Building Opportunities for Young Playwrights Can Be Simple

Since mid-August I’ve been reconnecting with many of the young playwrights programs spotlighted on the Young Playwrights Guide. Work is underway to update those listings and to clean up the list of opportunities that exist for youth writers. What’s been most notable in this process is the excitement that still exists within the field, but also the unfortunate amount of programs that are no longer in operation. Thankfully, that last number is small compared to those that remain, but an unfortunate reminder of what many did to survive the theatre shutdown within the Covid pandemic. I previously wrote about the swell of new opportunities for youth during that time and my optimism that it signified an upward trend in this kind of work. The quick closing of those programs is an important reminder of the fragility of the young playwrights field.

A young writer in rehearsal at the VSA Young Playwright Discovery program at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

Yet interest in the work remains high. “The Future of TYA” was our topic in the Theatre for Young Audiences class at NYU this week and the involvement of youth - particularly as theatre creators - was a primary topic of discussion. The students are from all over the world and many noted the absence of young playwrights programming in their states or countries. I hope the realization may lead to new pins on the map!

In August, I had three separate conversations about establishing theatre festivals for young writers. They are some of the easiest options for organizations looking to engage young people in the creative process. It can be as simple as a call for scripts and a scheduled date to have those read out loud. When the Dramatists Guild sought to establish a young playwrights program in 1981 under the guidance of Stephen Sondheim and Gerald Chapman, the young director who previously led a popular program in London, they did not anticipate the groundswell of interest the call for scripts provided. With just one advertisement in the New York Times, the fledgling program received 732 scripts from young people in 35 different states! Submissions doubled the following year. Young writers are out there and they are hungry for opportunities to share their voices and awaken the world to their experiences. We just need to keep providing the venues for them to do so.

Young writers from Philadelphia Young Playwrights

While the concept can really be as simple as stated above, the process of receiving, reading, and evaluating scripts can be overwhelming. If you are interested in building a program for young playwrights, please reach out with questions. I’m happy to guide you through the process.

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