Update on the NJ Young Playwrights Festival

Dear Friends and Followers,

As you may have guessed, the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival is no longer in operation. Sadly, Writers Theatre of NJ, the organization that produced the contest/festival since 1989 closed its doors at the end of 2019. I recently discovered that I still had access to this Facebook page and felt it was a good time to update you on the status of this program.

I had the privilege of serving the young playwrights of New Jersey as the producer and coordinator of this program from 2002-2018 and saw a number of excellent stories and people pass through the doors. The program was also the subject of my doctoral dissertation and I continue to engage with the wider field of youth playwriting around the world.

While the NJYPF is no longer in service, I encourage you to continue exploring and dreaming in your writing and to seek out avenues to share and develop your work here in the Garden State, and beyond. You can find these programs in the Young Playwrights Guide, a blog that I update semi-annually.

Since I am the administrator of the NJYPF Facebook page and this blog, and there is no longer anyone left at Writers Theatre to administer the program, I will keep them open for the continuing future. I wish you all the best in your creative work and look forward to seeing what you create next!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jim DeVivo

Announcing the 2017 NJ Young Playwrights Festival plays

We are pleased to announce the plays and playwrights whose work will be presented at the 2017 New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival on June 26 & 27:

High School (grades 10-12)

Hot Dogs and Feminism by Jasmine Sharma, Bergen County Academies

Learn Your ABCs by Elijah Gaines, Lindenwold HS & Jaleel Lindsey

Packing by Michael Villanueva, Middlesex County Acedemy for Performing Arts

Smile by Kianni Keys, Newark Academy

Trust No One by Gabrielle Poisson, Newark Academy

Junior HS (grades 7-9)

Chow Chow by Marra Finkelstein, Eisenhower Middle School (Wyckoff)

Dog Sitters by Lena Shmitt, Frelinghuysen Middle School (Morristown)

"My Extraordinary World" by Charlie McLace by Maya Levenstein, Green Meadow Middle School (Hackettstown)

Elementary (grades 4-6)

Girl World, Boy World by Isabella Cerciello, St. Vincent Martyr School (Madison)

Robot House by Luke Sherman, Torey J. Sabatini School (Madison)

Techno Takeover by Darren Van Pelt, Manasquan Elementary School

Read more about these plays/playwrights on the Writers Theatre blog at https://www.wtnj.org/thirty-fourth-annual-new-jersey-young…/

Junior HS & Elementary selections coming soon!

We've finally resolved the issues that prevented the announcement of the Junior HS and Elementary selections. That information will be released on Friday. Thanks for your continued patience and understanding!

Nearly there!

Hang in there, young playwrights! We're almost done confirming the last details of the Festival. Once I get final approval, I will be in touch with the playwrights whose scripts have been selected for the Junior HS and Elementary division presentations. We can also confirm the last scheduling details, too. Just a few days more. Thanks for your patience!