THE GINNY PARKER YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

THE GINNY PARKER YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

THE GINNY PARKER

Young Playwrights Festival 

Every year Syracuse Stage invites Central New York high school students to write original ten-minute plays and other performance pieces for entry into our annual Young Playwrights Festival contest. Our panel of theatre and literary professionals evaluates each student's play. Semifinalists are invited to attend a writing workshop with Syracuse Stage where their plays will be read and critiqued. Finalists will see their plays performed as staged readings by Syracuse University Drama Students.

This event is free and does not require tickets.

2026 WINNERS

Front Row (L to R): Catherine Wells, Zoie VanBeveren, Denise Dima, Jordan Harrington, and Kieghlin Hicks.

Back Row (L to R): London-Lauren Mccutcheon, Aram Sieburg, Halia Dice, Seth Harshbarger, and Ainsley Oliver.

2026 YPF QUOTABLE PLAYWRIGHT

Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage

LYNN NOTTAGE
(born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for her play Ruined, and in 2017 for her play Sweat. She was the first (and remains the only) woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama two times.

Sweat

Leanne Best, Martha Plimpton and Clare Perkins in Sweat at Donmar Warehouse, London. Photograph: Johan Persson.