As fall approaches, we are gearing up for our 26th annual New Voices Festival, done in collaboration with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, a program geared towards honing creativity and literacy through the art of playwriting.  This year, the New Voices Festival will feature eight full-length plays and two monologues all written by students who have won the annual playwriting competition. Over 1,000 scripts are submitted each year from over 30 different local middle and high schools. The scripts that are chosen by the Young Playwrights staff are put into workshops with local directors and actors, and finally staged at Temple University each fall. Professional directors work with undergraduate Temple Theater actors to present these original works in a rotating two bill schedule.

This year's festival opens Thursday, October 10 and runs through Saturday, October 19 in the Randall Theater.  Admission is free but reservations are required. Contact the Philadelphia Young Playwrights at 215.665.9226 or info@phillyyoungplaywrights.org.

Philadelphia Young Playwrights has a number of different programs that collaborate with local schools to encourage self-expression, promote literacy, and to give voice to the vibrant stories our community can tell. Temple theater students also participate in the Young Playwrights Saturday Morning Series of workshops, designed to assist the playwrights in rewriting and editing their plays. This is a great opportunity for the playwrights, allowing them to see and hear their pieces in new ways, as well as to receive positive feedback from professionals. Learn more about all this organization has to offer: http://www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org/  

UPDATED: Download the complete schedule. PYP 2013 Flyer