Philadelphia Young Playwrights celebrates its 20th anniversary year and long-standing collaboration with InterAct Theatre Company with a Play Development Series reading on Tuesday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m. A second place winner in the 2007 Playwriting Festival, A Matter of Faith by Leah Malamut will be performed at InterAct, located at 2030 Sansom Street in Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org or call (215) 665-9226.

Leah wrote her play while in eighth grade at Strath Haven Middle school, under the direction of teacher Jessica Radcliffe and Young Playwrights teaching artists Walt Vail and Gerre Garrett. A Matter of Faith is set in a future society that is ruled by religion where a young highborn girl meets a rebel against the church and finds that her world is not what it appears to be. The reading, which is directed by Rebecca Wright, will be followed by a post-performance discussion with the playwright.

Young Playwrights' Play Development Series provides student playwrights with unprecedented opportunities to develop their work with local professional and university theaters. The program is tailored for each young writer, matching his or her play with a theatre where it will find a specific context. This opportunity gives students a chance to expand their skills and to develop one-on-one relationships with the theatres' artistic staffs.

InterAct Theatre Company has collaborated with Philadelphia Young Playwrights for many years, beginning with Producing Artistic Director Seth Rozin's involvement as a teaching artist, dramaturg and director in the program. "It seems most fitting that our companies, two of the most enduring and acclaimed in Philadelphia's cultural and educational landscapes, together this year celebrate our 20th Anniversaries," says Rozin.

"For many years, Young Playwrights and InterAct have found ways to collaborate, offering young people outstanding opportunities to develop their important voices and talents, and audiences the chance to know and support them," says Young Playwrights Executive Producing Director Glen Knapp.

Young Playwrights and InterAct continue their collaboration with the 2007 Young Voices High School Monologue Festival. Teaching artists will work with students on their monologues, and two days of readings for school audiences will take place at 11:00 a.m. on February 21 and 22.

About Philadelphia Young Playwrights
Founded in 1987 by Adele Magner, and led today by Executive Producing Director Glen Knapp, Philadelphia Young Playwrights is an award-winning program that taps the potential of youth and inspires learning through playwriting in up to 50 public and private K-12 schools each year. A leader in the region's educational programs for youth and built upon its primary belief that all students have something important and valuable to say, Young Playwrights has enriched the Greater Philadelphia community, touching the lives of thousands of students, teachers and parents for the past twenty years. Since 1987, approximately 60 professional playwrights have led workshops, and nearly all of Philadelphia's professional theatre companies have participated by performing, producing, or directing student works. Nearly 55,000 students have seen peers' work produced in class or by professionals. Young Playwrights' Literary Committee includes more than 60 educators, writers, parents, and former Young Playwrights students who read and critique each student script. Young Playwrights received the 2005 Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service and is the past recipient of a 1997 Barrymore Award for Theatre Education, a 2003 George Bartol Award for Excellence in Arts Education, a national "Points of Light" designation, and a 2004 Eastern University Award for Nonprofit Excellence.

About InterAct Theatre Company
Founded in 1988, InterAct Theatre Company's aim is to educate, as well as entertain its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change in the school, the workplace and the community. InterAct celebrates its 20th Anniversary with the 2007/2008 season. To date, InterAct has presented 60 main stage productions, including 23 world premieres, 2 U.S. premieres, and more than 30 Philadelphia premieres. The company has received 32 Barrymore Award nominations and 12 Awards. InterAct's main stage productions have provided work for over 500 local artists. Through its artistic and educational programs, InterAct seeks to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre. InterAct strives to cultivate new voices for the theatre. The company believes in developing and producing important new plays that represent our time and place, and introducing new writers to local audiences. InterAct strives to produce plays that explore issues of social, cultural and political relevance.

For more information and to schedule interviews, please contact: Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion, ph: 215-242-6393, e: megan@canarypromo.com