VSA's 2012 Playwrights Discovery Program: The Plays and Playwrights

Six weeks ago, the amazing Gregg Henry reached to professional playwrights Norman Allen, Renee Calarco, Gregg Mozgala and me to be mentors to young playwrights who had been awarded the 2012 Playwrights Discovery Award as part of The Kennedy Center's Department of VSA and Accessibility.

The VSA Playwright Discovery Program is extraordinary, worthwhile and inspiring! It's an annual competition that invites middle and high school students to take a closer look at the world around them, examine how disability affects their lives and the lives of others, and express their views through the art of playwriting. Young playwrights with and without disabilities can write from their own experience or about an experience in the life of another person or a fictional character. The program began in 1984, and has continued annually since.

This year’s distinquished recipients were chosen from more than 350 applications nationwide and an excerpt of their work will be presented at the Kennedy Center as part the 11th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival. In my next post, I'm going to introduce you to the mentors and share their experience and the role of mentorship! For now, here's more information about the reading and the wonderful young playwrights!!!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
presents the
28th Annual Playwright Discovery Performance
Staged readings of four award-winning student scripts
Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
MILLENNIUM STAGE NORTH

Excerpts from the plays--Mr. Pan & Neverland by Samantha Brown, from Brooklyn, NY; To the Beat of a Funeral March by Catherine Caffera, from Fairport, NY; Life is Jazz by Bradley Hildebrandt, from Elkhorn, NE; and Dominoes by Christian Mincks, from Colonial Heights, VA--are presented in concert reading format featuring Jessica Frances Dukes, Phillip James Brannon, Carlos Saldana, Rana Kay, Michael Willis, Michael Sazonov, John Lescault, Dana Levanovsky, and Kimberly Schraf.

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About the Plays and Playwrights

MR. PAN & NEVERLAND
Playwright: Samantha Brown
Director: Lee Mikeska Gardner
Mentor: Gregg Mozgala
Wendy Caplan: Rana Kay
Peter Hemmings: Michael Sazonov
Lily Caplan: Dana Levanovsky
Kara Caplan: Kim Schraf
Stage Directions: Jessica Frances Dukes

SYNOPSIS
Mr. Pan & Neverland by Samantha Brown, from Brooklyn, NY features Wendy, a grieving teenager who has schizophrenia, attempting to cope with her mental illness while her sister tries to help put her demons to rest.

Samantha Brown (16) is a junior in the Screened Theater Program at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, New York. She is passionate about many aspects of theater, including acting, directing, and writing. In June 2012 Samantha directed Another Man Gone which had a performance on Broadway, and she recently won the National Youth Arts Award for her role as Tracy Turnblad in her school’s production of Hairspray. She plans to pursue a BFA in Acting, in addition to continuing her writing.

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To the Beat of a Funeral March Playwright: Catherine E. A. Caffera
Director: Eleanor Holdridge
Mentor: Norman Allen
Gregor: John Lescault
Anthony: Phillip James Brannon
Stage Directions: Carlos Saldana

SYNOPSIS
In the drama To the Beat of a Funeral March by Catherine Caffera, from Fairport, NY things don’t go according to plan for Gregor, who has depression, when he meets and bonds with teenager Anthony.

Catherine E. A. Caffera (17) is a senior at Fairport High School in suburban Rochester, New York. She studies voice and acting at the Eastman School of Music’s community music school and is a graduate of the Geva Theatre Center Conservatory’s acting academy. Catherine has performed with a number of community theater groups and in school productions. Catherine is an avid writer—including two adventure novels—and plans to continue studying acting and writing in college.

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LIFE IS JAZZ
Playwright: Bradley Hildebrandt
Director: Lee Mikeska Gardner
Mentor: Jacqueline E. Lawton
Jim: Michael Sazonov
Harry Cottage: John Lescault
Joslyn: Kim Schraf
Stage Directions: Dana Levanovsky

SYNOPSIS
In Life is Jazz by Bradley Hildebrandt, from Elkhorn, NE architecture student Jim meets Harry, who is blind, at an art gallery where they talk about love, life, art, and what it truly means to “see”.

Bradley Hildebrandt (17) is a senior at Elkhorn South High School in Elkhorn, Nebraska. As an actor, he has appeared in The Sound of Music and Seussical the Musical with the Omaha Theater Company at the Rose Children's Theater. Recently, he won the Nebraska Young Artist Award in Acting, and was named Outstanding Performer in Vocal Solo in his district’s music contest. He's been passionate about theater ever since he was a child and aspires to go to college for acting.

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DOMINOES
Playwright: Christian Mincks
Director: Eleanor Holdridge
Mentor: Renee Calarco
Wug Verrick: Phillip James Brannon
Secretary: Jessica Frances Dukes
Sam: Carlos Saldana
Man on Toilet: Michael Willis
Stage Directions: Rana Kay

SYNOPSIS
Dominoes by Christian Mincks, from Colonial Heights, VA features four characters with varying disabilities who meet at an office and discuss their work, personal lives, and relationships, ultimately challenging the idea of normalcy.

Christian Mincks, 17, recently graduated from Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg, Virginia. He was a captain on his school’s skETCh Improv Comedy Team and won his school’s Jean Valjean award for commitment to acting. Christian also received a theater scholarship from the Fort Lee Playhouse. Writing is his passion and his life goal is to make movies with his brother John. Christian will begin at Virginia Commonwealth University this fall as an English major.

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About VSA
VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, was founded more than 35 years ago by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to provide arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increase access to the arts for all. VSA is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, www.vsarts.org.

About Education at the Kennedy Center
As the national center for the performing arts, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is committed to increasing opportunities for all people to participate in and understand the arts. To fulfill that mission, the Kennedy Center strives to commission, create, design, produce, and/or present performances and programs of the highest standard of excellence and of a diversity that reflects the world in which we live—and to make those performances and programs accessible and inclusive.