15th Annual Young Playwrights Contest Guidelines & Deadline Announced

只要你心诚志坚,念念回首处,既是灵山.” Zhǐyào nǐ xīn chéng zhì jiān, niàn niàn huíshǒu chù, jìshì língshān. “Nothing in this world is difficult, but thinking makes it seem so. Where there is true will, there is always a way.”  – The Monkey King, from Journey to the West, a classic Chinese mythology story

PlayGround has announced and officially opened the submission window for their 15th annual Young Playwrights Contest, a showcase celebrating the best of budding new voices for the stage. Four finalists will be selected from plays submitted by high schoolers from any of the 9 Bay Area counties, inspired by the prompt “Adapt a Classic Folktale or Myth”, a prompt also recently given to PlayGround’s professional writers for the February 2023 round of Monday Night PlayGround. Bay Area High School students are invited to write an original, 10-minute play that is a retelling of a myth or classic folktale. For more information and the complete guidelines, visit https://playground-sf.org/ypp-guidelines. All applications must be submitted via google form at https://forms.gle/ZfFT4NYAtdepA1fd8 by Monday, April 24.

In their continuing efforts towards inclusion, accessibility, and fostering new work at all stages of creation, PlayGround is offering a free playwriting master class on Saturday, March 4, 12pm-1:30pm PT, in-person at the PlayGround PlaySpace (3286 Adeline St #9, Berkeley, CA 94703) and online via Zoom, as well as a limited number of complimentary in-school (or virtual) playwriting master classes for Bay Area high schools to help students become more familiar with playwriting in the theatrical short form. Led by distinguished PlayGround alumni and staff, these classes are designed to complement existing creative writing and playwriting education within the schools, while opening up the opportunity of the Young Playwrights Project for budding/aspiring dramatists. To register for the March 4 master class, click here. Schools interested in hosting a master class either in person or virtually should contact Jim Kleinmann at jim@playground-sf.org. In-school classes will be offered until mid-April, are first-come first-served, and will directly prepare students for an April 24, 2023 submission deadline. 

Submissions for the 15th annual Young Playwrights Contest are due by 11:59pm on Monday, April 24th, 2023. Four finalists will be announced on or before May 1. The finalists will each receive a professional staged reading of their play as part of the PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage and simulcast on Friday, May 12, 2023. Young Playwrights Project alumni include: Lucy Urbano (Oakland School for the Arts), Cicely Henderson (SOTA), Jake Rosenberg (JCHS), Alona Bach (Berkeley High), and Lucas Baisch (SOTA), among others.

In addition to the Contest, through the 15th Annual Howard & Lenore Klein Foundation Young Playwrights Project, PlayGround also offers free tickets for high school students in the Bay Area to attend PlayGround’s public performances, virtually or in-person, including the Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage and Monday Night readings at Freight & Salvage. For more information on tickets and accessibility, schools can contact ypp@playground-sf.org.

For more information, visit https://playground-sf.org/youngplaywrights/ or call (415) 992-6677.