Young Playwrights Festival Features Readings, One-Acts

There will be several free community readings as part of the Rainier Valley Youth Theatre's Ninth Annual Young Playwrights Festival that runs March 9-10 at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center.
The festival features readings by professional actors and advanced student actors of plays written by students from four South Seattle schools. Developed through in-school residences, more than 100 students completed original one-act plays. After review by a panel of professional theater artists, the best eight plays are featured in the public celebration.
The readings will feature selected scenes from winning festival plays and plays receiving honorable mentions.
The readings will take place at several South Seattle Starbucks.
Readings are as follows:
• Tuesday, March 6 from 3:45-4:45 p.m. at the Starbucks on 23rd Avenue and Jackson Street.
• Wednesday, March 7, from 12:45-1:45 p.m. at the Starbucks on MLK, at 2921 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.; and also from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at the Columbia City Starbucks, 4824 Rainier Ave. S.
The Young Playwrights Program was developed in 1999 to build and implement an integrated theater arts and writing curriculum in Seattle's public schools. The program brings an innovative form of written expression to students from diverse backgrounds who generally have little exposure to theater or performance writing. Through this program, students work with professional artists to create plays that frequently bring to light issues close to their lives — including family and economic concerns, racial and social injustice, relationships and more. 
During the in-school residency, playwrights teach students the elements of a good play, including conflict and resolution, dramatic action, setting, character development, proper manuscript form and constructive criticism. Theater exercises are part of the curriculum, used as tools in developing dialogue and action. The process stresses key elements of the writing process, drafts and re-writes. The finished plays are distributed to professional theater artists for review and recommendation for the Young Playwrights Festival.
The multi-cultural, community-based RVYT is a program of SouthEast Effective Development and is the only youth theatre located in Southeast Seattle.
For more information on the festival or to purchase tickets, call 206-725-7169 or visit www.acttheatre.org.