Young Playwrights Festival Winners to Receive Staged Reading of their Works

Winners of Syracuse Stage’s 2014 Young Playwrights Festival will receive a staged reading of their works on Tuesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in the Archbold Theatre at the Syracuse Stage/Drama Complex, 820 E. Genesee St.

The staged reading will be performed by students in the Department of Drama (SU Drama). This event is free and open to the public. The Young Playwrights Festival is sponsored in part by Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, Tompkins Financial Advisors and Wegmans.

For the 2014 Young Playwrights Festival, over 200 10-minute plays and performance pieces were collected by Syracuse Stage from 14 schools across Central New York. From the submissions, 16 semi-finalists were invited to a writing workshop at Syracuse Stage, where their plays were read by SU Drama students and critiqued by Syracuse Stage staff members. Semi-finalists then had a chance to edit their plays based on the critiques and resubmit. Eight finalists were then chosen for their works to be read on April 29.

The winners include:

• Hannah Mekeel, Cortland Junior-Senior High School, 12th grade, “Cafeteria Confessions: A Rapsical in One Act”
• Aliyah MacCrindle, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 11th grade, “Demons and Desperation”
• Joe Rupprecht, Christian Brothers Academy, 12th grade, “Mr. and Mrs. Burlow”
• Janay Lemon, Christian Brothers Academy, 12th grade, “Coming Out”
• Robert Boehlert, Christian Brothers Academy, 12th grade, “Circles”
• Anna Do, Christian Brothers Academy, 12th grade,  “Numbers”
• Sophie Leavitt, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 12th grade, “Alice”
• Patrick McCarthy, Nottingham High School, 10th grade, “Senior Prank”

Semi-finalists:

• Alexandra Babcock, Camden High School, 9th grade, “Perfect Isn’t Real”
• Iva Markicevic, Cortland Junior-Senior High School, 12th grade, “Case 823: Cell Phones on Lexon?”
• Julianne Bazydlo, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 10th grade, “Better Off in the Ashtray”
• Miles Chandler, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 10th grade, “Love, Hate, and Landscape Painting”
• James Pieri, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 10th grade, “The Meaning of Fear”
• Ajay Manohar, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 10th grade, “Witnesses”
• Nathan Shimer, Jamesville-Dewitt High School, 10th grade,”Mail”
• Allison Bargabos, Christian Brothers Academy, 12th grade, “Lifeline”