To view our Podcasts, click here.

Also, see Project Playwright in the news:

• Northern Stage's Shakespeare Residency at Lebanon High School on WCAX-TV
• Northern Stage's Project Playwright In Action on WCAX-TV

PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT is a three-year literacy program that sends professional playwrights into schools biweekly for 10 weeks each year to increase reading, writing and public speaking skills to fifth and sixth graders The playwrights guide students in reading and writing plays, the best of which are professionally produced at Northern Stage and then performed at the participating schools. In-service training of the teachers at each school ensures that the program can continue as part of the school's regular curriculum.

The PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT Residency

From January through early April, two working playwrights visit the classrooms of fifth and sixth grade students at 10 participating local schools. The schools selected for a three-year residency include Hanover Street School, Lebanon, NH; Claremont Middle School, Claremont, NH; Unity Elementary School, Unity, NH; Wentworth Middle School, Wentworth, NH; Goshen-Lempster Cooperative School, Lempster, NH; White River School, White River Junction, VT; State Street School, Windsor, VT; Tunbridge Central School, Tunbridge, VT; Park Street School, Springfield, VT; and Barre City Elementary School, Barre, VT. Over the course of five sessions (one every two weeks), the playwrights offer lessons designed to complement the school curriculum by spurring students to improve their reading, writing and public speaking skills.

The playwrights guide students through the steps of the Writing Process, as recommended by the NCLBA, using a classic children's story; this year, it is Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. The students first read the book, focusing on the social issues presented. The playwrights then work with the students through a reading of the play version to understand how plays are constructed.

After discussion and interactive analysis of the text, students spend three sessions developing their own short plays with the aid of the resident playwright team. The participants are asked to write about a specific theme (this year's theme is "feelings"), to allow them to express their own points of view and experiences in their writing. The process begins with brainstorming, idea webs and other prewriting techniques. As they develop drafts, they spend time reading them aloud to each other, providing opportunities for enhancing verbal skills, refining their techniques of developing dialogue, and providing valuable input to their fellow students' work. The student playwrights then spend time improving their writing through several re-writes, teaching them the process of creatively incorporating input into their own work. After proofreading, the plays are published, some in glossy magazine form and others in-house.

We expect the Residency to result in approximately 500 students writing their own original 10-minute plays, with each play including an original plot, well-defined characters, developing action and an ending. Through PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT, each will able to create a real work of literature.

The aims of the Residency include:

• Improving and developing students' reading and writing skills
• Strengthening use of the Writing Process, as recommended by the NCLBA
• Introducing students to theater through playwriting as an art form
• Helping students develop an understanding of dramatic writing as literature
• Stimulating students' artistic creativity
• Building confidence in self-expression through writing and public speaking
• Engaging students in collaborative problem-solving and development of ideas
• Enhancing students' ability to give and receive constructive criticism

The PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT Festival

The Festival component of PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT involves students in the process of seeing their plays professionally produced by Northern Stage. Thirty students will be selected as semi-finalists-three from each school-and one play from each school group will be chosen for full productions.

Starting on Monday of the spring school vacation week in April, professional directors begin casting, staging and rehearsing 12 original, student-written, ten-minute plays with a group of professional actors at Northern Stage. The semi-finalist student playwrights whose plays have been selected for production, accompanied by two runners-up from each school and an adult "producer" chosen by Northern Stage, are invited into the rehearsal hall to meet and collaborate with the directors, designers and technicians in the weeklong production process. Participants have an opportunity to discuss their ideas about sets, props, costumes, lighting and sound. Professional actors are cast in all the roles, and students will observe and comment on rehearsals. Four performances will be held at Northern Stage's theater.

Following the Festival, a distinguished panel of judges award the Grand Prize to one talented young playwright. The Grand Prize winner receives a personal computer, and his/her school library receives a $1,000 cash award. An Audience Choice winner is chosen, based on votes of those attending the shows. The Audience Choice winner is also awarded a computer, and his/her school library receives a $500 cash award. Each of the semi-finalists and runners-up receives a published, bound copy of all the winning plays, season tickets to the next professional season at Northern Stage, and a small trophy commemorating their achievements.

The aims of the Festival include:

• Introducing students to the components of theater production
• Encouraging students to collaborate with professional theater artists and other students
• Allowing students to share their production ideas in a supportive environment
• Increasing students' understanding of theater as a performance art form

The PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT Tour

During the week following the Festival, the student-written plays are performed at each of the participating schools (or at an alternate location in the school's community, depending on available space). The plays performed during the tour include the same professional actors featured at the Festival, and the same production values, including sets, props and costumes. This provides an opportunity for the student playwrights, friends and family to experience live theater in their own communities. The playwrights experience the pride of showcasing their talents to their fellow students, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps by continuing with their own writing. Their fellow students, along with teachers, administrators and community members, experience the thrill of up-close live theater, encouraging them to develop an interest in theater attendance and a desire to enhance drama programming in the school.

The aims of the Tour include:

• Exposing residents of rural communities to entertaining and thought-provoking theater
• Providing young writers with a chance to showcase their talents in their communities
• Demonstrating to other students that they can realistically strive for similar achievements
• Enabling family and friends to see the student plays without the distance and expense of travel to Northern Stage
• Instilling community pride
• Encouraging rural residents to attend other theater productions
• Encouraging local schools to use drama to increase overall literacy

The Continuing Curriculum Component

The resident playwrights meet with teachers and/or administrators at each school throughout the three-year duration of PROJECT PLAYWRIGHT to share their lesson plans and techniques and to discuss how the school can continue the program as a living part of their curriculum. The goal is to use theater as a medium to reinforce all subject areas.