THE 38TH ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL VIA PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO RETURNS JANUARY 5 - 26, 2025 AT CHICAGO DRAMATISTS

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PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO SHARES CAST FOR 

THE 38TH ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

JANUARY 5 - 26, 2025 AT CHICAGO DRAMATISTS

Chicago High School Playwrights Pen Three World Premieres that Delve Into the World of Relationships and Connections from Family to Past Love to Superheroes

Tickets go on Sale Monday, Nov. 25

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the cast of the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 5 - 26, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 2 - Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Monday, Nov. 25 at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via YPF@PegasusTheatreChicago.org.

Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've been familiar with The Young Playwrights Festival for decades. My son participated in this excellent program during his high school years at Lane Tech, and had his play workshopped in class in 2019. And a close friend of mine's daughter made it to the finals and had her play produced years ago. What an incredible opportunity for Chicago's high school writers and theatre lovers! This year I'm jazzed to see one of my son's closest friends (and fellow Northwestern Theatre grad) is cast as an understudy. The talent runs deep on and off stage for this unique fest.

The Young Playwrights Festival is the oldest such festival in the United States and this competition typically receives more than 300 submissions annually! Three new winning works by Chicago teens have been chosen to be work-shopped and staged by industry professionals and receive a premiere under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s Young Playwrights Festival.

These excellently written one acts all deal with the World of Relationships and Connections. Each piece is creative and unique, with well developed characters and plots, all interlocking to provide an insightful and entertaining production. These young authors are wise beyond their years and it's a treat to see their scripts spring to life on stage, in the hands of professional actors. 

The festival has gotten more competitive in the passing years, with a deep talent pool, and increasing numbers of submissions. Come support the future and check out some excellent new talent.

The 2025 Young Playwrights Festival Cast:

Top Row: (L to R) Lexi Alioto, Shenise Brown, Collin Callahan

Second Row: (L to R) Jacob Coggshall, Ben Izlar Jr, Noelle Oh

Third Row: (L to R) Diego Rivera-Rodriguez with understudies Emma Fulmer, Lawrence Green

Fourth Row: (L to R) Jake Jones and Benjamin Jouras

“The 2025 Young Playwrights Festival brings some exciting new works for the new year from new voices to Chicago,” said Executive and Producing Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan.”For 38 years, Pegasus has produced new plays as an outlet for the young writers’ creativity. We look forward to sharing these playwrights’ stories inspiring the next generation of writers and audiences.”

The 38th Young Playwrights Festival includes:

Family Fishing Trip by Lydia Vodopic

(Lane Tech College Prep High School, Teacher: Kirsten Hanson)

Directed by Ruben Carrazana

Sal takes his kids Jenny and Mike on a family fishing trip that takes a turn for the worse. When secret schemes are uncovered and possible criminal activity is involved, this family has to put their differences aside and work together to make it back home.

Love & Gyros by Lily Zhang

(Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)

Directed by Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke

After decades apart, James and Cecelia, two former high school sweethearts, bump into each other at a restaurant on a faraway island in Greece. Throughout the evening, fragments of the past are revealed and revisited in this recollection of youth, time and memory.

Superheroes Anonymous by Carolina Boss

(Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)

Directed by Ilesa Duncan

Several undercover superheroes meet in the basement of a Pump It Up for a support group where they discuss their problems.

The cast of the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes Lexi Alioto, Shenise Brown, Collin Callahan, Jacob Coggshall, Ben Izlar Jr, Noelle Oh and

Diego Rivera-Rodriguez with understudies Emma Fulmer, Lawrence Green, Jake Jones and Benjamin Jouras.

The current production team for the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes: Ruben Carrazana (director, Family Fishing Trip); IIesa Duncan (director, Superheroes Anonymous); Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke (director, Love & Gyros); Harrison Ornelas (scenic designer); Josh Wroblewski (lighting designer); Cecelia Chan (props designer); Alex Albrecht (sound designer); Adi Davis (production manager) and Jessica Minogue (stage manager).

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

ABOUT RUBEN CARRAZANA, DIRECTOR, Family Fishing Trip

Ruben Carrazana is an actor, director, writer, producer and teaching artist originally from Miami. After working professionally in the Dallas theater scene for several years, he moved to Chicago, and was formerly the community engagement manager at Northlight Theatre. Carranza is a recipient of the Eisemann Edge Initiative grant with OutLoud Dallas, the Edyth Renshaw Award, an Activating Vacancy grant from bcWORKSHOP and the National Endowment for the Arts, a TACA Resiliency Initiative Grant, an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and a three-time recipient of grants from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. He also co-founded The Tribe, a theater collective dedicated to the development of original work in Dallas, and named a Dallas Mastermind by the Dallas Observer. He is currently a Steering Committee member of the Cultural Access Collaborative. He holds a BFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University.

ABOUT ILESA DUNCAN, DIRECTOR, Superheroes Anonymous

Ilesa Duncan is the executive and producing artistic director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the former artistic director and an ensemble member at Lifeline Theatre. She has directed numerous plays for Pegasus’ Young Playwrights Festival as well as Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea, Eclipsed (Jeff Nominated), Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery (Jeff Nominated), Rutherford’s Travels (Jeff Nominated, co-adapter), The Green Book, For Her as a Piano, and Blacula: Young, Black & Undead. At Lifeline, she recently directed the Jeff Nominated Native Son, From the Mississippi Delta, Neverwhere (Jeff Recommended 2018) and Blue Shadow (2010 KidSeries Premiere). A producer, director, writer, educator and theater-maker, Duncan is an avid collaborator on new work. Duncan has also worked with The Goodman, Writers Theatre, Congo Square, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington D.C.) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). As an educator, she has led youth development and arts education programs in Chicago for more than 13 years. She is a past awardee of an NEA/TCG Directing fellowship and a 3 Arts Ragdale’s Fellowship. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab and the Chicago Director’s Lab and is an associate artist with Chicago Dramatists (where she previously served as education and community engagement director).

ABOUT RESHMI HAZRA RUSTEBAKKE, DIRECTOR, Love & Gyros

Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke is a multi-faceted film and theater maker who develops work as a creator, director, producer, storyteller and curator. She works creatively developing new work and also directing, producing and production managing many varieties of shoots and plays. She has worked at The Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Free Street and many more. She is the co-director of critically acclaimed BRUJOS and director for 8,000, FOBia,The Haven, Ethel and Agnes, Geeta’s Guide to Moving On and several more projects in development. She has her BFA from New York University, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. During her time in New York, she received the Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, as well as the Artist of Color Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop.

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 champion new, authentic voices and produce boldly imaginative theatre primarily by and about black or other people of color. Home of the Young Playwrights Festival, the company promotes cultural equity while celebrating intercultural communication. Pegasus is committed to initiating important conversations through the arts with strong community engagement and socially relevant programming. The Young Playwrights Festival for high school-age scribes celebrates its 38th year in 2025. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received 77 Joseph Jefferson Awards since its inception.

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 5 - 26, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 2 - Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Monday, Nov. 25  at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via YPF@PegasusTheatreChicago.org.

The 38th Young Playwrights Festival is made possible with the generous support of Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation at Field Foundation (ART), Polk Bros. Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Festival is also made possible in part by an Illinois Arts Council Agency grant.

OPENING: 36th YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL FEATURING THREE NEW WORKS BY EMERGING ARTISTS JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 28, 2023

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PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO ANNOUNCES THE THREE PLAYWRIGHTS IN THE 

36th YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL 

FEATURING THREE NEW WORKS BY EMERGING ARTISTS  

JANUARY 4 – JANUARY 28, 2023

Written by High School Students and Given a Professional Production, this Year’s Plays Share Teen’s Views on Technology, Isolation and the Future. Tickets go on Sale Thursday, Dec. 1

Here at ChiIL Mama, we've long been fans of the Annual Young Playwrights Festival. My son participated in this excellent program during his high school years at Lane Tech, and a close friend of mine's daughter made it to the finals and had her play produced years ago. It's gotten more competitive over the passing years, with a deep talent pool, and increasing numbers of submissions. Come support the future and check out some excellent new talent.

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 36th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, Wednesday, Jan. 4 - Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, at Chicago Dramatists, 765 N. Aberdeen. The preview performance is Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. with the press opening Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and an Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. 

The performance schedule is Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Thursday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. Tickets and more information are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org and by phone at 773.878.8864. Educators may schedule school group matinees via ypf@pegasustheatrechicago.org.  

The Young Playwrights Festival, the oldest such festival in the United States, has for 36 years, engaged and inspired high school students across Chicago by teaching them to craft one-act plays. Under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago, the winning teen playwrights’ productions are work-shopped and staged by industry professionals. The competition typically receives more than 300 submissions annually.  

The 36th Young Playwrights Festival includes:

Dead Boy Walking by Elliott Valadez 

(Whitney Young Magnet HS, teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)

Directed by Enrico Spada

Victor, an isolated teen, is desperate to escape his own loneliness. He thinks he’s found a friend in Millie, the ghost of a 19th-century girl, but when someone new wanders into his life, he begins to question Millie’s motives and his own sanity.

Terms and Conditions by Lucas Bigos 

(Lane Tech College Prep, teacher: Kirsten Hanson)

Directed by ILesa Duncan

It is 2086 in a suburb near the city of Chicago. Leonard does not trust technology, but decides to begin using an Artificial Intelligence app developed by his good friend Jeffrey. He soon realizes technology is increasingly taking over his life.

Another Star in the Sky by Jonathan Soco

(Lane Tech College Prep, teacher: Julie Allen)

Directed by Jason A. Fleece

Elise and Marcus are the last two scientists on the command center of a space station orbiting the earth. An alien invasion has destroyed Earth and is heading to the space station. Will the scientists succeed in warding off the aliens?  

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

ILESA DUNCAN, DIRECTOR, Terms and Conditions

ILesa Duncan is the executive/producing director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the artistic director at Lifeline Theatre. She recently directed and co-adapted the spring 2022 production of Middle Passage from the National Book Award-winning novel at Lifeline Theatre. She directed for Pegasus Jeff-Nominated productions of Eclipsed, including its remount at Theatre on the Lake in the summer 2019, Shakin the Mess Outta Misery (BTAA-award, Ensemble) and the world premiere of Rutherford’s Travels.  Other recent credits include Neverwhere, 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, 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, in addition to Middle Passage, Duncan co-wrote and directed Blakk Love: Storeez of A Darker Hue and the devised project Do You See What I’m Saying for Chameleon.

JASON A. FLEECE, DIRECTOR, Another Star in the Sky

Jason A. Fleece is a freelance director, dialect coach, dramaturg and educator living in the Chicagoland area. Fleece returns to the Young Playwrights Festival, having directed plays in several Festivals. 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. Fleece holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the Theatre School at DePaul University.

ENRICO SPADA, DIRECTOR, Dead Boy Walking

Enrico Spada is a freelance director and teaching artist. Recent credits include: Much Ado About Nothing at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; The Light in the Piazza, The Illusion, All's Well That Ends Well and Kimberly Akimbo at Illinois State University; and Sleeping Beauty at Illinois Shakespeare Festival.As founder and artistic director of Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, a free outdoor festival in Western Massachusetts, Spada has directed Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet. As a teaching artist, he has directed in the National High School Institute Theatre Program ("Cherubs"), as well as in Shakespeare & Company’s Fall Festival of Shakespeare and other K-12 residencies.  He received his MFA candidate from the professional directing program at Illinois State University/Illinois Shakespeare Festival and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Acting and Theatre Education from Emerson College in Boston, MA.

 

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 champion new, authentic voices and produce boldly imaginative theatre primarily by and about black or other people of color. The company promotes cultural equity while celebrating diversity, inclusion and first voice and is 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 36th 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 being presented at the 36th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, Wednesday, Jan. 4 - Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, at Chicago Dramatists, 765 N. Aberdeen. The preview performance is Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. with the press opening Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and an Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Thursday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. Tickets and more information are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org and by phone at 773.878.8864. Educators may schedule school group matinees via ypf@pegasustheatrechicago.org.  

The 36th Young Playwrights Festival is made possible with the generous support of The MacArthur Fund at the Richard Driehaus Foundation, the Walder Foundation, The David & Reva Logan Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Seabury Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). The Festival is also made possible in part by an Illinois Arts Council Agency grant.

REVIEW: 33rd YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL VIA PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO THROUGH JANUARY 25, 2020

ChiIL Mama's Chi, IL Picks List:
YPF
Chicago High School Students’ Scripts are Given 
Professional Productions 

in the Nation’s Second Longest Running Festival 

Celebrating Young Playwrights 

The Winning Playwrights for 2020: Angelina Davila, Reba Brennan and Henry Williams

GUEST REVIEW:
Catherine Hellmann

Photo by Catherine Hellmann

The process of selecting the winners for this annual theater festival is daunting: 500 submissions, narrowed down to only three finalists. (How can I get on this committee? That sounds really fun going through plays written by teens and being inundated by their creativity.) 

Pegasus Theatre has professional artists work with students throughout Chicago to help them produce their scripts. There are three rounds to the competition. First, 22 students are selected from the original 500 for an intensive “weekend immersion process” under more guidance to help them refine and rewrite their plays. Those new-and-improved scripts are submitted again for the contest, and from there, ten finalists are chosen. From those remaining ten, three one-act plays will be produced, to be directed and performed by professionals. 

The festival has been around for 33 years. (My oldest daughter was a finalist in 2004! I think the process is a lot more involving than it used to be. It’s weird yet cool to hear your kid’s words recited on stage in front of an audience. Even I felt vulnerable, and it wasn’t my play!)  This was the first time the festival was presented in a new venue: the beautiful Courtyard Theatre in The Getz Theater Center at Columbia College. 

One of the cool additions since 2004 is a video interview with each of the three young playwrights before each act to describe the background information on their plays. I really liked hearing their insights on where they got their ideas and what certain aspects of their scripts meant to them. (Frankly, I have seen some shake-my-head performances in my lifetime where I wish this was a prerequisite at every theater!) Each young writer also relayed what they were doing/where they were when they found out that they had won the contest. Those stories were very sweet, honest, and funny.  

Photo by Catherine Hellmann

The first play, Public in Private by Angelina Davila, was actually my personal favorite. Davila is a graduate of Taft High School on the Northwest side. She had just started college (her second day in class!) when she received her notice about the competition. 

(L to R) Peter Gertas and Tina El Gamal in PUBLIC IN PRIVATE

Davila’s play centers on harried, much put-upon Lucie Ochoa, a teenage girl with family issues and high hopes of going to art school. (as I have seen repeatedly in my career as a middle school teacher). Her mother discourages her, her younger brother is making bad choices, and her dad is out of the picture. Lucie’s mother tries to stifle her daughter’s dreams while also giving her a lot of responsibility. I loved the line Lucie delivers to her mom: “Why am I only an adult when it’s convenient for you?” It’s a question and struggle very common in households where exasperated parents try to exert control yet need all the support they can get. I was cheering for Lucie when she presents her portfolio in her big college interview. The young woman deserves a break! Tina El Gamal gives a heartfelt performance as Lucie, torn between her loyalty to family and her own needs. 

(L to R) Izis Mollinedo and Peter Gertas in CLAUSE 42

The second play was a very different change of pace. Clause 42 by Lane Tech student Henry Williams was the most fanciful of the three one-acts. Inspired by his Arkansas grandfather, a Baptist preacher, Williams’ play scrutinizes the hypocrisy and absurdities in a fictitious religion. (although some of it seemed eerily spot-on). Set in an imaginary afterlife, the main character, George, discovers he is dead from a car crash and is horrified. “I never finished the laundry!” “I was supposed to go to Yellowstone!” he declares. 

Our hero has landed in a bizarre bureaucracy that has crazy rules (like an afternoon at the DMV). George’s most egregious sin? He is married to his husband. (Uh...is this fiction?) One wonders how George is going to escape this underworld or be stuck there for eternity. 

(L to R)  Destiny Strothers, Austyn Williamson and Sebastian Summers in COBALT

The third play, Cobalt, by Senn High School student Reba Brennan, focuses on a group of misfit young people who band together to protect one another. Each has his or her own issues, domestic problems, family drama, and heartbreak to bear. Part of the message from Brennan seemed to be to warn us to never judge; if you think you have it bad, there is somebody out there who has it worse. (Am I a weirdo because I get along with my own children, even if their favorite hobby is making fun of Mom??) 

YPF by Pegasus Theatre is the nation’s second-longest-running festival featuring young playwrights. We are lucky to have this event in Chicago encouraging young writers and actors. Please add it to your list as a must-see celebration of the next generation’s best talent.      

Catherine Hellmann is a student at DePaul, an avid theater-goer, and a proud mom of a librarian and two future teachers. 

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 Winning Playwrights for 2020

Reba Brennan

Henry Williams

Angelina Davila

The 33rd YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL includes:

(L to R) Sarah Rachel Schol and Tina El Gamal in PUBLIC IN PRIVATE, one of three new plays in the 33rd ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL from Pegasus Theatre Chicago. Production Photos by Michael Courier unless otherwise noted.

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.

Lisean ‘Ling Ling’ McElrath in CLAUSE 42, one of three new plays in the 33rd ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL from Pegasus Theatre Chicago. 

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.

(L to R) Izis Mollinedo and Destiny Struthers in COBALT, one of three new plays in the 33rd ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL from Pegasus Theatre Chicago

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 29. 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.

The 33rd Young Playwrights Festival is made possible with the generous support of The MacArthur Fund at the Richard Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The David & Reva Logan Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. 

Destiny Strothers in COBALT, one of three new plays in the 33rd ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL from Pegasus Theatre Chicago

OPENING: 31st ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL Via PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO at Chicago Dramatists

PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO ANNOUNCES

31st ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL FEATURING FOUR NEW WORKS BY EMERGING ARTISTS  

JANUARY 4 – 27, 2018

Written by High School Students and Given a Staged Professional Production at Chicago Dramatists 

Here at ChiIL Mama, we're excited to be promoting and reviewing this excellent Fest again this year. I'll be out this Sunday, so check back soon for my full review. In the past I've been enthralled with the high caliber writing and diverse styles of the winning authors. Years ago the daughter of a close friend of mine won the Young Playwrights Fest in high school, and she went on to get her Masters from U of I and continue a lifelong love of theatre and literature. This year my 16 year old son's theatre class from Lane Tech is coming out to see the show this Wednesday, then they're going back to write their own submissions for next year! I'm thrilled we have such a stellar resource in Chicago, to spark the interest of our next generation of playwrights and creative thinkers.

All photos by Emily Schwartz

(L to R)Kristen Alesia and Meagan Dilworth in DECISION DAY by Abigail Henkin, directed by Jerrell Henderson

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 31st Young Playwrights Festival, Jan. 4 – 27, 2018 at Pegasus’s resident home Chicago Dramatists, 773 N. Aberdeen. Each play is written by high school students and given a staged professional production. The winning productions are performed in tandem Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 4 – Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. each night. 

Tickets are $18 for students, $25 for seniors and $30 for general admission and are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org or by phone at 866.811.4111.

All photos by Emily Schwartz

(L to R) David Flack and Peter Surma in PENCILS AND PENS by Aaron Powdermaker, directed by Ilesa Duncan

The Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) celebrates the 31st 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. YPF is the only event of its kind in Chicago and is the second largest in the country.

Under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago, the winning teen playwrights’ productions are work-shopped and staged as part of its main stage season with full casts and production teams. The competition enhances language arts, encourages independent, high-level thinking, strong personal values and influences career development for Chicago’s teens.

The competition received over 500 submissions in 2017 with this year’s selections being Maday Favela of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and her play Bullet With Butterfly Wings; Mairi Glynn of Von Steuben High School, Monster; Abigail Henkin of Lane Tech College Prep, Decision Day and Aaron Powdermaker of Lane Tech College Prep, Pencils and Pens.

All photos by Emily Schwartz

(L to R) Gloria Petrelli and Meagan Dilworth in BULLET WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS by Maday Favela, directed by Emmi Hilger 

The 31st YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL includes:

Bullet with Butterfly Wings
By Maday Favela – Whitney M. Young Magnet High School – teacher Elizabeth Danesh
Directed by Emmi Hilger
Leviathan takes advantage of Lexa’s anxiety and depression by coaxing her into ending her year-long friendship with Juno.

Monster
By Mairi Glynn – Von Steuben High School – teacher Margaret Sullivan
Directed by Ilesa Duncan
Alya, a Hijabi Muslim teen, is called into a police station for questioning after a bombing.

Decision Day
By Abigail Henkin -- Lane Tech College Prep – teacher Brian Telles
Directed by Jerrell Henderson
Lizzy, a high-achieving high school senior, is being wooed in this hilarious send up of college recruitment.  She struggles to decide which of the three is really her best option.

Pencils and Pens
By Aaron Powdermaker – Lane Tech College Prep – teacher Kirsten Hanson
Directed by Ilesa Duncan
Perry and Marshal are friends enjoying a simple life. However, when Perry wants to move up in the world it’s at the cost of leaving his best friend behind.

All photos by Emily Schwartz

(front L to R) Gloria Imseih Petrelli and Hunter Price, (rear) Amy Johnson and Peter Surma in MONSTER by Mairi Glynn, directed by Ilesa Duncan

The productions’ casts include Kristen Alesia. Meagan Dilworth, David Flack, Amy Johnson, Gloria Petrelli, Hunter Price and Peter Surma.

The production team includes Marisa Gil (scenic designer), Josh Wroblewski (lighting designer), Robert Kuhn (costume designer), Katy Vest (prop designer), AJ Chien (sound designer) and Kelly Butler (production manager).

ABOUT JERRELL L. HENDERSON, director
Jerrell L. Henderson is a director and teaching artist. Recent directing credits include Bud, Not Buddy at the Children's Theatre of Charlotte and The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Franklin & Marshall College. Other credits include The Healer: A Workshop Production with Pegasus Theatre Chicago and In The Red and Brown Water at Northwestern University (co-director with Henry Godinez). As an assistant director, Henderson has worked with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Lookingglass. He received a BA in Theatre Arts from The Pennsylvania State University, an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University, is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and is currently a member of Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative.

ABOUT EMMI HILGER, director
Emmi Hilger has directed The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, References to Salvador Dalí Make Me by José Rivera, Don’t Look by Gina Doherty and Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter for Something Marvelous (where she is producing artistic director). Hilger has also recently worked with Ensemble Dal Niente, Stage Left, The Jades, 20% Theatre Company, Concordia University, and Collaboraction.  She is an associate artist and associate dramaturg with Chicago Dramatists and an artistic associate with Stage Left.

ABOUT ILESA DUNCAN, director
Ilesa Duncan is the producing artistic director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago. Her recent directing work includes Pegasus’ recent, Jeff-Recommended, sold-out Shakin the Mess Outta Misery, the world premiere of Jeff-Recommended Rutherford’s Travels and For Her as a Piano also for Pegasus, Broken Fences at 16th Street Theater, the 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 Goodman Theatre, 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 nearly 38 years. Its recent rebranded 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 celebrated its 31st Anniversary this year. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received seventy-seven Joseph Jefferson Citations since its inception.

The 31st Young Playwrights Festival is made possible with the generous support of The MacArthur Fund at the Richard Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the Seabury Foundation, the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency.