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A Letter from YPT CEO David Snider

YPT at the National Geographic Museum

Announcing the 2011 New Play Festival Line-up!

Reyna Rios: Promising Playwright

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Issue: # 52

February 2011

A Letter From YPT CEO David Snider

Dear Friends, David Snider Speaks

We did it.

Thanks to you, YPT will meet our service goals for spring 2011, serving more than 1,500 students and community members this spring with our programs and performances, including our award-winning Young Playwrights' Workshop.

We were humbled by the overwhelming response to our end of year fundraising campaign. Thanks to your support, we almost doubled our donation total over 2009, and we welcomed over 100 new donors to our family.

We know that every dollar counts. And we want you to know how much we appreciate your role in our community.

For now, I want to personally thank you for your generosity, and urge you to join us at our New Play Festival, happening April 11-13 at GALA Hispanic Theater (3333 14^th St. NW, WDC) at 7:30pm (7pm pre-show reception).

Admission is free and we would all love to see you there.

YPT Presents Woodlawn

Did you miss the premiere of YPT's new play Woodlawn at New Writers Now! -

From Civil War to Civil Rights? See what all the buzz is about when YPT presents Woodlawn at the National Geographic Museum's special after-hours event in celebration of the new exhibit America I AM: The African American Imprint.

Woodlawn examines the history and heritage of Woodlawn Cemetery, the final resting place of 36,000 extraordinary Americans, many lost to history, until now. Read more about Woodlawn here.

The America I AM after-hours event will include complimentary light appetizers from Busboys & Poets and a cash bar.

Learn more about the performance and purchase tickets here.

YPT Presents Woodlawn

America I AM: After Hours

National Geographic Museum

March 10, 7:30pm

1145 17th St. NW

Washington, DC 20036
$18 advance/$20 at the door

Announcing the 2011 New Play Festival Line-up!

After months of deliberation, 15 extraordinary plays were chosen from a Kenrry pool of over 500 plays written by YPT students in the spring and fall of 2010.

We are now thrilled to announce the
line-up for the 2011 New Play Festival!

Monday April 11, 7:30pm

Paul McCoyer - Money, Money, Money

Marco Anderson - Dr. Four Arms Trilogy

Dakota Wenberg - A Jewel of a Date

Nneamaka Iwobi - Kelly's Big Performance

Ann Gill - The Day After Bob said, "Yeah, Right"

Lauren White - Flatworm's Courageous Act

Tuesday April 12, 7:30pm

Johana Cedillos - Scarred with Faces

Shannon Marshall - Society Unjust

Javier Reyes - Internal Wounds

Amber Faith Walton - Changing Tides: Judge Me Gently

Wednesday April 13, 7:30pm

Brandon Klein - Fall of Atlantis

Taj Vareen - The Concept of Conception

Saviya Brown - Taken 4 Granted

Rasheeda Williams - A Thin Line Between Her & Us

Joe Myers -Forests' Blood

Mark your calendar to experience these fresh, bold, funny, and poignant plays by students at Bancroft Elementary School, Bell Multicultural High School, Lafayette Elementary School, Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Plummer Elementary School, Swanson Middle School, Watkins Elementary School and Wilson High School.

We look forward to celebrating the incredible work of these young people with you!

Reyna Rios

Promising Playwright

"Everybody needs a little happiness in their life," says Reyna Rios with a smile. "I think if you write about a topic that is happy and joyful you can make somebody's day happier and brighten it."

When YPT came into her eleventh-grade English classroom at Bell Multicultural High School, Reyna seized the opportunity to inspire people with her words. "At first I was just going to write about a gossip scenario, but then I thought, 'How is that going to change anyone? How is that going to have an effect on a person's life?' I wanted to do something more meaningful, which is how the idea for my play came up," she explains.

Reyna's play, A Loving Heart, explores the struggles of a young woman caring both for her younger brother, who has type-two diabetes, and an older woman who becomes a maternal figure in her life. Though the play deals with serious topics, it is ultimately uplifting and funny.

"I'm a positive person, so I guess that was transmitted into the script," Reyna adds.

Reyna enjoyed the process of writing her play in YPT's

In-School Playwriting Program so much that she decided to join the Young Playwrights' Workshop. "The Workshop is fun, and it's something I look forward to every Wednesday," she explains. "In my opinion it should be more than just one meeting a week."

When she is not acting and writing with YPT, Reyna enjoys reading, cooking, writing and singing at her church. She is always looking for new things to do and explore.

Watch Reyna share her perspective on the creative process in the video below.

For more Promising Playwrights click here.

Young Playwrights' Theater

2437 15th Street NW

Washington, DC 20009

202-387-9173