PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 CONTACT: Kelundra Smith, Public Relations Manager 315-443-8603 or kdsmit04@syr.edu
Submissions due February 13 for Syracuse Stage’s 15th annual Young Playwright’s Festival Syracuse Stage invites Central New York high school students to write original, tenminute plays and other performance pieces for entry into the annual Young Playwrights Festival Contest. The Young Playwright’s Festival is sponsored in part by Lockheed Martin Employees Federated Fund, with additional support from: Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation, Tompkins Financial Advisors and Wegmans. This year’s theme is “Words, Words, Words,” derived from the stage play by David Ives with the same title. “[The play] is about three monkeys being watched by a research team,” Lauren Unbekant, Syracuse Stage’s director of educational outreach said. “And eventually they’re convinced one of the monkeys will end up writing Shakespeare. It’s about words. That play comes from a ten-minute play collection, and the image of that play was fun and funny.” A panel of theatrical and literary professionals will evaluate each student's play. Semifinalists will be invited to a writing workshop at Syracuse Stage, where their plays will be read and critiqued. “The ten minute play forces the playwright to get to the core of the conflict, the story, which can be quite exciting,” Unbekant said. 1
Finalists will see their plays performed as staged readings at the 15th annual Young Playwrights Festival on Monday, April 22, 2013. Each student who enters will receive a free t-shirt and enjoy a reception after the performances. The plays are directed and performed by students in Syracuse University’s Department of Drama. The playwrights will have an opportunity to sit-in on rehearsals and provide feedback to the directors before the staged readings. “I always emphasize that the students write about something they know, something that resonates with them,” Unbekant said. “Although we do get plenty of zombie plays, which they’re really into, and that’s fine,” she laughs. For more information about the festival and to download a submission packet visit SyracuseStage.org and click Young Writers under the Education tab. EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT SYRACUSE STAGE The Bank of America Children’s Tour brings high-energy, interactive, and culturally diverse performances to elementary school audiences. artsEMERGING takes students on an in-depth exploration of our mainstage season using a multi-cultural, multi-arts lens. The Young Playwrights Festival challenges students to submit original ten-minute plays for a chance to see their work performed at Syracuse Stage. ABOUT SYRACUSE STAGE Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 241 plays in 39 seasons including a number of world, American, and East Coast premieres. Each season 90,000 patrons enjoy an adventurous mix of new plays and bold interpretations of classics and musicals featuring the finest theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a vital educational outreach program that annually serves over 30,000 students from 24 counties. A solid core of subscribers and supporters helps keep Syracuse Stage a vibrant artistic presence in Central New York. Additional support comes from the government, foundations, corporations and Syracuse University. Syracuse Stage is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance (ACLA), the University Hill Corporation and the East Genesee Regent Association. Syracuse Stage is a member of The League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the largest professional theatre association in the country.
### Syracuse Stage I Producing Artistic Director: Timothy Bond I Managing Director: Jeffrey Woodward 820 E. Genesee St. I Main: 315-443-4008 I Box Office: 315-443-3275 I www.SyracuseStage.org
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