Waterford, CT – The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is accepting applications for the 2023 Young Playwrights Festival until Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 11:59 pm PST. The festival will run May 12-14 at the O’Neill seaside campus in Waterford, CT. 

The Young Playwrights Festival provides middle and high school students with the opportunity to learn about dramatic form and structure as they experience the signature O’Neill play development process. Five playwrights will be selected to work with a creative team to develop their short plays. This process will culminate in a public script-in-hand reading of their pieces. Additional applicants will be invited to attend the festival as Guest Playwrights and will participate in workshops and hear their scripts read aloud.

“The Young Playwrights Festival is looking for students unafraid to put pen to page, sharing the unique theatrical vision housed in their imaginations,” said Director of Education Sophia Chapadjiev. 

Applying students must be United States residents between the ages of 12 and 18 and currently enrolled in middle or high school. 

“Too often, society doesn’t always have full regard for what young people think,” Chapadjiev said. “At the O’Neill, we not only care, but are committed to helping these young writers realize the worlds they envision so that it might inspire our own.”

Applications can be submitted here. There is no application fee for the Young Playwrights Festival and participation is free for all invited playwrights.

More information about the Young Playwrights Festival and its application process is available on the O’Neill’s website.