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2010 FESTIVAL PRESS PAGE
NEWS
RELEASE - JANUARY 20, 2010
For Further Information:
Ed Murphy
press@TheBlank.com
(323) 871-8018
18TH ANNUAL NATIONWIDE BLANK
THEATRE COMPANY
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS
Hollywood’s Blank Theatre
Company’s Nationwide Young
Playwrights Festival is now
seeking submissions from
playwrights 19 years of age
and younger through March
15, 2010. Winning plays will
be presented in four
performances by professional
actors and directors from
June 3-27, 2010 at the
Stella Adler Theatre in
Hollywood, CA.
Now in its eighteenth year,
The Blank Theatre Company’s
Young Playwrights Festival
is a nationwide competition
that produces the work of
eight to twelve teenage
playwrights each year. The
Festival has produced 196
plays by playwrights 19 and
younger since 1993 from more
than 25 states.
"Every year I am amazed at
the depths these teenagers
go to in their writing. They
are brave, bold and
uninhibited,“ says Noah Wyle
(from TV’s ER), 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 simple:
Playwrights must be 19 years
of age or younger on March
15, 2010; original plays and
musicals can be of any
length on any subject
matter, but must be legible;
pages must be numbered and
submitted unbound;
submissions must be
postmarked or emailed by
March 15, 2010; limit of
three (3) plays per
playwright. All plays must
include a cover sheet with
the play's title,
playwrights name, date of
birth, school (if any),
mailing address, contact
phone number, e-mail address
and play’s production
history (if any). That's it.
No more rules. Check out
www.YoungPlaywrights.com for
further information on how
to submit by mail or
electronically.
Each winning playwright will
be assigned a mentor:
professional writers who
will help winning
playwrights hone their work
for performance. Past
mentors have included
Tony-winning playwright
Terrence McNally, Michael
John LaChiusa
(Tony-nominated composer),
Terry Rossio (writer of
“Shrek” and “Pirates of the
Caribbean”), Jeff Greenstein
(“Will & Grace”), Liz Craft
& Sarah Fain (“Dollhouse”),
Michael Mayer (Tony-winning
director—”Spring
Awakening”), Garry Marshall
(director, “The Princess
Diaries II”) and many
others. The playwrights then
experience the thrill of
seeing their plays performed
by industry professionals in
fully staged workshop
productions.
Past festivals have featured
well-known actors such as
Chris Pine (“Star Trek”),
Jeremy Sisto (“Law &
Order”), Noah Wyle (ER),
Molly Shannon, Tiffani
Thiessen, Michael Welch
(“The Twilight Saga”),
Nicholas Brendon and Sarah
Michelle Gellar (“Buffy The
Vampire Slayer”), Eliza
Dushku (“Dollhouse”) Josh
Radnor and Alyson Hannigan
(“How I Met Your Mother”),
Sherri Shepherd (“The
View”), Arielle Kebbel (“The
Uninvited”), Kelly Lynch
(“Charlie’s Angels), Debra
Messing (“Will & Grace”),
Mark Valley (“Human
Target”), Constance Zimmer
(“Entourage”), Kathryn
Joosten (“Desperate
Housewives”), Allison Mack
(“Smallville”), Tony-winner
Daisy Eagan, Emmy-winner
Edward Asner, and many
others.
The production is made
possible in part by grants
from The James Irvine
Foundation, The Harold &
Mimi Steinberg Charitable
Trust, The Plum Foundation,
The Rosenthal Charitable
Trust, Los Angeles County
Arts Commission and City of
Los Angeles Department of
Cultural Affairs.
The Blank Theatre Company’s
work has been featured on
MSNBC, CNN SHOWBIZ TODAY,
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, BBC,
CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR,
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, and
the FINANCIAL TIMES of
London.
For more information, check
out the festival’s web site
at YoungPlaywrights.com or
TheBlank.com.
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