Right Here, Write Now

3 Playwrights Respond to our Altered World
“Right Here, Write Now”
YPT’s Online Play Festival

Description

Right Here, Write Now, a new play festival introduced in June 2020, features contemporary playwrights responding to these extraordinary times.

“Part of YPT’s programming vision is ensuring we create artistic works that speak to the contemporary lives of young people,” said Artistic Director Allen MacInnis. “We are in the midst of a time of enormous change and the writers of these short plays have all been asked to consider what might we make of this moment?”

The Spring 2021 Festival ran April 19, 21 & 23 and featured new works by Tai Amy Grauman, Marie Beath Badian and Luke Reece. Details below.

A recorded version was made available to schools with optional pre- and post-show workshops.

We Are Losing Time

Written by Tai Amy Grauman
Directed by Megan Watson
Featuring Julie Lumsden & Joel Montgrand

Teens Rose and Johnny have decided to get married – tonight! In reflecting on the pandemic and recent losses in their lives, they weigh the consequences of losing more time against the certainty of their love for one another. Although they don’t agree on the idea that fate has brought them together, they are able to agree that there are powerful and meaningful forces that exist in our universe, even when we can’t see them.

Recommended for Ages 13-18 | Grades 8-12

“Grauman beautifully establishes the Indigenous world for the reverence of tradition and respect for the teachings of those who have gone before.” – The Slotkin Letter

Click here for discussion questions, activities and more.

The Best Friend Blanket Fort Show

Written by Marie Beath Badian
Directed by Mieko Ouchi
Dramaturg: Stephen Colella
Music: Hugo Badian-Parker
Featuring Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks & Gabe Maharjan

Welcome to the Best Friend Blanket Fort Show (BFBFS)! Auggie and Reggie are best friends who love to eat Pocky, play Minecraft, and film their YouTube series “The Best Friend Blanket Fort Show”. When Reggie decides to have a “FIERCE FEMINIST SUPERHERO ZOOM BIRTHDAY PARTY” and doesn’t invite Auggie because it’s for “girls only”, the dynamic duo dive into a discussion on gender, pronouns, and identity as Auggie explores their gender. Although the friends are not always on the same page, they must learn to navigate what it means to support someone being their authentic self.

“The Best Friend Blanket Fort Show blew me away…These difficult questions of identity and how to describe them are handled with such delicacy, respect, and tenderness.” – The Slotkin Letter

Recommended for Ages 5-10 | Grades 1-4

Click here for discussion questions, activities and more.

Cassius

Written by Luke Reece
Directed by Natasha Mumba
Dramaturg: Stephen Colella
Featuring David Collins & daniel jelani ellis

After an uncomfortable encounter on a walk with his dog, followed by another event at school, 12-year-old Cassius needs answers from his Grandpa about why he chose to come to Canada. His phone call with Grandpa leads to honest conversations about dealing with racism. Cassius learns to find his value and worth not in the place that he lives, but through the experiences he goes through that ultimately make him stronger.

“Cassius is a wonderful play. Luke Reece has written two deeply layered characters in Cassius and Grandpa, each with issues, concerns, questions and mutual respect. Reece focuses on the thorny issue of racism with sensitivity as does his gifted director, Natasha Mumba.” – The Slotkin Letter

Recommended for Ages 10-14 | Grades 5-8

Click here for discussion questions, activities and more.

Fall 2020 Festival

Included playwright/actor Jeff Ho (YPT’s Antigone:方; Ophelia in Why Not’s Prince Hamlet); Icelandic playwright/author Andri Snær Magnason (YPT’s Blue Planet); and playwright/actor Makambe K Simamba (Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, b current performing arts; Artist in Residence, Tarragon). The Festival took place Dec. 7, 8 & 11, 2020.

The Livestream

Staying home can saves lives. So might going out in the streets.
Written by Makambe K Simamba
Directed by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Dramaturg: Stephen Colella
Featuring Filsan Dualeh & Hodan Dualeh
Recommended for ages 12 & up