright Kate Moira Ryan. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Nancy Giles, actor/writer/comedian and writer/commentator on CBS News Sunday Morning.

The ceremony will celebrate the achievements of nearly 300 New York City public, private, and independent school students from all five boroughs who submitted original plays to this year’s WRITE A PLAY! NYC contest. An audience of student playwrights and their teachers, friends, family members will salute the 9 student winners (three in each of three divisions: Elementary School (Grades K-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), and High School (Grades 9-12) and 7 students who received honorable mentions. Excerpts from all 9 winning plays will be performed by professional actors.

All contest entrants will receive written evaluations of their plays and Certificates of Merit. All awards ceremony attendees will receive special gift bags and have the chance to win door prizes.

Admission to the 2006 WRITE A PLAY! Awards Ceremony is free, but seats are limited and reservations are required. RSVP to Young Playwrights Inc. at (212) 594-5440. For more about Young Playwrights Inc.’s WRITE A PLAY! NYC contest and other YPI programs in New York City and throughout the United States, please call (212) 594-5440 or log onto www.youngplaywrights.org.

**YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS INC. 2006 WRITE A PLAY! NYC – Winners**

Elementary School Division - Winners

The Breakup

By Angela Azolas

Muscota New School (Manhattan)

Kayla’s Secret

By Rachel Calnek-Sugin

The Dalton School (Manhattan)

I Wish I Had Something To Do

By Emmett Goodman-Boyd

The Churchill School (Manhattan)

Middle School Division - Winners

The Man That Rules Us All

By Isaac Goodman-Boyd

The Churchill School (Manhattan)

Singing For Freedom

By Erin Hartnett

J.H.S. 51 William Alexander (Brooklyn)

Magic Behind the Dice

By Liam D. Sullivan

J.H.S. 51 William Alexander (Brooklyn)

High School Division - Winners

Folly

By Melissa Chow

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School (Bayside)

Adam and Eve at the Dakota Fanning

By Elisabeth Dickson

Riverdale Country School (Riverdale)

Dizzy

By David Watson

Hunter College High School (Manhattan)

**YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS INC. 2006 WRITE A PLAY! NYC – Honorable Mentions**

Elementary School Division – Honorable Mentions

The Case of the Missing Pointe Shoes

By Gabriella Della Russo and Catherine Latham

P.S. 312 (Brooklyn)

One Thing to Another

By Chloe Goldstein

The Dalton School (Manhattan)

Middle School Division – Honorable Mentions

A Fight For Justice

By Amanda N. Mendez

J.H.S. 51K William Alexander (Brooklyn)

Bad Dog

By Henry Pines