Palm Beach Dramaworks

announces



Sixth Annual Young Playwrights

10-Minute Play Contest Winners

Plays to be read onstage April 26 


(Tuesday, March 21, 2023) West Palm Beach, Fla. – Palm Beach Dramaworks is pleased to announce the 10 winners of its sixth annual Young Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest (YPC). The plays will receive a staged reading by professional actors in front of an audience at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:00pm. Tickets are free, but reservations are required.  

Macy’s is the sponsor of the YPC, which is open to students in grades 9-12 throughout Palm Beach County. The winners were chosen by a group of theatre professionals. 

The YPC was established to introduce the joy of writing for live theatre to young people, and to give them an outlet for expressing their thoughts and ideas. The program has proved to be so popular that this season PBD is introducing the Young Playwrights 1-Minute Play Contest for middle school students. The winning plays will be performed at PBD on Sunday, April 30 at 2:00pm.

“The Young Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest is an extraordinary opportunity to give high school students a voice, and for them to work with professional artists in preparing their plays for the stage,” said Director of Education and Community Engagement Gary Cadwallader, who is directing all 10 plays. “In six years, we’ve read over 250 plays written by high school playwrights, and this year we received 45 plays for the inaugural 1-minute contest. We look forward to celebrating young writers by developing and producing their plays with the same level of professional care taken by PBD to develop all new works."

Below are the names of the winning playwrights (in alphabetical order) of the 10-Minute Contest, along with their schools and teachers. 

Bianca Borchers* (Sr.)        Park Vista HS                              Henry Richards       

Sally Brown (Sr.)                Somerset Academy Canyons       Jeff Bartos

Kassidy Eaton* (Sr.)           Royal Palm Beach HS                 Teddy Odum

Daniela Guarino* (Sr.)        American Heritage School           Liz Mignacca

Aditya Jasti (Sr.)                 The Benjamin School                  Jason Peck

Sophia Madden (Sr.)          Royal Palm Beach HS                 Teddy Odum

Abigail McMullen (Jr.)         American Heritage School           Liz Mignacca

Oliver Shane (Soph.)         William T. Dwyer HS                     Allison Ferrucci

Emily Singer (Sr.)               Dreyfoos School of the Arts         Brittany Rigdon

Abigail Trachtenberg (Jr.)   American Heritage School           Liz Mignacca


(*Also won in 2022.)

Each of the student playwrights will be awarded a $250 prize and receive a keepsake anthology of the winning plays. 

The Young Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest provides teens with the chance to write about subjects that are meaningful to them, and to inspire teachers to incorporate playwriting into their classrooms. The young playwrights are invited to participate in the rehearsal process, where they learn how professional playwrights, directors, and actors work together to revise and strengthen their plays. 

To reserve your free ticket to the performance on April 26, visit  www.palmbeachdramaworks.org or call the box office at 561.514.4042, x2.

Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional, nonprofit theatre company founded in 2000 and located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach. Each season, the award-winning company produces five mainstage shows and offers a wide variety of programs for students at the theatre, in schools, and online. Committed to fostering the future of theatre, PBD has become a hub for playwrights in Florida and around the country to nurture their work through initiatives including Drama(in the)works and the annual New Year/New Plays Festival. PBD is a member of Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatres Association, and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. palmbeachdramaworks.org

The Don & Ann Brown Theatre is located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, at 201 Clematis Street. For ticket information contact the box office at (561) 514-4042, or visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.

Click HERE for press materials


MEDIA CONTACT:

Jennifer Sardone-Shiner

Marketing Consultant

(561) 891-7278

jshiner@palmbeachdramaworks.org 

www.palmbeachdramaworks.org

Palm Beach Dramaworks - 201 Clematis Street West Palm Beach FL 33401 - 561.514.4042