DCPA NEWS CENTER
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Scenesters: DCPA announces 2020 class of student playwriting finalists
The 2020 class of Scenesters, clockwise from bottom right: The playwriting team of Ruby Brown and Olivia Kelley; Omar Arevalo; Meghan Frey; Connor Yokley; Eliana Howes; Arianna Josue; Conrad Branch; Ellie Olsen; Angela Weddig, and Brandon Guo.
On Monday, DCPA Education will reveal the three scripts to be presented at next month’s Colorado New Play Summit
Reading from the the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. Photo by John Moore
Denver Center Education has announced the 10 finalists for its seventh annual statewide AT&T High School Playwriting Competition, which this year drew 154 one-act plays for consideration from Colorado student writers.
On Monday, DCPA Education will announce the three winning plays that will be read at 9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 22, in The Randy Weeks Conservatory Theatre as a featured event of the 2020 Colorado New Play Summit. In addition, the three winning scripts each will have professional readings at their playwrights’ schools.
The winning playwrights also will receive a $250 cash scholarship, mentorship from a professional playwright and complimentary passes to the Summit. In addition, each winner’s sponsoring teacher will receive $250 for books, supplies or other teaching tools for their classrooms.
Read more: Our full report on the 2018-19 student playwriting finalists
Reading from the the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. Photo by John Moore
“We are so thrilled to support burgeoning playwrights and any opportunity to encourage amazing writers to put their authentic voices in the world,” said Allison Watrous, Executive Director of Education and Community Engagement. “These writers are the brave next generation of the American Theatre and beyond, grappling with issues of our times including identity, climate change and the future.”
The judges, made up of artistic, literary and education professionals, read each submission as a blind draw. In a fun twist, one of this year’s Top 10 also was a finalist back in 2018. Arianna Josue, a senior at Lakewood High School, was honored as a sophomore for her play Trauma Bay Five. Her submission this year is called The Stories We Tell.
The 2019-20 AT&T High School Playwriting Workshop served 3,152 students with DCPA teaching artists conducting 165 playwriting workshops in 21 counties statewide.
The Scenesters: 2019-20 Finalists
(Listed alphabetically by title)
- God’s Not Dead, He’s Just an Admissions Officer, by Brandon Guo, Peak to Peak Charter School
- Gone Forever, by Eliana Howes, Renaissance Secondary
- Human, by Angela Weddig, Peak to Peak Charter School
- Imminent and Disastrous, by Connor Yokley, Highlands Ranch High School
- Jolly Land, by Conrad Branch, Denver East High School
- Lil Jesus, by Ruby Brown and Olivia Kelley, Salida High School
- The Milkshake Bar, by Ellie Olsen, Arapahoe High School
- Plastic Tiara, by Omar Arevalo, John F. Kennedy High School
- Romeo and Julien, by Meghan Frey, Estes Park High School
- The Stories We Tell, by Arianna Josue, Lakewood High School
(Here is our subsequent announcement of the three winners.)
The coordinator of the DCPA’s student playwriting program is 2017 True West Award winner Claudia Carson.
The 2019-20 AT&T High School Playwriting Competition is sponsored by AT&T, Robert and Judi Newman Family Foundation with matching gifts from The Ross Foundation, June Travis and Transamerica.
Photo gallery: 2018-19 student playwriting
Reading from the the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. Photo by John Moore
Online video bonus: A look back at the 2018-19 Scenesters
In the video above, DCPA Senior Arts Journalist John Moore speaks with Executive Director of Education Allison Watrous and the student playwrights whose works were selected to be read at the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. Video by David Lenk for the DCPA NewsCenter.
