SEASONED PROFESSIONAL ENSEMBLE CULTIVATES FRESH ORIGINAL THEATRE BY LOCAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS

At 7:30 p.m. on May 30, 2009, Touchstone Theatre’s fourth annual Young Playwrights’ Festival will be held at the Diamond Theater in Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center. The artistic work for this year’s Young Playwrights’ Festival began in September 2008 when Ensemble Members from Touchstone Theatre, located on the South Side of Bethlehem, began working with local youth to develop original plays. The festival is the capstone of Touchstone’s Young Playwrights’ Lab, a school based arts-in-education program designed for elementary, middle and high school students.

The Young Playwrights’ Lab offers a means to encourage literacy and improve achievement in academic standards. The program was developed in collaboration with the Bethlehem School District to inspire students to embrace literacy through innovative practices. During the residency, local youth are guided through the process of creating an original, one act play. They are exposed to plot and character development, improvisation and monologue writing as well as critiquing and editing. At the conclusion of the residency, the Ensemble teaching artists and schoolteachers select plays from each school for Touchstone to produce at the festival. This year’s participating schools include Freemansburg Elementary, Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Regional Academic Standards Academy and Centennial School of Lehigh University.

Following weeks of rehearsal, all of the students who take part in the Young Playwrights’ Lab are invited to attend the festival performed by professional and community actors, as a celebration of the work done by all of the youngsters. Immediately following the Young Playwrights’ Festival this year, Touchstone will hold its second annual Gala Dessert Reception in the Art Gallery of the Zoellner Arts Center. Guests who come to this reception will have the opportunity to mingle with the Touchstone Ensemble and Board, sample a wide variety of desserts and beverages, and participate in an auction filled with unique prizes and packages.

Tickets for the performance of the Young Playwrights’ Festival are $10 per person. For those interested in attending Touchstone’s fundraiser at the Gala Dessert Reception, tickets are $75 a piece which includes a guaranteed front seat for the performance. Sponsorships are available to those who wish to support arts-in-education. For more information, please contact Amy Meleck at 610-867-1689 or visit www.touchstone.org.

Founded in 1987, Touchstone Theatre creates, produces and presents original theatre, tours original and ensemble work, provides educational programs in local schools and illumintes the human condition through community collaborations.