Philadelphia Young Playwrights

Philadelphia Young Playwrights (PYP) is an arts education non-profit dedicated to cultivating the voices of youth. Since 1987, we have partnered with educators and artists alike to advance students' writing-based literacy skills as well as critical 21st century skills like communication, creativity, and collaboration. Our mission—to tap the potential of youth and inspire learning through playwriting— grounds our practice in the classroom, where we work one-on-one with classroom teachers and students to advance literacy and empower individual voices. More than 90% of classroom placements each year occur in non-arts classes (English, Language Arts, History, and Social Studies). In 2017-18, PYP provided more than 2,200 hours of instruction in 92 classrooms. But our work doesn’t end inside the classroom. Through our Annual Playwriting Festival, we read and directly respond to more than 700 student-written play submissions over the course of the summer. Selected plays are developed as part of our Play Development Series—wherein students work alongside professional directors, dramaturgs, designers, and actors to develop and produce their plays or monologues for public performances. These processes take student work from page to stage and extend a student playwright’s learning and development arc to the world of new play development, production, and meaningful collaboration. Each year, we produce dozens of new plays and monologues written by student playwrights through partnerships with universities, theater companies, and cultural organizations in the region. Perhaps most importantly, PYP strives to create environments where young people—no matter who they are or where they come from—feel comfortable expressing themselves and find community among their peers. Out of school, we provide students with the opportunity to further advance their craft, to experience theater, and to build community beyond the walls of the classroom.