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Young Playwrights Festival

Wharton Center for Performing Arts and MSU Department of Theatre are thrilled to announce the 31st Annual Young Playwrights Festival. The Young Playwrights Festival showcases six original works, written by high school students, produced by students from MSU Department of Theatre, and performed at the Pasant Theatre at Wharton Center for Performing Arts. 

Michigan high school students are invited to submit a one-act play to a juried competition. Six finalists are chosen and assigned a professional theatre mentor to revise their script. Each finalist will receive a $200 cash award, and a staged production of their play performed at the Pasant Theatre at Wharton Center for Performing Arts.  

How to enter

Sign Up

GUIDELINES 

To be eligible, each participant must: 

  • Be a Michigan high school student in grades 9-12. 
  • Complete an application form with script. Parent/legal guardian, sponsoring teacher, and student signatures are all required. 
  • Be willing to work with an assigned professional theatre mentor to review their play 

All plays must: 

  • Be original works. 
  • Have no more than four characters. 
  • Require only simple props, costumes, settings, and effects. 
  • Have a maximum length of 12 pages. 

Scripts must: 

  • Be in Microsoft Word format.
  • All pages must be numbered. 
  • Separate different characters’ dialogue by one blank line. 
  • NOTE: No student names should be on the scripts as they are sent to judges anonymously. 

All entries must be electronically submitted to laurie.briseno@whartoncenter.com by Friday, February 5, 2027.   

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 

  • Script Entry Deadline 
    • Friday, February 5, 2027
  • Finalists Announced  
    • Friday, February 26, 2026 
  • Free Public Performance 
    • Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center for Performing Arts  
    • Saturday, May 15, 2027, at 2PM 

The best plays have something to say. The best plays reveal something that we may  already know, but in a unique way or with a different slant. Plays have a chance to move, repel or unite audiences. A play with a clear purpose, a clear premise, a clear  message is always the best for me.

Playwrights have a chance to illuminate whatever excites or angers them. Playwrights can always look for inspiration in their own lives, but they have a responsibility to shape these events into a unique message. Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), know what you want to say.  

Rob J. Roznowski
Professor of Theatre/Head of Acting and Directing, Michigan State University

Supported by MSU Federal Credit Union and Wharton Center Inner Circle.