New Plays for Young Audiences: Series History

Now celebrating its tenth season, New Plays for Young Audiences focuses specifically on the development of individual scripts for youth audiences. The creative vision of the Program in Educational Theatre’s co-founders, Lowell and Nancy Swortzell, was the establishment of a program to encourage the development of plays for youth written not only by NYU students but also by authors representing the English-speaking world. As a playwright himself and editor of several books of plays for children, Lowell believed in the “written word”. Despite the progress children’s and young peoples’ authors have made through the efforts of classroom teachers, regional and professional theatres and university programs, playwrights need a place where individual works can be developed, tried out and subsequently brought to the wide realms of production and publication. They can take risks in a supportive atmosphere designed to both nurture and evaluate what they have made. And this is precisely what O’Neill and his colleagues achieved here in their original Provincetown Playhouse and what the Play Development Series project hopes to achieve for young audiences today.

Plays previously produced have won national recognition, publication and numerous productions. Among these:
Red Sky by Bryony Lavery, full production premiered July 2007 at the National Theatre
in London, UK.
The Forgiving Harvest by Y York. TCG AT&T Onstage Award, subsequently produced
by Peoples’ Light and Theatre, Malvern, PA.
The Odyssey (2003) Adapted by R.N. Sandberg. Subsequently performed nationally
with string quartets in the USA.
Spirit Shall Fly by Mary Hall Surface, subsequent premiere performance at Stage One,
Stage One, Louisville, KY.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 by Kevin Willmott, subsequently performed by
Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO.
The Riddling Child (1998) by John Urquhart, published as Lisa and the Riddling Cave.
Anchorage Press.
The Match Girl’s Gift: A Christmas Story (1998) by Laurie Brooks, published in The
Twelve Days of Christmas. Applause Books.
The Wrestling Season (1999) by Laurie Brooks, published by The Dramatic Publishing
Company. AATE Distinguished Play Award 2001.
Deadly Weapons (2000) by Laurie Brooks, published by The Dramatic Publishing
Company.
Ezigbo: The Spirit Child (2001) published by Anchorage Press. AATE Distinguished
Play Award 2002.
Earthsongs (2004) by Jose Cruz Gonzales, subsequently performed with full orchestra,
choirs, and mimes by the Metro Theatre Company, St. Louis, MO.

Red Sky by Bryony Lavery, Summer 2006—Director Anthony Banks from the National Theatre in London works with the actors

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