Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays presented at the 33rd Young Playwrights Festival, January 8 - 25, 2020 at The Courtyard Theatre in The Getz Theater Center at Columbia College, 72 E. 11th St. The productions are performed in tandem Wednesdays - Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Additional matinee performances will be added for groups, call the box office for best schedule of group matinee and school performances. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 for students, $25 for seniors and $30 for general admission and are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org or by phone at 773.878.8864.
The Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) celebrates the 33rd year of the program that inspires Chicago students to explore their histories, research their communities and mine their personal journeys to write dynamic one-act plays for the stage. The competition enhances language arts, encourages independent, high-level thinking, strong personal values and influences career development for Chicago’s teens.
The 2020 Festival includes full productions of winning plays from the annual playwriting competition for high-school-age scribes in Chicago. Three one-act plays are professionally produced by Pegasus Theatre Chicago. The second oldest such festival in the country, this annual tradition regularly receives more than 500 submissions from Chicago area teens. From those, the winning playwrights are chosen to connect, workshop and produce their production with professional artists.
The 33rd YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL includes:
Public In Private by Angelina Davila - Taft High School
directed by Juan Ramirez
Lucie is struggling to get into an art college, but is sidetracked by her brother’s problems and her mother’s lack of support.
Clause 42 by Henry Williams - Lane Tech Academy
directed by Jason Fleece
George dies and is wrongly sent to the afterlife of a weird cult-like religion and is faced with the prospect of being judged by their ridiculous rules.
Cobalt by Reba Brennan - Senn High School
directed by Ilesa Duncan
Vee, a shy 18-year old, seeks solace and adventure on a friend’s couch as an escape from family dysfunction.
The cast for the productions includes Tina El Gamal, Peter Gertas, Lisean Mcelrath, Izis Mollinedo, Sarah Schol, Destiny Strothers and Austyn Williamson.
The production team includes Alyssa Mohn, scenic design; Josh Wroblewski, lighting design; Rebecca Holcomb, costume design; Steve Labedz, sound design; Dominique Zaragoza, props design; Manny Ortiz, technical director; Kevin Rolfs, scenic charge; Liz Gomez, master electrician and Kelly Butler, production manager.
ABOUT JUAN RAMIREZ, director Public in Private
Juan Ramírez has been active in film, theater and television for more than 35 years. As an actor, he has been featured in over 60 productions and was a series regular on ABC's detective drama "Missing Persons." As a director, Ramirez has written, directed and/or produced over 30 stage productions and two full length films. His first film, “Israel in Exile,” was a 2002 Slamdance Film Festival Competition Selection that has been screened in France, England, Spain, Cuba, Mexico and across the U.S. After a brief stretch in Los Angeles, he resettled in his native Chicago and became executive director of PanAmerica Performance Works, formerly Latino Chicago Theater Company at The Firehouse (a company which he co-founded). He also works with high school students at The Boys and Girls Club in South Lawndale through After School Matters; and the rest of his time developing potential film projects, and helping create community theater spaces.
ABOUT JASON A. FLEECE, director, Clause 42
Jason A. Fleece is a theatre artist and educator, Fleece returns to the Young Playwrights Festival, having directed The Adventures of FeRb for YPF 30. Some other favorite directing credits include The Body of an American (Stage Left Theatre), Ordinary Days (BoHo Theatre), and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Oakton Performing Arts Center). Fleece was formerly co-artistic director at Stage Left Theatre, one of the oldest ensemble storefront theatres in Chicago. He’s currently an Oakton Community College professor and holds an MFA in directing from the Theatre School at DePaul University.
ABOUT ILESA DUNCAN, director Cobalt
Ilesa Duncan is the executive/producing director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the artistic director at Lifeline Theater. She recently directed for Pegasus the Jeff-Recommended, Eclipsed, including its remount at Theatre on the Lake in the summer 2019, and the Jeff-Nominated, sold-out Shakin the Mess Outta Misery (BTAA-award, Ensemble), the world premiere of Jeff-Recommended Rutherford’s Travels and For Her as a Piano. Other recent credits include Neverwhere at Lifeline Theatre (Jeff-Recommended), Broken Fences at 16th Street Theater, Jeff Award-nominated The Nativity with Congo Square and the Jeff Award-winning Jar the Floor at ETA Creative Arts. Duncan has also worked with The Goodman, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio). The Alliance Theatre
(Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Duncan’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago) and she’s written poems and screenplays. For the stage, she co-adapted Rutherford’s Travels from the National Book Award-winning novel Middle Passage, co-wrote and directed Blakk Love: Stoeez of A Darker Hue and facilitated the devised project Do You See What I’m Saying for Chameleon.
ABOUT PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO
Pegasus Theatre Chicago has been a mainstay in the Chicago theater community for more than four decades. Its mission is to produce boldly imaginative theatre, champion new and authentic voices and illuminate the human journey. The theatre adheres to the core values of community engagement, social relevance, boldness, adventure and excellence.
Pegasus is also committed to initiating important conversations through the arts with strong community engagement and socially relevant programming, including the Young Playwrights Festival for high school-age scribes, which celebrates its 33rd year this season. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received 77 Joseph Jefferson Awards since its inception.
Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays presented at the 33rd Young Playwrights Festival, January 8 - 25, 2020 at The Courtyard Theatre in The Getz Theater Center at Columbia College, 72 E. 11th St. The productions are performed in tandem Wednesdays - Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Additional matinee performances will be added for groups, call the box office for best schedule of matinee and school performances. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 for students, $25 for seniors and $30 for general admission and are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org or by phone at 773.878.8864.