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Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Inc. Introduces America’s Most Talented Young Playwrights of 2006 YPI Hosts Nine Winners of the National Playwriting Competition for the 2006 Writers Conference, Culminating in Staged Reading Series of the Winning Plays New York, July, 2006 -- Young Playwrights Inc. (YPI), 24-year old brainchild of Stephen Sondheim and producer of the acclaimed Young Playwrights Festival, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 Young Playwrights Festival National Playwriting Competition. The winning plays were selected from the works of nearly 1,000 young playwrights from across the country vying for honors. The finalists’ plays were read and evaluated by a distinguished committee, including YPI’s Artistic Director and Selection Committee Chair, Sheri M. Goldhirsch, Madeleine George, David Grimm, Morgan Jenness, Robert Kerr, and Kate Moira Ryan, which identified eight extraordinary writers for national recognition. The writers arrived in New York City on July 18, 2006 for the Writers Conference, nine days of intensive playwright development. This remarkable introduction to the professional theater is more than a prize. Past winners have found the all-expenses-paid immersion into the profession of playwriting to be inspirational and life-altering. In addition to meeting and working with their peers, the winners participated in daily workshops and seminars with artists such as Thomas Bradshaw and Sarah Ruhl, as well as YPI Literary Manager Lucas Hnath. The Writers Conference culminated in a Readings Series, presented on July 25, 26, and 27, 2006 at Classic Stage Company, including the following plays:
Blood Stains by Sam Larsen-Ferree, Iowa City IA. Directed by Josh Hecht.
The Monster and the Metamorphosis by Michael Sasso, Bow, NH. Directed by Maria Goyanes.
Suit of Lights by Jack Mayer, Newnan GA. Directed by Liesl Tommy.
One Parked Car– Gold by Kaethe Kaufman, Woodstock Valley CT. Directed by Padraic Lillis.
Follow the Eightfold Path to Avoid the Pain and Suffering of the Big Miss by Erica Richardson, Orangeburg, SC. Directed by Stephanie Gilman.
Deus Ex Machina by Marissa Skudlarek, Lake Oswego, OR. Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.
Whooping Momma and Dookie Braids: The STORY OF OUR LIFE by Brittani Wade, Chicago, IL. Directed by Jyana Gregory.
Play #3 by Harley Adams, New York, NY. Directed by Kip Fagan. From the staged readings—each one brought to life by professional directors, actors, dramaturgs, and stage managers—YPI will choose the plays to be produced in the next Young Playwrights Festival. Winners are also awarded a complimentary membership to the Dramatists Guild Inc., America’s professional association for dramatists, composers, and lyricists. With their winning plays and subsequent works produced at nearly every major theater institution in the nation, YPI winners have changed the landscape of the American theater. Past participants include Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me, This is Our Youth, Lobby Hero), Rebecca Gilman (Glory of Living, Spinning into Butter, Boy Gets Girl), Keith Glover (Thunder Knocking At the Door), and Jonathan Marc Sherman (Women And Wallace, Sophistry), among others. To obtain more information about the Writers Conference, to set up an interview with one of the winning playwrights, or to request a photo, call Lucas Hnath at (212) 594-5440, email [email protected], or visit www.youngplaywrights.org. |
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