Kicking Off the New Play Festival

During the spring and fall of 2010, hundreds of students in YPT’s In-School Playwriting Program wrote original plays about everything from vampires to gangs to superheroes. Of the over 500 plays in this pool, a reading committee composed of staff, teaching artists, actors and community members narrowed the group to 15. As part of the…

History in the Making: Reflections from New Writers Now!

On Monday, February 7, 2011, an unprecedented number of community members from all over the DC metro area filled every available seat in GALA Hispanic Theatre to enjoy New Writers Now! – From Civil War to Civil Rights. YPT presented original plays that explore the ways our history shapes us today, including I am a…

So…Should We Build the Good Neighbor?

As I watched the Express Tour Showcase for the fourth time on Saturday night, I was amazed that I could still find something new and exciting to anticipate in the show. Of course I still enjoyed seeing Alex Perez flounce around the stage as a bully in Love, Math, and Martians Don’t Mix, watching Alex Vernon…

YPTimeMachine: Week Two

As YPT launches our 15th birthday celebration, we’re spending a lot of time reflecting on 1995 – both what was popular at the time (snap bracelets and pog collections, anyone?)  and where we were in our own lives.  Some staff members were embarking on new chapters in their adult lives, while others were still navigating…

Letters from the Audience: New Writers Now!-Outside In

After the October 4New Writers Now! - Outside In staged reading, the audience got a chance to put in their two cents. We asked them to write a letter to a character in one of the plays, invited them to share the letters out loud, then gave those letters to the playwrights. We heard funny,…

YPT Presents Sneak Previews of a New Play about Woodlawn Cemetery and Ward 7

Early in the morning on Saturday, September 11th, 2010, approximately one hundred volunteers, actors, local historians, community members, and YPT staff (not to mention the 36,000 resting below) gathered at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in honor of the National Day of Service. We listened to speakers from Greater DC Cares, the Woodlawn Perpetual Care Association,…

YPT Welcomes Raina Fox as Our New Community Engagement Associate!

Sometimes artists get a bad name: they are disorganized and unreliable. They let their ideas get ahead of their ability to perform. They live in a world of their own. I am so thrilled to be part of a team of artists who share none of those traits. As I end my very first week…