Honorees of Spring 2023’s Young Playwrights Competition
The Theater Project, a leading incubator for rising talent and a showcase for New Jersey artists, is once again reaching out to creative young people for its annual Young Playwrights Competition. Winners receive cash prizes and see their work performed by professional actors at the Zoom awards ceremony in the spring. The honorable mentions are awarded gift certificates.
To jumpstart this year’s entrants, The Theater Project will stream last year’s four winning plays October 23-29. Virtual site visits to NJ classrooms by adult playwrights are also available on request on a first come-first served basis. Interviews with previous honorees and audio recordings of their plays are available on the company’s website in their podcast series, THE THEATER PROJECT THINKS ABOUT ….
The submission deadline to enter the 2024 competition is January 22. New Jersey’s high school playwrights submit their short plays at TheTheaterProject.org website, where they will find all the necessary entry guidelines and formatting rules.
“Kids need us to listen,” says artistic director Mark Spina. “Every year one of our winners tells us, ‘I would never have tried to do this if I hadn't heard about the competition.’ By providing this forum, we hope to inspire more young people to write and develop the verbal abilities, critical thinking skills and creativity that they need to succeed in any field.”
Several past winners of the Young Playwrights Competition have gone on to pursue degrees in theater and playwriting, and they often return to The Theater Project’s event to present prizes and share their journeys with the newest honorees. After the ceremony, the judges, members of The Theater Project’s Adult Playwrights Workshop, also offer half-hour tutorials to any interested entrant.
“We want to make sure that kids know their creative efforts are valued by showcasing them for the community,” says program coordinator Kevin Carver. “Arts education sometimes gets short-changed as schools struggle to meet so many demands, especially this year. But when kids lose out on arts experiences, they miss opportunities to develop critical thinking skills that are needed now more than ever.”
The 2023 honorees were:
FIRST PRIZE: Elise Harvey, Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, Bridgewater
SECOND PRIZE: Delia Mullen, Communications High School, Wall Township
THIRD PRIZE (a tie) Nicole M. Beltre, Teaneck High School and Henry Frieman, Communications High School, Wall Township
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kristen Gallagher, Communications High School, Wall Township
MJ King, Morristown High School
Leila Kramer & Trevor Preece (collaboration), Cherry Hill High School East
Mia Longenecker, Madison High School
Lucas Luchsinger, Union County Vocational Technical School, Scotch Plains
Charlie Patton, High Technology High School, Lincroft
Jonathan Tejada, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, Elizabeth
This program is made possible in part by a grant from Citizens Bank. The Theater Project is an award-winning professional company headquartered in Union, NJ.
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