The five winners will put on a rendition of their plays March 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Delaware Theatre Company.
Five Delaware high schoolers have been honored by the Delaware Theatre Company as 2023-2024 Delaware Young Playwrights winners.
This year’s winners are:
- Amara Harrison (Charter School of Wilmington): “You Remind Me”
- Emily Howard (Charter School of Wilmington): “Splinter”
- Valentine Logan (William Penn High School): “Hatshepsuts Djed”
- Darby Ann Tisdel (MOT Charter High School): “Best Friends”
- Mia Trotter (Appoquinimink High School): “Frame 313”
The competition involves students in grades 8-12 who write a play based on a theme inspired by one of Delaware Theatre Company’s productions.
This year’s theme was inspired by this quote from Layon Gray’s “Kings of Harlem” play: “Historical moments are created by historical opportunities.”
Gray’s play tells the story of the all-Black New York Renaissance basketball team and their unprecedented opportunity to play in the first integrated professional basketball championship tournament in 1939.
Based on that quote, the company had the theme of writing a play about a character or characters who encounter a challenge or opportunity and must make a difficult choice to take action, even when a positive outcome is not guaranteed.
The five winners were among 69 Delaware students from 11 schools who crafted a playwright for this year’s competition.
Everyone participated in a series of playwriting workshops through the month of February with professional theater artists from Delaware Theatre Company to further refine their writing.
Each playwright received personal feedback about their plays from a teaching artist of the Delaware Theatre Company staff.
All five winners will be recognized at a public showcase performance of their plays on Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. on the Delaware Theatre Company stage on Water Street in Wilmington.
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Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
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