Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the public readings for the Young Playwrights Unit 2020 had to be cancelled. We were thrilled to engage in the creation process with Dhanish Kumar Chinniah, Augusta Monet, and Aisling (Aly) Murphy.

 What the YPU Offered:

→ Writing sessions, with instructors Paula Wing, Caitie Graham, and Eva Barrie provided an opportunity for guided material generation and revision through creation, discussion and critique.

→ Exercises and assignments tailored to the specific needs and interests of each participant.

→ Dramaturgical support spanning the duration of the YPU (January-June 2020). 

→ Participants were connected with various theatre professionals and Tarragon staff. 

→ Participants were given FREE tickets to Tarragon shows.

Saturday June 1st @ 2:00pm, Tarragon Workspace

Playwright: Magda Uculmana-Falcon

Director: Lisa Karen Cox

Cast: Meghan Aguirre, Rosina Ferede, Alyssa Pothier, and Brianna Wright

A physical altercation in a classroom, between a teacher and a black, female student, goes viral. Friends of the student involved seek justice on her behalf, but then BOOM! Another incident at the school grabs the world’s attention, and thwarts their pursuit. BOOM! is a play about three black, teenage girls, trying to be heard in an institution that won’t listen.

Saturday June [email protected] 8:00pm, Tarragon Workspace

Playwright: Araceli Ferrara
Director: Rosa Labordé

Cast: Katarina Fiallos, Kathy Martinez, Adriana Moraes-Mendoza, Walter Moraes-Mendoza, Xanath Fuentes Natanson, and Dre Rivas

SOL follows the story of a woman trying to rebuild the past. Set in her memory, Sol revisits her fourteen-year-old self during the 1973 coup d’état in Chile, when political tensions threatened the fragile bonds of family. SOL is an exploration of memory and the things we do in order to survive.

Sunday June [email protected] 2:00pm, Tarragon Workspace

Playwright: JD Leslie

Director: Audrey Dwyer

Cast: Meghan Aguirre, Walter Moraes-Mendoza, and Pablo Ogunlesi

 Welcome to New Orleans! Where death is a celebration and crickets play jazz music to keep souls at rest. Brave and his cricket family welcome you with open arms to the graveyard as tonight is moon’s day; the one time of the month when souls can pass onto the other side. But what happens when a soul can’t be put to rest? What happens when you aren’t ready to move on? And what happens if there ain’t no moon? One thing’s for sure…you better second line!

Sunday June [email protected] 8:00pm, Tarragon Workspace 

Playwright: Thom Nyhuus

Director: Madeleine Jullian

Cast: Alex Cameron, Victoria Carella, Ellie Ellwand, Madelaine Hodges, Daniel Reale, Lizzie Song, John Wamsley, Brianna Wright, and Sean Williams

 As their youngest sister Irina prepares to audition for the prestigious ballet company their father once led, the Prozorov children must grapple with the financial and emotional wreckage their disgraced patriarch left behind. Told over a turbulent summer in cottage country, this reimagining of Chekhov’s classic play examines legacy, gender dynamics in a shifting world, and what it means to live a life that matters.