Hartford Stage Accepting Entries for Annual Write On Young Playwrights’ Competition

Mfoniso Udofia. Photo Credit: Frances F. Denny
for The New York Times

Hartford, CT, January 10, 2018 – Hartford Stage is accepting entries for its annual Write On Young Playwrights’ Competition through Sunday, January 21. The program is open to all Connecticut students in grades 9 through 12. From among all entries received, 5 to 6 students will be selected to participate. Playwright Mfoniso Udofia will serve as this year’s writing mentor.

Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater. She co-pioneered a youth initiative, The Nia Project, which provides artistic outlets for youth residing in Bayview/Huntspoint. Udofia’s plays have been developed, presented and/or produced by Seattle Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm, The Magic Theatre, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, NNPN New Play Showcase, Makehouse, Soul Productions, terraNOVA, I73, The New Black Fest, Rising Circle's INKTank, At Hand Theatre Company, The Standard Collective, American Slavery Project, and Liberation Theatre Company.

Write On is modeled on Hartford Stage’s new play development process and provides participants with the unique opportunity of learning about professional play development first-hand. Udofia will guide students through a series of intensive writing workshops held at Hartford Stage. Students will then develop submitted ideas into their own 10-minute plays, which will culminate with readings staged by local actors and directors on Monday, March 26.  

Write On entries may be submitted directly online at http://www.hartfordstage.org/write-on. A downloadable application may also be printed and mailed to Aurelia Clunie, Hartford Stage Education, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT 06103. All application materials must be received by Sunday, January 21, at 11:59 p.m.

For more information about Write On, contact Aurelia Clunie, Education Associate for Student Audiences, at (860) 520-7255 or aclunie@hartfordstage.org. 

HARTFORD STAGE

Now in its 54th season, Hartford Stage’s mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating theatrical works of the highest caliber that have a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Led by Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts, Hartford Stage is renowned for producing innovative revivals of classics and provocative new plays and musicals – including over 70 world and American premieres – as well as offering a distinguished education program, which reaches approximately 21,000 students annually.

Since Tresnjak’s appointment in 2011, Hartford Stage has presented the world premieres of the new musical Anastasia by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens – currently on Broadway; Rear Window with Kevin Bacon; Reverberation by Matthew Lopez; Big Dance Theatre’s Man in a Case with Mikhail Baryshnikov; Breath & Imagination by Daniel Beaty; A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical by Tresnjak; and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most prestigious awards, including the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Other national honors include Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Critics Circle awards. Hartford Stage has produced nationally renowned titles, including the New York transfers of Enchanted April; The Orphans' Home Cycle; Resurrection (later retitled Through the Night); The Carpetbagger's Children; and Tea at Five.

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