The Theater Project, an award-winning professional company and incubator for rising talent, is once again reaching out to creative young people in New Jersey with its 21st 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 submission deadline to enter the 2023 competition is January 23.

Interested students and teachers can access entry details and podcasts with last year’s winners on the website, www.TheTheaterProject.org.

 “Every year one of our winners tells us, I would never have tried to do this if I hadn't heard about the competition,” says artistic director Mark Spina. “We hope to inspire more young people to write short plays, developing the verbal abilities, critical thinking skills and creativity that they need to succeed in any field.”

Several past winners of the 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. The judges, members of The Theater Project’s Adult Playwrights Workshop, also offer half-hour tutorials to any interested contest entrant.

The honorees at last year’s event represented nine different high schools and ten different New Jersey towns:

First prize: Lina Olazabal, The Lawrenceville School

Second prize: Izaiah Solano, Thomas Jefferson Academy, Elizabeth

Third Prize (a tie): Mia Longenecker, Madison High School, and Isabel Lindsay, Communications High School of Monmouth County, Wall Township.

Honorable mentions: Brennan Columbia-Walsh, Montclair Kimberly Academy; Ben Glickman, Newark Academy, Livingston; Simone Graziano, Absegami High School, Galloway; Angel Jacob, Thomas Jefferson Academy, Elizabeth; Allison Lee, Churchill Junior High School; Jacqueline Litowinsky, Communications High School of Monmouth County, Wall Township; Sofia Sepulveda Pizarro, East Brunswick High School.

“We want to make sure that kids know their creative efforts are valued by showcasing them for the community – making it an online event allows them to share their work with friends anywhere around the country and beyond,” says program coordinator Kevin Carver. “Arts education sometimes gets short-changed as schools struggle to meet so many demands. But when kids lose out on arts experiences, they miss opportunities to develop critical thinking skills that are needed now more than ever.”

The winning playwrights receive cash prizes; the honorable mentions are awarded gift certificates. The Theater Project works with its “alumni” winners to find other venues for their work, by sponsoring them in other competitions such as the Samuel French Festival in New York City.

Now in its 29th year, The Theater Project presents its mainstage summer season at the Burgdorff Center in Maplewood, New Jersey.