PRESS RELEASE — BLANK THEATRE OPENS 24TH SEASON WITH “THE WHY” ON SATURDAY 9/20 AT 8PM

THE BLANK THEATRE
PRESENTS
THE WHY
BY VICTOR KAUFOLD
DIRECTED BY DANIEL HENNING

24TH SEASON BEGINS ON SEPTEMBER 16
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE
OPENING SET FOR SATURDAY 9/20 AT 8PM

The Blank Theatre (Daniel Henning, Founding Artistic Director; Noah Wyle, Artistic Producer) has announced that the first production of its 24th season will be The Why by Victor Kaufold, directed by Henning. Previews begin September 16 and opening is set for Saturday, September 20 at 8pm. The engagement will run through October 19.

The Why is a fast-paced tragicomedy — one part modern satire, one part honest investigation. The central story concerns Robert, an American teenager guilty of murdering three of his classmates in a school shooting. Spliced among the dramatic exchanges between Robert and his assigned social worker, a parade of fantastical stereotypes storms in and out, creating a dichotomy between moments of hilarity and sorrow. Confronted by disturbingly accurate exaggerations of the tabloid-like modern media, the audience is made to laugh and then question that laughter.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Ben Crowley, Nicholas Cutro, Jen Landon, and Jeff Witzke. The design team includes Martha Carter (lighting), Sarah Kalb (costumes), and Rebecca Kessin (sound). The stage manager is Samantha Else. Sarah Allyn Bauer serves as producer.

Said Blank Artistic Producer Noah Wyle, “The Why is a truly original take on a very serious and very complex subject: what is happening to the youth of America? Why are kids killing each other? Who or what is to blame? Through blended styles, mixed media, and a constant shifting between drama, farce, satire, and melodrama, The Why seems to offer an answer. Or at least it manages to debunk several popular theories being touted by ‘experts’ in the media. Its continued relevance is frightening.”

Playwright Victor Kaufold was just 19 years old when he wrote The Why, which was a Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival winner. Later produced on The Blank’s mainstage, Kaufold received an LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award nomination for World Premiere Play, the youngest person ever to do so.

Preview performances of The Why begin on Tuesday, September 16 at 8pm, and continue Wednesday, September 17 through Friday, September 19 at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, September 20 at 8pm. The regular performance schedule will be Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through October 19. Admission prices are $25—$30 (student price is $20; must show valid ID), and tickets may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com or via phone at (323) 661-9827.

The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox), in Hollywood.

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08-13-14

Announcing: Blank Theatre 22nd Annual Young Playwrights Festival Now Accepting Submissions

SUBMISSIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED
THE BLANK THEATRE’S
NATIONWIDE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival is now seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2014. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in June, 2014 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

Celebrating its 22nd anniversary, The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival is a nationwide competition that produces the work of twelve young writers each year. Since 1993, the festival has produced 248 plays by playwrights 19 and younger from 27 states.

Each winning play will have four performances in a weekend run. The productions are made possible in part by grants from Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Plum Foundation, The Rosenthal Family Foundation, Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and City of Los Angeles — Office of Councilman Tom LaBonge. Hollywood’s Blank Theatre has had its work featured on MSNBC, CNN Showbiz Today, Entertainment Tonight, BBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, in Entertainment Weekly magazine, and in the Financial Times of London.

“Every year I am amazed at the depths to which these teenagers go in their writing. They are brave, bold and uninhibited,“ said Noah Wyle (star of television’s ER and Falling Skies), Artistic Producer at The Blank. “The winners are thrilled to see their plays presented by professionals, but these professionals are often given a great gift in return: a renewed sense of artistic purpose. We learn from the playwrights as they learn from us.”

The rules for the festival competition are as follows: playwrights must be 19 years of age or younger on March 15, 2014; original plays and musicals can be any length, on any subject. Scripts must be legible and pages must be numbered and unbound. Submissions may be emailed to submissions @ youngplaywrights.com, or hard copies mailed to YPF, c/o The Blank Theatre, PO Box 1094, Los Angeles, CA, 90078 (and must be postmarked or emailed by March 15, 2014). There is a limit of three (3) plays per playwright. All plays must include a cover sheet with the play’s title, playwright’s name, date of birth, school (if any), mailing address, contact phone number, e-mail address and the play’s production history (if any).

Each playwright whose work is accepted will be assigned a mentor: professional writers who will help the youngsters hone their work for performance. Past mentors have included Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, Tony Award-nominated composer Michael John LaChiusa, writer Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace), Irene Mecchi (writer, The Lion King, Brave), Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), television and film director Garry Marshall, among many others. The playwrights then experience the thrill of seeing their plays performed by industry professionals in fully staged productions.

Past festivals have featured well known actors such as Jerry O’Connell (Jerry Maguire), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Noah Wyle, Molly Shannon, Tiffani Thiessen (White Collar), Matthew Moy (2 Broke Girls), Tom Lenk, Nicholas Brendon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Megan Ward, Heather Morris and Max Adler (Glee), Josh Radnor and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Sherri Shepherd (The View), Kelly Lynch, Debra Messing, Parvesh Cheena (Sean Saves The World), Angel Parker (Lab Rats), Constance Zimmer (Boston Legal), Tony Award-winning actress Daisy Eagan, Emmy Award-winning actor Edward Asner, and many others.

In past years, some winning plays have gone on to have a life on The Blank’s mainstage for full-scale production. Should this happen, the playwright is treated as a full professional, from signing an option agreement to being paid royalties for his/her play. The Why, a play by 19-year-old Victor Kaufold, received a Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award nomination for ‘Best Writing – World Premiere’ as a result of The Blank’s production. Kaufold is the youngest nominee in his category in 23 years of Ovation Award history. Three-time Festival winner Stephen Karam was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and three-time winner Austin Winsberg saw his musical First Date open on Broadway in 2013.

For more information, visit the festival’s website at www.YoungPlaywrights.com or The Blank Theatre’s website at www.TheBlank.com.

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01-23-14

Announcing: The Blank Theatre’s 21st Annual Young Playwrights Festival Announces Winners

THE BLANK THEATRE’S 21ST ANNUAL
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL CHOOSES WINNERS

12 PLAYS BY THE NATION’S BRIGHTEST YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS
WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE STELLA ADLER THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD
JUNE 6 — 30, 2013

Now celebrating its 21st Anniversary, The Blank Theatre’s Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival has chosen 12 plays by young playwrights aged 10 — 19, from six different states. These plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in this year’s festival at The Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, June 6 — 30.

“Ever since I acted in the first Young Playwrights Festival, I have always had a special place in my heart for these extremely talented young writers,“ said Blank Artistic Producer Noah Wyle. “The issues tackled, and the depth of emotion and understanding these kids have is remarkable. I wish I knew as much as they do when I was their age!”

This year’s winning plays are: THE GATES by Margaret Abigail Flowers, Interlochen, MI, Age 17; MOM, PUT YOUR FLASK AWAY by Eliana Pipes, Altadena, CA, Age 16; DOWNSIZING by Nick Mecikalski, Madison, AL, Age 19; SOX by Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine, Sarasota, FL, Age 10; EVE by Patric Verrone, Pacific Palisades, CA, Age 17; SURVIVAL STRATEGY by Nicole Acton, Galesburg, IL, Age 19; SAM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY by Tanner Laguatan, Coto de Caza, CA, Age 17; REVE D’AMOUR by May Treuhaft-Ali, Jackson Heights, NY, Age 17; BLACK ICE by Max Friedlich, New York, NY, Age 18; NOT A GOOD TIME by Hanel Baveja, Ann Arbor, MI Age 16; GAY MEANS HAPPY by Rachel Kaly, Forest Hills, NY, Age 17; and THE EMPTY MAN by Danny Rothschild, Interlochen, MI, Age 19.

This year’s winners join a prestigious club of alumni which includes 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Karam, who was a three-time festival winner, and Adam Cochran (a two-time winner in YPF), who was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in NYC for Outstanding Music in a Play in 2011.

A panel of theatre professionals chose from over 200 plays submitted by young writers across the nation. Winning playwrights are next assigned a mentor, and then a professional director who will help them hone their scripts for four public performances with professional actors. This year’s mentors include David Rambo (Revolution, V, CSI), John Cariani (Almost Maine), Dave Holstein (Weeds), and Ellen Byron (Just Shoot Me, Wings) as well as Bob Lowry, Brighde Mullins, Oahn Ly, Patrick Burleigh, Gary Tieche, and Robert Freedman. This year’s directors are (in alphabetical order) Barbara Bain, Kevin Chamberlin, Warren Davis, Nicole Dominguez, Jane Lanier, Michael Matthews, Richey Nash, Michael Shepperd, David Shine, Richard Tatum, and Jason Weiss.

Over the past 20 years, The Blank has produced more than 230 plays by young playwrights. Eleven of those plays or playwrights have gone on to be presented on The Blank’s mainstage, including Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam. Additionally, many of the plays have been nominated for LA theatre awards, including an Ovation Award for Best Writing—World Premiere, and an LA Weekly Award for Best One-Act Playwriting. Other alumni playwrights are populating the nation’s theatres and sound stages with their work. Many YPF winners have gone on to successful writing careers creating TV shows, filling regional stages, teaching writing to others, and founding regional Young Playwrights Festivals.

This year’s festival is made possible by Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Plum Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Blank Theatre’s 21st Annual Young Playwrights Festival runs June 6 — 30 at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood. The performance schedule is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Each week’s program includes three plays, and admission is $20 for adults and $14 for students. Festival passes, which are good for one ticket each week of the festival, are $64. Tickets may be purchased in advance online at www.TheBlank.com, or via phone by calling (323) 661-9827.

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05-02-13