12/01/2022
The New Works Festival for Young Audiences begins tomorrow at CPAC and here are the featured playwrights.
Blake Anthony Edwards (he/him) is an actor, director, playwright, and educator currently teaching at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. The One and Only Sarah Stonely is his fourth produced TYA play, following Big Bad Wolf Tales, The Odyssey, and The Quibbling Siblings. The first draft of this play was written for a class at The Ohio State University, where Blake earned his MFA in Acting in 2018. Earlier this year, he performed in Sweat at the William Inge Festival (a production honoring playwright Lynn Nottage), directed Romeo & Juliet for St. Louis Shakespeare, and directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Gonzaga. Blake is writing a new TYA play (about Mother Nature) and will be directing Mark Ravenhill’s pool (no water) at Gonzaga in February.
Jessica Moss writes, performs, and produces. Some of her plays include Funnie (2022 winner of the Leah Ryan's FEWW Prize, O'Neill finalist), A Girl Lives Alone (SafeWord New Play Contest winner), Cam Baby (Toronto Fringe New Play Winner, Weissberger finalist), Polly Polly (Ed Mirvish Award for Entrepreneurship), Next to Him, We'll Make it Together, and more. Training: Juilliard.
Alvaro Saar Rios is a Texican playwright living in Chicago. His plays have been performed in New York City, Mexico City, Hawaii, Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and all over Texas. He has received playwriting commissions from various organizations, including Kennedy Center, Chicago Children’s Theatre, First Stage, Houston Grand Opera, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and Omaha’s Rose Theater. His award-winning play Luchadora! was produced at CATCO in early 2022. His other plays On The Wings of a Mariposa and Carmela Full of Wishes. Mr. Rios is Playwright-In-Residence at Milwaukee's First Stage. He is also a proud veteran of the US Army and an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. https://www.alvarosaarrios.com/ Twitter & Instagram: