In-School Playwriting Program
Young Playwrights' Theatre
Through In-School Playwriting Program workshops and classes taught by established playwrights, participating students learn the skills that help them produce their own 10-minute plays. At the end of the year, each student has an opportunity to see their work performed by working theatre professionals at YPT’s annual New Play Festival.
Throughout the D.C. metro area, Young Playwrights’ Theatre (YPT) uses interactive in-school and after-school programs and collaborative projects to advance student literacy, creative expression, and communication through the art of playwriting, while developing a new generation of playwrights whose views are traditionally underrepresented in the theatre and in the community.
For the past ten years, the reading/writing proficiency scores in the Washington D.C. Public Schools have severely dwindled. In 2006, only 27% of secondary students scored at the proficient level in reading. Only 28 of a system of 146 schools met the No Child Left Behind criteria for Adequate Yearly Progress. Two of the successful schools were McFarlane Middle School and Bell Multicultural High School, both of which participate in the In-School Playwriting Program. It is YPT’s belief that learning the writing process as a means of creative self-expression, is central to successful student learning in the reading/writing curriculum.
Over the past ten years YPT has integrated the learning of a creative writing process into the English, Humanities and History curricula of D.C. Public Schools. In collaboration with classroom teachers throughout the city, YPT’s professional playwright teaching artists have developed an interactive series of workshops in which students learn how to craft a play through an in-class process that addresses improvisation, free writing, editing, rehearsal and performance. During 14 in-class workshops, students explore the mechanics of language, drama and self-expression, culminating with each student writing their own 10-minute play. Each year YPT has further developed and refined its process and several schools throughout the District now rely on YPT to provide its holistic learning process as a means of enhancing student literacy, communication and creativity in the classroom.
100% percent of participating students learn the importance of writing, revision, and grammar, not through a book, but through their own writing. They learn the power of their own voice, and how to express ideas that are important to them. They gain the tools and resources to be able to take on the new English Language Arts standards, aimed at enhancing literacy through an interactive, holistic writing process. 85% of participating students have demonstrated a stronger understanding and command of the English vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, and reading comprehension by the conclusion of the program.
Students who may not have ever had the opportunity to give their thoughts a public forum gain the self-respect and esteem that accompanies such an accomplishment of having their work put before an audience. They learn the power of the written word, combined with the performance medium. While many playwrights rarely have the connections and financial means to mount a staged reading, these students are guaranteed that each and every word they composed will be set before the eyes of at least 30,000 people, in theatres, schools, and community centers. For a substantial percent of those 30,000, it will be their first theatrical experience.
The In-School program actively engages all students, even those who are introverted or have special learning needs. YPT works to teach to multiple intelligences, employing various means to reach every student. By engaging students and helping them find their own creative voices, the In-School program lets students know that their voices count and can entertain, educate, and engage the world around them.
While there are several theaters in U.S. cities teaching children and youth to write plays, YPT is the only theater in the U.S. with a process that directly addresses the English Language Arts Standards, allowing a holistic, creative writing process to be fully integrated into the English Language Arts curriculum. YPT’s 2006-2007 In-School residency produced an unprecedented homework completion rate of 85% and 3,564 contact hours. YPT is currently working to implement an In-School model that can be replicated throughout D.C. Public Schools and beyond.
In the coming year, YPT is consulting with New York-based evaluator Dr. Barry Oreck to refine our standards-based curriculum, assessments and evaluation tools to even more effectively measure the academic and social progress of our students. Dr. Oreck will work with YPT as we develop and implement our curriculum and assessments in the coming year, helping us to determine the impact of our In-School program over time, and allowing YPT to adapt and replicate programming to best meet students’ needs.
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Alliances and Partnerships: Young Playwrights’ Theatre programs and productions have attracted new national partnerships and opportunities to showcase the talents and voices of D.C. inner-city youth for a national audience, including performances at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. In March 2008, Chasing George Washington: A White House Adventure, an original musical written by students in Columbia Heights, premiered at the Kennedy Center. The production is currently on national tour.
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2007 Drucker Innovation Award Entry
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