With support from the California Arts Council, Playwrights Project will bring 800 students from underserved schools in San Diego to see professional productions of plays written by California youth (under the age of 19), as part of Playwrights Project’s Plays by Young Writers Festival at The Old Globe in San Diego. Teachers will be given an education packet with pre and post activities related to the plays, and each performance will feature a talk back with artists involved in the productions.
Playwrights Project provides playwriting workshops in schools, communities, and correctional facilities, conducts the annual California Young Playwrights Contest for writers under the age of 19, and professionally produces community readings and full productions of Plays by Young Writers and The Mosaic Festival. Playwrights Project’s programs engage underserved populations in dramatizing stories drawn from imagination and life experiences, including reflections on the impact of poverty, incarceration, addiction, foster care, and military service. Recognizing that life presents difficult situations, forces beyond our control, and challenging decisions, the programs guide individuals to reflect on past experiences with compassion, create fictional plays that examine hardships, explore positive non-violent solutions, look forward to brighter futures, and celebrate the resilience gained by triumphing over difficulties.