Catch Philly's newest playwrights at the Young Voices Monologue Festival

The Young Voices Monologue Festival is what’s new and what’s next in every sense, as students from across the city get a chance to tell stories with professional polish. It’s a wide-ranging showcase of the next generation of Philadelphia writers.

Philadelphia Young Playwrights teams up with InterAct Theatre Company each year for a curated festival of professionally directed and acted monologues written by local high school students. This year, in a festival running through March 29, 18 monologues will appear onstage at the Playground at the Adrienne.

Diverse inspirations

Winning monologues include Science Leadership Academy 10th-grader Jade Schweitzer’s A City Speaks, written from the perspective of the city itself, and Did I Ever Tell You About “It” by Andrew Purvis of Central High, in which Pierre reveals a magical childhood ability to control his family with a kitchen utensil.

In One Hundred Sleepless Nights, freshman Hunter McKee of The Academy at Palumbo explores the voice of a young transgendered man, and sophomore Michaela Prell, also of Science Leadership Academy, writes about a boy’s reaction to the homelessness all around him in Peanut Butter and Jelly. Other monologues cover the qualms of college interviews, ending up in the principal’s office when all is not what it seems, and the traumas of date-night flatulence.

The authors of the winning monologues team with a professional director, dramaturg, and actor to hone their pieces before the festival, with David Stradley, Jay Gilman, and Malika Oyetimein directing the final pieces.

Public performances of Philadelphia Young Playwrights and InterAct Theatre Company’s Young Voices Monologue Festival ($10) are coming up at the Playground at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, on Wednesday March 26 at 7pm, Thursday March 27 at 7pm, and Saturday March 29 at 2pm. For tickets and more information, visit the website or call 215-568-8079.