Pictures from the 2010 NJ Young Playwrights Festival

This took entirely too long to put up here. Glad to be back... Enjoy the pictures... 2011 NJ Young Playwrights Contest info coming soon!

Final Draft by Steven Maier

A Sister's Gift by Sheli Paige Frank

Why You by Justine DeSilva

Tempus Fugit by James Just

Thanks to Walter Rodriguez for the use of some of his photos.

Congratulations!

We had a great time presenting the work of 12 new playwrights at the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival last Monday and Tuesday. Thank you to all of the actors, directors, crew and Kean TMPO staff who made this possible. And of course, congratulations again to the playwrights! Please continue to write and create.

The camera wasn't working too well during the tech rehearsals on May 17, but one of our actors is also a photographer, so I'm working with him to get some pictures ready for the site. Stay tuned!

Day 2 - Blocking

Sunday was about becoming familiar with the newest edits from the high school playwrights. The casts also spent the day giving the scripts new life by staging the work. To say anything more would be redundant. Enjoy the pictures!

 Tempus Fugit by James Just.

 A Sister's Gift by Sheli Paige Frank.

Playwright Sheli Paige Frank and director Maryna Harrison during rehearsal.

Day 1 - Read-thrus

Yesterday was the first day of rehearsals for the Festival. We met first with the high school playwrights and read through and discussed their scripts. The afternoon was one of ideas, questions, and new discoveries of each play.

Cast 1 discusses their scripts, Final Draft by Steven Maier (pictured at center) and A Sister's Gift by Sheli Paige Frank (not pictured). Also in this photo are actors Dan Bartkewicz, Virginia Bosch, and director Maryna Harrison.

Director Jim Ligon (center) discusses Tempus Fugit by James Just (at left) with Cast 2. Also in this picture are actor/ASM Amalia Schiff (far left) and actor Victor Martinez (at right, back to camera). Why You by Justine DeSilva will also be performed by Cast 2.

The playwrights went home and worked on revisions to the plays well into the early hours of this morning. We look forward to getting these new drafts on their feet in Day 2.

Later in the afternoon, the cast for the reading of Junior HS and Elementary plays read through the eight scripts. We made a number of slight changes and edits - primarily to the stage directions - in an effort to streamline the way the play reads without the actions and scenery that the playwrights have envisioned. The challenge for us is to use the stage directions almost as narration or as a storyteller might. We're excited to see how that turns out on Monday morning at the Festival!