Now these remarkable young voices will be featured in a series of readings at InterAct Theatre Company, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and The Wilma Theater as part of the upcoming Philadelphia New Play Festival: Where Theatre Begins, running February 8-18, 2007. All readings are free and will be followed by a post-show discussion with the student playwrights. [A full readings schedule follows below.]

Readings of four winning student plays will be presented alongside World Premiere professional productions, showcasing the partnerships of dedicated student playwrights and professional theatre artists. Artistic staffs at each theatre company selected a play with which they connected artistically, giving each student an artistic home and a chance to develop his or her voice over a year-long program.

"The Play Development Series has given Young Playwrights the ability to showcase more promising young writers than ever before," says Executive Director Glen Knapp. "We are thrilled that the Philadelphia New Play Festival and area artistic directors wholeheartedly embraced the idea of showcasing these young talents."

On Monday, February 12th at 7:00 p.m. InterAct Theatre Company (2030 Sansom Street) will present Montezuma by JR Masterman School senior Nathan Wainstein. Directed by InterAct's Literary Manager, Peter Bonilla, the play is the story of the fall of Montezuma, the Aztec emperor who was defeated by the Spanish under Hernán Cortés. Nathan was the 2006 winner of the Adele Magner Memorial Award, named for Young Playwrights' founder. This year, Nathan is sharing his skills with younger playwrights by working at his school with a seventh grade class which is enrolled in the Young Playwrights program.

On Tuesday, February 13th at 7:00 p.m. two plays directed by Peter Reynolds, a professor at Villanova University, will be presented in partnership with the Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 South 18th Street). Both student plays - Love Your Irish-American Friend by Caitlyn Farrell and Freedom by Drew Paisley - were written in teacher Ruth Aichenbaum's fifth grade class at William Penn Charter School. A star teacher in the Young Playwrights program, Ms. Aichenbaum's classes film the play development process and present mini-festivals each year in which students write, design, and perform the plays.

On Monday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m. The Wilma Theater (265 South Broad Street) will present Snow is Falling by Friends Central School senior Gabe Bloomfield. Gabe's writing has flourished in the Young Playwrights program as his work has gained wider recognition. Snow is Falling was featured in last year's Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival, and he is now a published author with an essay in Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities. Gabe also serves as a Young Playwrights board member.

Directed by Wilma dramaturg Walter Bilderback, Snow is Falling tells the story of a young gay couple and the circumstances that ignite a struggle over the definition of family. The play has expanded from one act to two as Gabe has continued to develop his play in Young Playwrights' Advanced Playwriting Group where playwrights are placed in an intensive program of play development with numerous theatre professionals.

The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia will present the inaugural year of the Philadelphia New Play Festival: Where Theatre Begins from February 8 - 18, 2007. A multi-organizational and region-wide effort, the two-week festival features nine main stage World Premieres by the region's leading theatre companies, as well as several readings, symposia, and discussions that share the thrill of giving birth to a new play and celebrate Philadelphia as a hotbed of new play activity.

Founded in 1984, and led today by executive director Glen Knapp, Philadelphia Young Playwrights taps the potential of youth and inspires learning through playwriting in up to 50 public and private K-12 schools each year. Since 1984, approximately 60 professional playwrights have led workshops, and nearly all of Philadelphia's professional theatre companies have participated by performing, producing, or directing student works. Nearly 55,000 students have seen peers' work produced in class or by professionals. Young Playwrights' Literary Committee includes more than 60 educators, writers, parents, and former Young Playwrights students who read and critique each student script. Young Playwrights received the 2005 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service and is the past recipient of a 1997 Barrymore Award for Theatre Education, a 2003 George Bartol Award for Excellence in Arts Education, and a 2004 Eastern University Award for Nonprofit Excellence.

Young Playwrights' productions and public events are made possible with support from PECO, an Exelon Company - Presenting Corporate Sponsor of the Play Development Series - and from the Charlotte Cushman Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, An Exelon Company, and Philadelphia City Paper. Major program support is also provided by the William Penn Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Philadelphia Young Playwrights - New Play Festival
Readings Schedule

Monday, February 12, 7:00 p.m.
Montezuma by Nathan Wainstein, JR Masterman School (written in grade 11) directed by Peter Bonilla in partnership with InterAct Theatre Company
2030 Sansom Street (Content is appropriate for middle and high school audiences.)

Tuesday, February 13, 7:00 p.m. Love Your Irish-American Friend by Caitlyn Farrell, William Penn Charter School (written in grade 5) and Freedom by Drew Paisley, William Penn Charter School (written in grade 5) directed by Peter Reynolds in partnership with the Philadelphia Art Alliance 251 South 18th Street (Content is appropriate for younger audiences.)

Monday, February 19, 7:00 p.m. Snow is Falling by Gabe Bloomfield, Friends Central (written in grade 11) directed by Walter Bilderback in partnership with The Wilma Theater 265 South Broad Street (Content is appropriate for middle and high school audiences.)

All readings are free and will be followed by a post-show discussion with the student playwrights. For more information, please visit www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org.