Playwrights in Limelight at TampaWorks Festival

The spotlight again will shine on up-and-coming writers as plays produced by the Young Dramatist Project are presented this weekend through June 21.

This year, Stageworks Theatre teamed with Gorilla Theatre’s YDP to showcase new plays written by young adults, with the addition of original plays about the Bay area, as part of its TampaWorks Festival.

Ami Sallee, director of Gorilla Theatre’s Artistic Committee, said the project “hopes to nurture the playwrights as well as provide live theatrical experience to rural, culturally underserved areas and economically disadvantaged citizens.”

YDP starts with a script-writing competition for area middle and high school students. Winners receive mentoring as their plays are fully realized on stage with casts and directors.

This year’s winning YDP plays and writers are “The Gardener’s Fault” by Alice Darrow '15, Shorecrest Prep; “Sunsets” by Evan Fineout, Northeast High School; “2014 WWII Casualty” by Adam Mirajkar, Blake High School; “Woman Laughing Alone Eating Salad” by Regan Moore, Blake High School; and “The Blue Troll” by Savannah Pearson '15, Shorecrest Prep.

Fineout, 17, said he was encouraged to participate by his theater teacher, who also works with American Stage Theatre Company in St. Petersburg.

His play “Sunsets,” he said, is all about perspective — an event occurs in a grocery store and three people in the store are affected and influenced differently by the incident.

Fineout, who will start his post-high school career at St. Petersburg College before transferring to the University of South Florida or Florida State University to study film or communications, says working with YDP helped him improve as a playwright.

“It gave me a balance between confidence and humility,” said Fineout, who continued to revise “Sunsets” while waiting to hear whether he was among the winners.

Beyond mentoring, YDP finalists each receive $250 and a paid membership to the Dramatists’ Guild, the professional association of playwrights.

Stageworks’ annual TampaWorks Festival celebrates places, people and experiences unique to the Bay area. Plays are written by local playwrights and touch on common experiences and the area’s identity.

This year’s TampaWorks plays are “Big Bird” by David Warner, “Eight Miles High” by Paul Wilborn, “Elevator” by Sheila Cowley, “The Shoe Department” by Phillip Hall and “The Mata Hari of Hillsborough” by Barbara St. Clair.

Karla Hartley, Stageworks’ producing artistic director, is enthusiastic about the joint play-writing project.

“This partnership enhances the cultural profile of the Tampa Bay area on a national level, and provides meaningful opportunities for local playwrights, actors and directors,” she says in a written announcement.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through June 21 at Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Tickets are $23 and are available at www.stageworkstheatre.org or by calling (813) 374-2416.

Read a Creative Loafing review: http://cltampa.com/artbreaker/archives/2015/06/18/theater-review-tampaworks-2015-play-local#.VYgqO1VVhHw