PS•YPF Announces Sixth Annual Festival Winning Plays
NEWS RELEASE Contact: O’Bayley Communications – Bob Bogard 760-464-0182 • bob@obayley.net PSYPF – David Youse 310/428-3368 • info@psypf.org
The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival (PSYPF) announced on April 15th that it selected three winning entries to be showcased in this year’s festival.
PSYPF promotes and encourages theatrical creative writing to all elementary, middle, and high school students within Riverside County. Each year it produces an annual festival that showcases selected works from students with staged readings using professional actors and directors.
This year, PSYPF received a record 42 submissions. Each play was reviewed by a special committee who selected the 2024 winners, who will receive a mentorship to enhance their playwriting skills, a staged reading public performance of their play, and a $500 scholarship to help further their career in the arts.
The winning playwrights will now work with this year’s mentor, Broadway actor, TV executive producer/writer, and playwright Jack Kenny, who will provide professional guidance to the student playwrights and coach them through the entire process of finalizing their plays. The three staged readings will be performed at the Sixth Annual Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival by seasoned professional actors.
The festival will take place at The Palm Springs Cultural Center on June 9, 2024 at 12 PM. Casting is underway and the selected performers will be announced later this year when tickets will be also become available. The event will be free to the public although reservations will be required, reserve tickets here >
The 2024 winning plays are:
IN MY DREAMS written by Erik Evans (14) from Palm Middle School, Moreno Valley, CA. It will be directed by actor/director Chuma Gault.
SECOND CHANCES (A GAME SHOW) written by Abigail Alldredge (16) from Ramona High School, Riverside, CA. It will be directed by Keith Hoffman Executive Producer at Warner Brothers/Discovery.
REDO written by Anthony Banuelos (17) from Valley View High School, Moreno Valley, CA. It will be directed by actor/director Deborah Harmon.
The casts for these three winning plays will be announced soon.
“We were astounded by the record number of quality plays that were submitted this year,” said David Youse, Executive Director of the Festival. “Submissions came from several grade levels and a majority of the participating school districts. It was challenging to select the three winning plays and we are delighted with the plays we chose. We look forward to working with the three winners and congratulate all the students who crafted their plays and chose to participate in the festival this year.”
PSYPF has partnered with The Riverside County Office of Education to expand its outreach to young playwrights to include not only the Coachella Valley, but all of Riverside County. The festival works closely with Louisa Higgins, Visual and Performing Arts Administrator for Riverside County Office of Education, Chuck Yates, Founding Artistic Director of Coyote StageWorks, the Palm Springs Cultural Center, and PSYPF board members Marni Raab, Margarida De Brito, and Desiree Clark-Miller.
“This festival provides an important opportunity for our students to see what it is like to conceive, write, and produce a play,” said Louisa Higgins, Visual and Performing Arts Administrator for Riverside County Office of Education. “We applaud the work done by the Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival and thank them for enabling so many of our students to participate in this festival, where the wining students receive real-world experience. We look forward to seeing these performed in June.”
PSYPF is funded by the 2024 premier sponsors, The Western Wind Foundation with Jeremy Hobbs and Cherry Lane Alternative with Angelina Fiordellisi. Tom Valach, Jason Smith, Dorothy and Mel Lefkowitz, Paul Reid and Thomas Hartnett continue as the festival’s ongoing supporters and sponsors.
PSYPF is a nonprofit organization. To lend support or review the mission statement, visit www.psypf.org.
About PSYPF
The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival promotes and encourages creative writing - in the theatrical form - open to all students in the elementary, middle, and high school level within Riverside County, California. The Festival provides a scholarship to further education in the arts, mentorship, and a public reading to young playwrights of chosen plays.