2022/2023 Season
August 25th - 27th @ Stageworks Theatre
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ThinkTank’s TYA Playwrights Festival is a developmental program dedicated to providing a working forum for progressive and forward-thinking TYA productions for today’s theatres. The goal is a collaborative workshop process, with local Tampa Bay Theatre professionals and members of our YAE Company, allowing time for playwrights to hear and adapt their work. Submissions for the festival will open to playwrights across North America in January of 2023. The festival reading panel will narrow down submitted plays to no more than four plays for the festival show case. For the 2021 Play Fest, over 470 plays were submitted from across North America and two were selected to festival show case.
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In addition to the selected play readings, ThinkTank will also fully produce one of the plays from 2022’s Play Fest selections as part of the 2023 Festival.
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SEE THIS YEAR'S SELECTED PIECES!
3rd Annual
TYA Playwrights Festival
Recommended for ages 8+
Star Stuff
Written By: Kimberlee Stone
Directed by: Sadie Lockhart
Friday, Aug 25th - Sunday, Aug 27th @ 7:30pm
Stageworks Theatre
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Talkback following the Saturday, Aug 26th Performance
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You, me, and the stars between…we’re all made of star stuff. What would you do if your star stuff was called for a higher purpose? Eighth grader, Lola, has that very decision to make and with the universal timer set to December 21, she doesn’t have much time to make it. Can she stay on earth? Will she join the universe? All of these questions and more are explored in Star Stuff.
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Star Stuff Features: Adeline Richardson, Kaylee Tupper Miller,
Katie Calahan, Jessie Dorsey, Landon Green, Emma Hundley,
Jadon Milne and Sofia Pickford
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Star Stuff is ThinkTank's 2022 Festival piece selected for full production for this year's festival!
Her Beautiful Sound
By: Cris Eli Blak
Saturday, Aug 26th @ 4:30pm
Stageworks Theatre
“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”- Maya Angelou
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A young teenager discovers the beauty of grief, family, friendship and her voice, her own beautiful sound.
Festival Readings are Pay-What-You-Can. We do request that you reserved a ticket. $20 donations will receive special seating!
Recommended for ages 10+
By: Samantha. Bollinger
The Amphibians
By: Dan Caffrey
Sunday, Aug 27th @ 4:30pm
Stageworks Theatre
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Set thirteen years in the future, two high-schoolers unearth a wondrous discovery in the woods, leading them to learn hard lessons about the evolution of friendship and what it means to take care of something at the end of the world.
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Festival Readings are Pay-What-You-Can. We do request that you reserved a ticket. $20 donations will receive special seating!
Recommended for ages 13+ due to mature language
By: Alexander Perdo-Lopez
By: Oliver Kokai-Means
Gen Next Writes
Sunday, Aug 27th @ 3:00pm
Stageworks Theatre
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Gen Next Writes features the works of local Tampa Bay Teen Playwrights.
This year’s selections are Bestovia by Samantha Bollinger, Chile Picante by Alexander Pedro-Lopez, and I Don't Want to be in History by Oliver Kokai-Means.
These short plays features themes such as:
Bestovia: A young queen-to-be proves future generations can work make the world a better place.
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Chile Picate: Maybe all you need is friends, something you love, and a good hot pepper challenge.
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I Don't Want to be in History: A normal school day takes a turn for the worst. This is not a drill.
Join us for the reading of these 10 min plays Sunday, August 27th at 3:00pm at Stageworks theatre and stay after for a talkback with our local teen playwrights!
Festival Readings are a Pay-What-You-Can donation.
$20 donations will receive special seating!
Recommended for ages 8+
What is a Sensory Performance?
As a part of our vision to provide a theatrical experience that welcomes everyone, we plan to offer Sensory Performances for many of our Main Stage Productions. For these shows, we’ll adjust various elements to ensure that audience members with sensory based sensitivities and other members of our community with special needs can join us!!! Our sensory performances are open to everyone and are especially crafted to enhance the show-going experience for members of our community with special needs, families with younger children, and any theatre goer who might enjoy a more relaxed show experience!
