Causes: Arts & Culture, Arts Education, Children & Youth, Human Services, Theater, Youth Development

Mission: MISSIONYoung Playwrights’ Theater inspires young people to realize the power of their own voices. By teaching students to express themselves through the art of playwriting, YPT develops students’ language skills, and empowers them with the creativity, confidence and critical thinking skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. YPT honors its students by involving them in a high-quality artistic process where they feel simultaneously respected and challenged and by engaging professional theater artists in producing student plays for the community. VISIONYoung Playwrights’ Theater seeks to create social justice by providing all young people with the opportunity to realize the power and value of their own voices. A nationally recognized leader in arts education, YPT proves the benefit of the arts in the classroom by demonstrating the direct and positive impact of an active, arts-integrated process on student learning, and strives to close the academic achievement gap by increasing equitable access to arts education for all students. By offering the opportunity for creative self-expression, YPT encourages students to take ownership of their education, their choices and their futures. YPT shares student-written work with local, national and international audiences to provide a window into young people’s lives and promote respect for young artists. By experiencing their work brought to life for their communities, students realize their ability to affect the world around them.

Direct beneficiaries per year: More than 1,400 students in 58 classrooms covering all 8 Wards of Distric of Columbia Public Schools, as well as the City of Alexandria and Arlington County in Virginia and Prince George's County in Maryland.

Geographic areas served: Public and Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC and the great DC metro region.

Programs: The following programs and productions offer young people the opportunity to share their words with the world while nurturing a new generation of artists:The In-School Playwriting Program enhances student literacy, creative expression and collaboration through the art of playwriting. For over ten years YPT has integrated the learning of a creative writing process into the English, Humanities and History curricula of D. C. P. S. During 14 in-class workshops, led by professional artists, students explore the mechanics of language, drama and self-expression, culminating with each student writing their own 10-minute play. Each year YPT has further developed and refined its process and several schools throughout the District now rely on YPT to provide its holistic learning process as a means of enhancing student literacy, communication and creativity in the classroom. The In-School Playwriting Program culminates in YPT?s annual New Play Festival, which gives students the opportunity to actively participate in the arts by selecting the most interesting and dynamic work written by students each year and producing a professional staged reading at a local regional theater. The After-School Playwriting Program strengthens students? community engagement, collaboration, and conflict resolution by exploring a theatrical process as an ensemble. This year YPT will teach acting, directing, playwriting and design in after-school programs throughout D. C. , partnering with the Oak Hill Juvenile Detention Center, Ferebee-Hope Elementary School, The Perry School, D. C. Scores, Kid Power, Asian American LEAD and Freedom Youth Academy. Each of these programs will culminate with a public performance of student-generated work at the end of each semester. In addition, having created a student-run theater company at Bell Multicultural High School during summer 2006, YPT will again train approximately 20 students at Bell throughout the year during after-school hours, from 3:30 to 6:30 p. m. , meeting three times per week, in acting, directing, design and playwriting, and culminating in student performances of original work at the end of each semester for family, friends and peers. The Express Tour (formerly Youth or Dare) shares the work of young playwrights with their greater community in order to create a dialogue that can engage, entertain and educate. During this eight week performance series, our fledgling playwrights play an integral role in the development and production of their work as they polish their scripts with a dramaturge, attend rehearsals, and offer input to the actors and director who will give life to their words onstage. Seeing the final product of their writing develops their self-esteem and creates positive interaction within the community. The tour targets under-served audiences, providing many of these patrons with their very first professional theater experience. As YPT continues to partner with local DC theaters, including Woolly Mammoth, Discovery Theater and GALA Hispanic Theater on Special Projects and performances, its expanding programs and productions are attracting new national partnerships and opportunities to showcase the talents and voices of D. C. ?s inner-city youth for a national audience. Currently YPT is partnering with the Smithsonian Institution on two new shows, African Roots/Latino Soul and American Rice, both of which will be written by D. C. public school students and produced by Discovery Theater. YPT will also collaborate in 2006-2007 with the White House and the Kennedy Center on the creation of a new play on students? experience of the White House, to be produced by the Kennedy Center in 2008.