Once a week my advanced English 8 classroom learns from a voice other than my own and embarks on a new journey in creativity. For five years now after the Christmas break, a teaching artist from City Theater has become a weekly instructor helping my students learn how to write plays; this great endeavor occurs because of a partnership through City Theater in Pittsburgh for the Young Playwright’s Program (YP) and the Young Playwright’s Festival (YPF).
Several years ago, I attended the English Education Collaborative (EEC) Conference at California University of PA and was introduced to YP. Intrigued, I followed up with the education director at the time. The program had not yet extended into Westmoreland Country where I teach, but as funding continued for it, I became the first Westmoreland educator. Knowing that budgets were tight, I explained that I couldn’t pay for any complex program and was assured that grant funding was available if I would commit to a series of professional development activities.
First, I attended a day of training to learn the ins and outs of theater games and the process of playwriting. I was then assigned a teaching artist who has tremendous professional experience in theater. (One artist was a professional playwright, one an actor who had also taught playwriting, and one now who runs playwriting classes for young people!) These people are experts and so incredibly wonderful with my students! My teaching artist and I would meet through text or phone to plan our meeting schedule, but the teaching was all in their hands. To “earn” my grant funding, I then had to attend four City Theater shows and the pre-show training where we would meet with those shows’ directors, costume designers, writers, etc. How “terrible” to have to see incredible performers and learn so much about the inner workings of theater! For someone who directs plays and musicals in her own district, this was fantastic professional development!
My students have an even better experience with YP. Their teaching artist gets them thinking about possible play topics and then reinforces so many skills required by PA Standards such as story structure and characterization. The students draft and then learn to give constructive feedback while sharing their scripts aloud in class. The teaching artist also reads and responds to all of the play scripts so that by the contest deadline, students can be ready to submit their work. Yet another exciting aspect of YPF continues as those plays are judged by professional playwrights and dramaturgs.
Once students develop a one act and send it into City Theatre, they get written feedback from judges and potentially get selected for the Young Playwright’s Festival. Contest winners, three from middle school and three from high school, will work with a dramaturg in the summer to perfect the playwriting. In the fall, the winners will then be included in the casting of the play with professional actors and see the show develop as it is directed by a professional. The festival’s winners are produced for the public including the students who will be a part of the program in that school year! What an experience for young writers!
My students have been so enriched through this wonderful program. They have gained confidence in writing, have learned to get and receive feedback, and have balanced developing a long-term project while maintaining other regular classwork. I love seeing their pride in the development of their final pieces. It makes a writing teacher’s heart swell with joy!
If you have interest in learning more about the Young Playwwright’s Program and Festival, please contact its education director, Mrs. Katie Trupiano. (ktrupiano@citytheatrecompany.org.) Additional information can also be found on the City Theater’s website at:
https://citytheatrecompany.org/education/ypc/
Carol Frow, the president of WPCTE, is a seventh and eighth grade ELA teacher at Belle Vernon Area Middle School. There she is the yearbook sponsor, coach for reading contests such as WPCTE’s English Festival, literary magazine sponsor, and the director of both a fall play and spring musical.
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