International Radio Playwriting Competition 2012

This is a competition for anyone resident outside Britain, to write a 53-minute radio drama for up to six characters.  There are two categories: one for writers with English as their first language and one for writers with English as their second language.  The two winners will come to London and see their play made into a full radio production, which will then be broadcast on the BBC World Service.  They will also each receive a £2,000 prize and there are certificates for runners-up.  The play must be in English, unpublished and must not have been previously produced in any medium.

Whether you're experienced, new, or somewhere in between, they want to hear from you

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Looking ahead to New Visions/New Voices 2014

It's not too early to save the dates now for New Visions/New Voices 2014, which will take place in May, 2014, just before the ASSITEJ Congress and Festival in Warsaw.  The creative teams will arrive May 11, 2014, and the conference portion will be May 16-18, 2014.
 
The specific guidelines for participation will be issued in April, 2013, and applications will be due in August 2014.  As with this year, the Kennedy Center will be looking for US and international projects and international playwright observers.   For 'The Translation Project', Kennedy Center will be looking a play that has had a successful production in one language, but not yet in English, a play that will resonate in English-speaking countries.

See you in 2014!

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New Visions/New Voices 2012: the week in brief

Monday, May 14 – (Rehearsals begin: the projects)

Over a hundred playwrights, composers, directors, dramaturgs, music directors, actors, stage managers working on eight projects in rehearsal rooms all around the Kennedy Center.

For those who don't know, this project supports the development of new plays for young audiences - the plays are in the plans of a particular theater, and they can be submitted for consideration at any stage of their development, from a treatment to a script that's had several readings and is nearly ready for production. 

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New Visions/New Voices 2012 in pictures

Check out the slide show of the projects in process, as well as the slide show of the US and International Playwright slams.

'Overheard at New Visions/New Voices 2012' compiled and edited by Abra Chusid

At New Visions/New Voices, we gather together to hear stories: stories of the characters onstage, brought to life by dedicated creative teams; stories of the playwrights’ discoveries through the week of development.  Coming together as a field, we also have the opportunity to share stories about our work around the world: stories of successes and risks, challenges and strengths. 

Zoom out, and you will see another story developing, in which we all play key roles. It is the story of our continuous and ongoing development of theatre for young audiences:  What does our field look like now?  How will we shape it in the years to come?  What are our hopes and dreams for young audiences worldwide? 

Individually, the quotes below may be provocative, funny, or somewhat strange; together, they tell a story.  A story of now.  A story of us.  A story of this benchmark in TYA

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Slamming at NV/NV!

In and around the eight full productions being workshopped, New Visions/New Voices includes international and US playwrights slams - and another sixteen unique voices can be heard reading five minute excerpts. 

For a slide show with photos of most of the writers, click here. (Thanks to photographer Teresa Fisher)

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'NV/NV 2012: International Playwright Observers Q & A', by Jenny Anne Koppera

As during the 2010 festival, the Kennedy Center invited international playwrights to attend, to observe, to converse with other playwrights, to find insights into other ways of working. 

The Playwrights:
• Methe Bendix is a playwright, director, and artistic director of Theater Hund in Copenhagen, Denmark. This TYA theatre performs for young audiences at local venues in Copenhagen and on national and international tours.
• Joe Brennan is a storyteller and writer from Ireland. His most recent project, called Star Boy, a wordless play for the early years, is performed by Joe as a one man show.
• Cristina Gottfridsson is from Sweden. A freelance playwright working in TYA, adult theatre, and film, she has written approximately 40 plays which have been performed in Sweden, Europe and now in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Amaranta Leyva is from Mexico and currently lives in Canada. A playwright and puppeteer, her company is entitled Marionettas de la Esquina. She is currently working on a version of Sleeping Beauty to be presented by the Kennedy Center February 2013.
• Elif Temuçin lives in Istanbul, Turkey. She a playwright, actress and puppeteer for Theatre BeReZe, a company which has been recently recognized as the Best Innovative Theatre in Istanbul

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WLPG Featured Playwrights - Ksenia Dragunskaya (Russia), Berta Hiriart (Mexico), Afeif Ismail (Sudan/Australia), Monika Milewska (Poland)

From time to time, we like to feature some of our WLPG member playwrights.  We've gathered interviews with four our them: Ksenia Dragunskaya from Russia, Berta Hiriart from Mexico, Afeif Ismail from Sudan/Australia, and Monika Milewska (Poland)

Read Ksenia's interview

Read Berta's interview in Spanish or English

Read Afeif's interview.

Read Monika's interview.

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'Baby Maybe' by Barry Kornhauser

"Theater for babies? Really? When I first learned of this sub-genre of the TYA field, I responded with the same healthy skepticism I suspect is shared by many theater practitioners, even those, like me, devoted to working for children. That creating plays for preschoolers has been a highly regarded practice across the globe for several decades now seemed as incomprehensible as baby-talk. After all, how could such young children possibly sink their teeth into a play when they’re still cutting them? But the more I learned about the baby brain from recent advances in neuroscience, and of the work of those international practitioners of what is called Theater for the Very Young (TVY) or Theater for Early Learners or just plain Baby Theater, the more the whole thing became both intriguing and alluring."

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'Theater of the Young, For the Young' by Steven Dietz

"I believe kids want stories and not “titles.” I believe they want adventure and conflict and hard truths and cool stuff and fear and death and history and magic and some more cool stuff and maybe some kissing or blood or a guy like their weird Uncle Dan or a bike that flies or turns into an elk. Unlike their gatekeepers, I am fully convinced that kids do not want “excellent role models”, compulsory “understanding” and a seventy minute run time."

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