Carmel student among six finalists of Young Playwrights in Process program
The Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) has named Mei Kihara and Lucille Ansell the winners of the 2024 Young Playwrights in Process (YPiP), an annual playwriting competition for Indiana students in grades 6 through 12.
Kihara is the winner of the high school division, and Ansell is the winner of the middle school division. The winners’ work was selected from a total of 120 entries from around the state, with submissions from West Lafayette to Sellersburg.
Carmel High School student Leon Xiang was one of the six finalists with the submission Nobody’s Son, Nobody’s Daughter.
Through YPiP, the IRT encourages middle and high school students across Indiana to write and create plays that reflect and challenge their world. Over the past five months, each play was reviewed by a committee of theatre and writing professionals. Twenty-five semi-finalists were chosen and invited to a voluntary day-long workshop with James Still, IRT’s Playwright-in-Residence, and Richard J Roberts, Resident Dramaturg. Following this workshop, all 25 semi-finalists resubmitted their work, and the six finalists and two winners were chosen by Still, Roberts, and guest advisor Arora Real de Asua.
The final celebration took place virtually last Saturday to recognize the work of the young playwrights. During the event, both Kihara’s and Ansell’s full plays had staged readings by professional actors. The other four finalists had a portion of their play read. The full list of finalists, as well as their play titles and schools, can be found below.
Kihara and Ansell will each receive a $1,000 cash prize for their short plays. High school finalists Ella Haynes and Leon Xiang, as well as middle school finalists Nandini Kondhare and Ronit Mengele, will each receive a $250 cash prize.
YPiP was created by the IRT in 2005 through the Margot L. and Robert S. Eccles Trust.
Applications for next year’s YPiP competition will open in the fall. To stay up to date on the latest information, go to irtlive.com/ypip.
For more information about YPIP and other educational opportunities, email Education Coordinator Anna Barnett at abarnett@irtlive.com.