Announcing: Listing Info & Play Descriptions – The Blank Theatre’s 21st Annual Young Playwrights Festival

THE BLANK THEATRE
21ST ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

Professional actors and directors present 12 winning plays by young playwrights from across the nation during this prestigious four-week
festival. Three different plays are presented each week. For complete list of plays and performance dates, see schedule below. For complete list of play descriptions, mentors, and directors, visit www.TheBlank.com or www.youngplaywrights.com.

DATES: June 6 – 30

TIMES: Thurs/Fri/Sat at 8pm; Sun at 2pm

ADMISSION: Adults $20 Students $14. Festival Pass (one seat each week) $64

TICKET INFO: Available online at www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827.

LOCATION: The Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard (at Highland), in Hollywood.

WEEK ONE June 6 – 9

THE GATES
By Margaret Abigail Flowers (age 17), Interlochen, MI

MOM, PUT YOUR FLASK AWAY
By Eliana Pipes (age 16), Altadena, CA

DOWNSIZING
By Nick Mecikalski (age 19), Madison, AL

WEEK TWO June 13 – 16

SOX
By Spencer Emerson Opal-Levine (age 10), Sarasota, FL

EVE
By Patric Verrone (age 17), Pacific Palisades, CA

SURVIVAL STRATEGY
By Nicole Acton (age 19), Galesburg, IL

WEEK THREE June 20 – 23

SAM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
By Tanner Laguatan (age 17), Coto de Caza, CA

REVE D’AMOUR
By May Treuhaft-Ali (age 17), Jackson Heights, NY

BLACK ICE
By Max Friedlich (age 18), New York, NY

WEEK FOUR June 27 – 30

NOT A GOOD TIME
By Hanel Baveja (age 16), Ann Arbor, MI

GAY MEANS HAPPY
By Rachel Kaly (age 17), Forest Hills, NY

THE EMPTY MAN
By Danny Rothschild (age 19), Interlochen, MI

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05-10-13

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

Announcing: The Blank Theatre 2013 Young Playwrights Festival Now Accepting Submissions – March 15 Deadline

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

The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival is seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2013. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in June, 2013 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

Celebrating its 21st anniversary year, 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 236 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 National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Plum Foundation, The Rosenthal Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. 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, 2013; original plays and musicals can be any length, on any subject. Scripts must be legible; pages must be numbered and unbound; submissions must be postmarked or emailed by March 15, 2013. 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). Visit www.YoungPlaywrights.com for further information.

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), 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 Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Noah Wyle, Molly Shannon, Tiffani Thiessen (White Collar), Michael Welch (The Twilight Saga), Tom Lenk, Nicholas Brendon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Josh Radnor and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Sherri Shepherd (The View), Kelly Lynch, Debra Messing, Mark Valley, Constance Zimmer (Boston Legal), Kathryn Joosten (Desperate Housewives), Jerry O’Connell, 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 22 years of Ovation Award history. Three-time Festival winner Stephen Karam was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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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01-29-13