New Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival Will Present Young Playwrights Performance and Awards Ceremony

Twelve very talented students will be honored when The New Jersey Theatre Alliance presents THE THEATER PROJECT'S eighteenth annual Young Playwrights Competition Performance and Awards Ceremony at 2 PM, Saturday, March 14, at the Cranford Community Center. The event, part of the Alliance's Stages Festival, the state's largest annual theater festival that provides free and discounted theater events for all ages throughout the months of March, April & May, includes playwrighting tutorials for interested students, opportunities for young writers to interact with adult playwrights, acceptance speeches, prizes - and pizza. A light lunch before the event allows the new playwrights to meet each other, as well as the actors and directors who put the new work on its feet.

These young writers represent six different high schools and ten different towns. The four prize winners will see their work performed by the professional actors of The Theater Project; honorable mentions will be presented with citations and gift certificates. The event, which is free and open to the public, has been proudly supported by grants from Investors Foundation and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. It is hosted by the Friends of The Cranford Library.

FIRST PRIZE:

Sam Zaslow-Braverman, Golda Och Academy, West Orange

SECOND PRIZE: A TIE:

Mika Cullen - Leonia High School, Lily Piede - Montclair Kimberley Academy

THIRD PRIZE:

Lindsey Polevoy - Bergen County Academies, Hackensack

Honorable Mentions:

Jacob Makofske, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale

Lucille O'Donnel, Diana Benenaula, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, Elizabeth

Isabella Castillo, Mariana Meriles, Natalie Painter, Jordan Orlando, Aidan Winn, Bergen County Academies, Hackensack

The Joseph Curka Prize received by the students honors the memory of Mrs. Marion Curka's late husband. Mrs. Curka was a long-time friend and supporter of The Theater Project, an award-winning professional company based in Union, NJ. The company presents free monthly readings of new plays by NJ authors at the Cranford Community Center, sponsored by Friends of the Cranford Library.

The March 14 performance and awards ceremony will be hosted by Theater Project artistic director Mark Spina, and award-winning playwright, screenwriter and novelist, Bill Mesce, Jr, of Linden. His most recent book: NO RULE THAT ISN'T A DARE: HOW WRITERS CONNECT WITH READERS is published by Serving House Books. His 2015 World War II novel, A COLD AND DISTANT PLACE, was a finalist for the Edward Hoffer Award's Montaigne Medal for "most thought-provoking books" from the field of small and academic presses.

Immediately prior to the awards ceremony, The Theater Project provides free tutorials for any interested entrant in this year's competition. Each young author is offered a half hour script consultation with one of the adult playwrights and directors from the Theater Project. Young writers also can meet with other contestants and the actors performing the winning plays.

The goal of the competition is to encourage the next generation of theater practitioners and audience by honoring their work and bringing it to life. The Theater Project is committed to the concept that arts participation builds fundamental skills in reading, writing and critical thinking, crucial at all ages. Information about how to participate in next year's event is available at TheTheaterProject.org.

This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2020 Stages Festival, made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; the George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust; New Jersey Historical Commission; and Fund for the New Jersey Blind. Www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.