The Young Voices Monologue Festival comes to InterAct

There’s always something happening at the Adrienne, and this month, the newest voices in Philly drama are getting their shot on the stage. Philadelphia Young Playwrights (PYP) and InterAct Theatre Company partner for the annual Young Voices Monologue Festival, which runs this year from March 12-21. It’s only $10 to check out all 17 winning monologues, professionally produced for the Adrienne’s Skybox.

Participating students submit their original monologues to a panel of professional judges, who select each year’s winners. Over the course of a month, the selected students develop their work with a professional director, dramaturg, and actor. This year, these artists include directors David O’Connor, Jay Gilman, and Christina May, and actors Andrew Carroll, Ife Foy, Terrell Green, Becca Kahlil, Aaron Lofton, and Sarah Stearns.

According to PYP, the subject matter, which is appropriate for audiences in eighth grade and up, tackles a range of issues, including depression, coming out, and body image. Winning titles by the high-school writers include Who Are You, by Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush sophomore Ming Jiang; Creative and Performing Arts High School sophomore Murphy Applin Jr.’s Little House on the Side of the Road; Is This Really Just a Phase? by Sharnea Jenkins, a freshman at Philadelphia Learning Academy; and from Philadelphia Military Academy, sophomore Duwan Thompkins’s Isn’t She Lovely.

This year’s festival also marks the launch of Sharing Young Voices, which is a new initiative funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to capture and share video of the festival throughout its process. PYP says this lets the participants “reach more people with the provocative and thoughtful work of our student playwrights,” and increases the program’s engagement and reach across new platforms. (The festival itself is sponsored by the Connelly Foundation, Citizens Bank, and the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Arts Education Fund.)

There will be five public performances of the monologues, on March 12, 13, 20, and 21, with nine student matinees (the latter are free, but reservations are required).

Philadelphia Young Playwrights and InterAct Theatre Company present the Philadelphia Young Voices Monologue Festival ($10) at the Skybox at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, March 12-21. For more information or to reserve tickets, visit the festival online or call 215-568-8079.

At right: actor Terrell Green performs Astarte McNeill's It's Okay To Cry in the 2014 festival. Picture courtesy of PYP.