Young Playwright Is Honored with Governor’s Award

Blues-Berries,” a play by Philip Peker will be staged at Kean University on May 21 as part of the Young Playwrights Festival. The staged reading is among the accolades for the Livingston High School junior, who was awarded a 2013 NJ Governor’s Award in Arts Education for playwriting and Gold Key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. 

The play being performed at Kean explores generational clashes. In “Blues-Berries” a teen’s dreams of becoming a musician are questioned by his traditional Russian grandfather, who fears his grandson will experience the same failure and unhappiness that he went through at an earlier age.

“Blues-Berries” was also awarded honorable mention for playwriting by the Young Author contest at Columbia College in Chicago.

In the Scholastic contest, Peker won a Gold Key award in persuasive writing, for “Targeted Killing: A Case Against,”and Silver medals in poetry and playwriting.The contest has an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates.

Dr. Michael R. Suñga, teacher of English at Livingston High School, mentors the young playwright.

The staged reading of “Blues-Berries” will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 21 at the University Center Little Theatre on the Kean University campus, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union.

The play has previous been performed by the Writopia Lab in NYC. See the staging by clicking here.