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Insights,
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Cultivating Community in a Virtual Space: PYP on TedX

9/16/2020

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Cultivating Community in a Virtual Space | Lisa Nelson-Haynes | TEDxPhiladelphiaSalon

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Can we create a community in a virtual space? Lisa Nelson-Haynes, Executive Director of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, explores the complexities of building communities during the stay-at-home orders and six feet of distance of the COVID-19 pandemic, while watching years of racial injustice hit a tipping point. Lisa walks us through her experiences in community building and identifies the steps needed to be a part of a community during this new normal. Believe it or not, it all starts with a YES.

​This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.​

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Press: Plymouth-Whitemarsh freshman has winning monologue about coronavirus

8/24/2020

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A great article featuring winning writer Mokeira Gekonge from our 2020 Digital Mouthful Monologue Festival.   Read it below, and then check out the Monologue Festival Performance!
Article: The Reporter
2020 Digital Mouthful Monologue Festival
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Monologue Writing Student Advice

4/29/2020

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​Two PYP Resident Plawyrights share their advice!

Video by: Kaya Trefz
Written Guide by: Brenden Dahl

Disclaimer: These are only suggestions and you should let you creativity soar!

  1. Know your world. It helps to develop as much context as you can for your monologue. Who is your character? What are the important relationships in their life? How old are they? Where are they right now? What time period is it? What external factors inform your character’s internal conflict?

  2. Motivate your monologue. Characters will likely have a reason why they give a monologue. What was the conflict or event that prompted them to speak? Are they speaking to another character? Are they convincing someone? Telling a story? Asking a question? Reflecting on the past or experiencing the present?

    This can change throughout the course of the monologue.

  3. Find your character’s voice. Everybody has a particular way that they speak. A 70-year-old retired British professor sounds very different than a bratty toddler. How does your character sound? What kind of language do they use? Do they speak in long or short sentences? Do they second-guess themselves a lot or do they plan out what they’re going to say? 

  4. Don’t be afraid to tell a story. Monologues can still absolutely have a clear beginning, middle, and end. For the beginning, try to grab the audience’s attention while also giving context for why the character is speaking. For the middle, try to move the “plot” along while also providing plenty of detail and small twists. For the end, try to find a way to wrap up the character’s thoughts without over-explaining. Trust the audience to derive meaning from the monologue themselves.

  5. Delete half of what you write. This may sound a bit extreme, but you can often tell the same story in half of the words you originally do. What can be inferred in between the lines? How can you “show” something happening versus “telling” it? 

  6. Read it out loud. Monologues are meant to be performed. Try having a friend or family member read your monologue out loud to you and really listen to how it sounds. Does it tell the story you want it to? Does it seem natural? Does it feel too short or too long? This will likely inform your revision process.
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Nearly Famous - Emma Q. Baxter

11/23/2016

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A Reflection on the
Paula Vogel Mentors Project Year 3


​By: Emma Q. Baxter




Check out the video of her play!
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The Paula Vogel Mentors Project was the first experience I’d had of its kind, working with people outside of my school (let alone professionals) to create a fully developed production of a play I had written. Looking back, a whopping 18 weeks later, I feel truly blessed to have been a part of it and I can only hope there will be similar opportunities in my future. From start to finish, the project presented me with joys and challenges like none I’d had before. I was exposed to parts of the theatre world I hadn’t known existed and to a part of myself as a writer I hadn’t known existed. I was writing at an unprecedented pace and with a renewed passion. And I think I owe it all to the people I was surrounded with, committed artists on the same wavelength as me. Not only were they dedicated to my own work, taking the time and energy to pore over it and bring it to life, they were also willing to teach me what they knew and guide me in navigating my craft in general. I’ve already caught myself reminiscing about our conversations and experiences together, centered around the things I cared about most and how they were expressed through art. The Paula Vogel Mentors Project showed me the corner of the world I want to live in—one where I can produce art that’s the best it can be, work capable of making a tangible difference. But that’s not even the best part—I get to see the work of others, too, and be the one affected by it, and become part of an inspiring cycle. I was already nostalgic as I edited the footage of this piece, finding it difficult to choose between clips of each moment from each of the two performances. I was again filled with the same feeling that rushed through me during rehearsal—that I’d taken part in creating something to be proud of, but it certainly wasn’t entirely mine. When the dry cleaning shop lived inside my head, when I sat on my bedroom floor and wrote furiously for hours on end, it belonged to me. But the second I printed my first draft and handed it to the members of my newfound community, it became a team effort. Nearly Famous couldn’t have been what it was without the Paula Vogel Mentors project, without the dedication and passion of the entire team behind it (at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Found Theater Company, and Writers Theatre of New Jersey). And for that I’m forever grateful. ​
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  • Programs
    • In School Programs
    • 2025 Annual Playwriting Festival
    • Community-Based Programs
  • About
    • Mission & History
    • People
    • Alumni
    • Supporters
    • Podcast
    • Press
    • Careers
    • Donate
  • Classes
    • Current Offerings
  • On Stage
    • SaturPLAY 2025
    • Play Development Series at Rutgers Camden
    • Play Development Series at Drexel
    • Play Development Series at CCP 2024
    • New Voices 2024
  • Resources
    • PYP at Home
    • Quarantine Challenge
    • For Students
    • For Educators
    • For Parents