O’NEILL’S YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL SEEKS STUDENT PLAYS

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is now accepting scripts for its 15th annual Young Playwrights Festival to be held May 8-10, 2020. Applications are due Feb. 7.

Employing the signature “O’Neill process,” the festival provides professional support to develop original one-act plays written by middle and high school students.

Young Playwrights spend a weekend at the O’Neill with a dedicated creative team — director, dramaturg, and actors — comprised of National Theater Institute alumni helping them to stage their plays. The selected students can expect an exploration of their work, assistance from professional artists, full rehearsals with their artistic team, and opportunities to revise their play. The festival concludes with a script-in-hand public reading of the students’ work on May 10.

Plays will be selected on a competitive basis. Submission requirements:

• Students must be between the ages of 12-18.

• Students must submit 10-15 pages of original work.

• An application with a completed checklist and two copies of the script must be postmarked by February 7, 2020.

• Only the work of those able to attend the entire festival, May 8-10, 2020, will beconsidered.

• Submissions should be sent to: Young Playwrights Festival, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT, 06385

To receive an application, or for more information about YPF, visit theoneill.org/ypf or contact Sophia Chapadjiev, festival director, at sophia@theoneill.org.

“For me, there are few things more exciting than seeing the words of a playwright brought to life, “says Chapadjiev, who is also the O’Neill’s director of education. “Plays are meant to be performed, which is why one of our goals at the Young Playwrights Festival is to enable young playwrights to realize their vision. I’m so excited to see what stories will be put center stage as we celebrate the 15th year of this dynamic program.”