Winners Announced For Phillips' Mill Emerging Playwright Competition

NEW HOPE, PA — The Phillips’ Mill Community Association has announced the winners of its 5th Annual Emerging Playwright Competition. The short plays will be performed at a staged reading at the Mill on Saturday, November 19 at 7 p.m. The public is invited.

The Emerging Playwright Competition, launched five years ago, attracts talented playwrights
within a 100-mile radius of New Hope. The EPC encourages new work by novice and seasoned
playwrights alike and brings it to the stage.

"The six winning playwrights’ works are excellent,” remarked Fran Young, director of the 2022
staged readings. “All six, touching plays focus on family and personal relationships. I am so
happy to be able to cast these plays with eleven talented actors, all of whom are returning to
the Mill stage after lending their talents in previous EPC readings and the Mill’s spring musical
comedy cabaret. This promises to be an entertaining night of theater," concluded Young.

And the winners are “Brambles” by Bruce Walsh of Elizabethtown; “One Word“ by Bara
Swain of New York, NY; “Counterfeit Truths” by Jonathan Heaps, also of New York, NY;
“Handshake Deal” by Diane Sansevere-Dreher of New Hope; “You Love Me” by Jim Moss of Branchburg, NJ; and “The Guestbook” by Patti Veconi of Brooklyn, NY.

Bios and photos of the winning writers can be found at www.phillipsmill.org/drama/emerging-playwright-competition.

The very talented actors who breathe life into the characters include Timothy Wade, Matt DiMarino, Kevin Nalty, Laura Brenner-Scotti, Jo Johnson, Madison Branch, J. Edward Diamond, Cecily Laidman, Michael Weisser, Nancy Vander Zwan, Fran Young and Rick Goodwin. The
Phillips’ Mill Community Association is grateful to these actors who support the EPC and
generously give their time and talent to reading the winning plays. You can learn more about
the actors on the Mill website, www.phillipsmill.org/drama.

"I look forward to the culmination of the EPC, which is the evening the plays are read on stage," said Valerie Eastburn, Chairman of the Drama Committee and Mill board member. "From the collaboration of judges who select the winning plays and the director who casts and directs the readings and the actors who read the plays, to the playwrights in the audience hearing their plays read and witnessing the impact they have on the audience, and very importantly, the response of the audience to each play – it’s simply an exhilarating experience."

Sherry Freidman, a 2021 EPC winner and a judge in this year’s competition commented, "Phillips' Mill is a wonderful venue for emerging playwrights to hear their work read before a live audience and receive feedback to further develop their plays."

Judge Wilbert Turner observed, “What these plays have in common is strong interaction between characters through dialogue. I look forward to the performers bringing the words to life with their readings. As a playwright, I am always excited most by that part of the process. It should be a wonderful evening for everyone.”

The Nov. 19 event includes a wine reception and moderated discussion between the playwrights and audience following the readings. There is no charge for this event, but reservations are requested. The Phillips’ Mill Community Association is located at 2619 River Road, New Hope.

For more information about the Emerging Playwright Competition, the reading event, and to reserve a place, visit www.phillipsmill.org/drama/emerging-playwright-competition.