Why is arts education so important? The arts provide soft skills like creativity, communication, confidence, and emotional intelligence that can be used as building blocks for a career in any industry. Access to arts education, especially for students who might not typically receive it, is scientifically proven to create a solid foundation for academic achievement. But how do the arts connect with students in the community? That’s where the Denver Center for the Performing Arts steps in.

The DCPA has a commitment to arts education since its inception in 1979. In the early 1990’s, the DCPA formed its own Education programming line to offer acting instruction and educational programs to the community. Today, DCPA Education has served over 2.5 million students since its inception through on-site classes, student matinee performances, and in-school programs.

One of these in-school programs is the Middle School & High School Playwriting Workshops. In 2013, DCPA Education set out to meet the growing need for support to inspire and empower young writers to share their voice through playwriting. The program quickly grew in popularity and was then expanded to include middle schools in 2021. To date, more than 25,000 students have participated.

In this season  alone, DCPA Education taught 120 of these workshops, serving over 2,600 students. This program is free to all educators and is offered both in-person and virtually, making the workshop accessible to all communities across Colorado. In 2022, workshops were taught in 22 counties stretching across the state.

Born from these workshops is the Middle School & High School Playwriting Competition. Students can submit a one-act play (high school) or 10-minute play (middle school) for professional review. Students don’t need to participate in a workshop to be eligible for the competition, but the workshops set them up for success.

“It is so exciting to see the enthusiasm, creativity and talent of these young playwrights,” said Claudia Carson, DCPA Education Playwriting Program Manager. “Whether inspired by personal accounts, social issues or science fiction, the submissions are always highly entertaining, well written and engaging.”

This year, 178 submissions were received for the 2023 Middle School & High School Playwriting Competition, with 54 middle school playwrights and 125 high school playwrights. Once the plays are submitted, they are evaluated by a panel of artistic, literary, and theatre education professionals This group selects ten high school finalists, from which three winners are determined. Three middle school spotlight plays are also awarded top honors.

The top three plays by each age group are included in the annual Playwriting Anthology and the three winning high school plays receive a public staged reading as part of the Colorado New Play Summit. Additionally, each winner receives a $250 prize and each of the playwrights’ teachers receives $250 toward the purchase of books or tools for their classrooms.

Prior to their staging at the Colorado New Play Summit, the young playwrights receive guidance from the DCPA Education team to hone their craft with individual mentorship. Plus, they work with directors to see their play come to life. For many of these students, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness and participate in the professional development of their work.

Elliet Johnson

The three plays staged at the 2023 Colorado New Play Summit were A Curious Couple by Elliet Johnson, From the Beginning to the Edge by Hayden Ferrandino, and Players, Staged by Penelope Letter.

Hayden Ferrandino

A Curious Couple tells the comedic story of a lonely, elderly woman who summons the devil to join her for a cup of coffee. Student playwright Johnson is a freshman at Pueblo County High School. Johnson’s favorite part of writing the play was creating the “big and silly characters.”

From the Beginning to the Edge pulls from student playwright Ferrandino’s own life and tells a bittersweet story of friendship. “I discovered that I could take real, raw emotions from my life and use them in my stories,” said Ferrandino, who is a freshman at South High School in Denver.

Penelope Letter

Players, Staged was inspired by the lack of queer characters in current media. “In order to have people represent who I am, I need to be part of the solution,” said student playwright Letter. The play follows a group of untrained, young, queer actors as they attempt to put on their own production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Letter is a freshman at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette.

The Playwriting Competition is a vital resource for aspiring playwrights and the community. “It’s a really valuable learning opportunity for these students and never at the expense of them feeling like they can’t develop their own artistic voice,” said Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski, DCPA’s Director of Education and Curriculum Management, who acts as mentor to the student playwrights.

By providing very specific feedback, mentor and playwright can work together to take something great and turn it into something wonderful.  “It’s my job to make sure they don’t feel like their plays are broken,” said Elkins-Zeglarski. “Any comment I make is based on the strength and quality of the work.”

For these student playwrights, seeing their work performed onstage in front of an audience for the first time can be life changing. And for the students who experience an in-school Playwriting Workshop, even if theatre isn’t their path, the creativity and exploration encouraged by the DCPA Education team can be truly transformative.