Pittsburgh-Area Student Wins BLT Drama Writing Contest
Pittsburgh-area student Paige Kiliany has won first prize in the inaugural “Young Dramatist Contest” sponsored by Bradford Little Theatre. An eleventh-grader at Shady Side Academy, Kiliany won the award with a one-act play titled “Before I Go.”
The contest began last Fall, with announcements sent to high schools throughout western Pennsylvania and New York. “We’re looking for ways to stimulate interest in theater among young people,” said Diane Kerner Arnett, President of Bradford Little Theatre, a community-theater organization.
“We have produced many plays with parts for young actors, at both the grade- and high-school levels, but we were looking for a way besides acting to get kids involved in the theatrical experience,” Arnett explained. “We thought a writing contest would be one way to do that.”
The judge for the contest’s finalists was Dr. Kevin Ewert, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and past General Manager and Artistic Associate of the Unseam’d Shakespeare Company of Pittsburgh.
In commenting on the winning play, Ewert noted that “Most young playwrights have a tendency to overwrite, to spell everything out, to hammer the emotions or signal every little twist well in advance. What I found especially admirable with this piece was its restraint, so that its effect crept up on me as I read.”
In addition to a cash prize, the contest winner receives a staged reading of her play by Bradford Little Theatre members. “Before I Go” will premiere in this version at the Bradford Area Public Library on Saturday, May 10 at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Paige is the daughter of Gary and Roxane Kiliany of Gibsonia. Her interest in theater dates back several years, to performances in Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera summer productions beginning at the age of eleven. She has also performed in school productions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Footloose,” “South Pacific,” and “Into the Woods.”
Paige’s favorite classes in school are in the subject of English, and she credits her Contemporary Drama instructor, Angela Irvine, with awakening her interest in writing plays. She plans to concentrate on Theatre in her college studies, with an interest in directing.
The contest began last Fall, with announcements sent to high schools throughout western Pennsylvania and New York. “We’re looking for ways to stimulate interest in theater among young people,” said Diane Kerner Arnett, President of Bradford Little Theatre, a community-theater organization.
“We have produced many plays with parts for young actors, at both the grade- and high-school levels, but we were looking for a way besides acting to get kids involved in the theatrical experience,” Arnett explained. “We thought a writing contest would be one way to do that.”
The judge for the contest’s finalists was Dr. Kevin Ewert, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and past General Manager and Artistic Associate of the Unseam’d Shakespeare Company of Pittsburgh.
In commenting on the winning play, Ewert noted that “Most young playwrights have a tendency to overwrite, to spell everything out, to hammer the emotions or signal every little twist well in advance. What I found especially admirable with this piece was its restraint, so that its effect crept up on me as I read.”
In addition to a cash prize, the contest winner receives a staged reading of her play by Bradford Little Theatre members. “Before I Go” will premiere in this version at the Bradford Area Public Library on Saturday, May 10 at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Paige is the daughter of Gary and Roxane Kiliany of Gibsonia. Her interest in theater dates back several years, to performances in Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera summer productions beginning at the age of eleven. She has also performed in school productions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Footloose,” “South Pacific,” and “Into the Woods.”
Paige’s favorite classes in school are in the subject of English, and she credits her Contemporary Drama instructor, Angela Irvine, with awakening her interest in writing plays. She plans to concentrate on Theatre in her college studies, with an interest in directing.
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