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PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO SHARES CAST FOR
THE 38TH ANNUAL YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
JANUARY 5 - 26, 2025 AT CHICAGO DRAMATISTS
Chicago High School Playwrights Pen Three World Premieres that Delve Into the World of Relationships and Connections from Family to Past Love to Superheroes
Tickets go on Sale Monday, Nov. 25
Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the cast of the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 5 - 26, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 2 - Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Monday, Nov. 25 at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via YPF@PegasusTheatreChicago.org.
Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've been familiar with The Young Playwrights Festival for decades. My son participated in this excellent program during his high school years at Lane Tech, and had his play workshopped in class in 2019. And a close friend of mine's daughter made it to the finals and had her play produced years ago. What an incredible opportunity for Chicago's high school writers and theatre lovers! This year I'm jazzed to see one of my son's closest friends (and fellow Northwestern Theatre grad) is cast as an understudy. The talent runs deep on and off stage for this unique fest.
The Young Playwrights Festival is the oldest such festival in the United States and this competition typically receives more than 300 submissions annually! Three new winning works by Chicago teens have been chosen to be work-shopped and staged by industry professionals and receive a premiere under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s Young Playwrights Festival.
These excellently written one acts all deal with the World of Relationships and Connections. Each piece is creative and unique, with well developed characters and plots, all interlocking to provide an insightful and entertaining production. These young authors are wise beyond their years and it's a treat to see their scripts spring to life on stage, in the hands of professional actors.
The festival has gotten more competitive in the passing years, with a deep talent pool, and increasing numbers of submissions. Come support the future and check out some excellent new talent.
The 2025 Young Playwrights Festival Cast:
Top Row: (L to R) Lexi Alioto, Shenise Brown, Collin Callahan
Second Row: (L to R) Jacob Coggshall, Ben Izlar Jr, Noelle Oh
Third Row: (L to R) Diego Rivera-Rodriguez with understudies Emma Fulmer, Lawrence Green
Fourth Row: (L to R) Jake Jones and Benjamin Jouras
“The 2025 Young Playwrights Festival brings some exciting new works for the new year from new voices to Chicago,” said Executive and Producing Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan.”For 38 years, Pegasus has produced new plays as an outlet for the young writers’ creativity. We look forward to sharing these playwrights’ stories inspiring the next generation of writers and audiences.”
The 38th Young Playwrights Festival includes:
Family Fishing Trip by Lydia Vodopic
(Lane Tech College Prep High School, Teacher: Kirsten Hanson)
Directed by Ruben Carrazana
Sal takes his kids Jenny and Mike on a family fishing trip that takes a turn for the worse. When secret schemes are uncovered and possible criminal activity is involved, this family has to put their differences aside and work together to make it back home.
Love & Gyros by Lily Zhang
(Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)
Directed by Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke
After decades apart, James and Cecelia, two former high school sweethearts, bump into each other at a restaurant on a faraway island in Greece. Throughout the evening, fragments of the past are revealed and revisited in this recollection of youth, time and memory.
Superheroes Anonymous by Carolina Boss
(Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)
Directed by Ilesa Duncan
Several undercover superheroes meet in the basement of a Pump It Up for a support group where they discuss their problems.
The cast of the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes Lexi Alioto, Shenise Brown, Collin Callahan, Jacob Coggshall, Ben Izlar Jr, Noelle Oh and
Diego Rivera-Rodriguez with understudies Emma Fulmer, Lawrence Green, Jake Jones and Benjamin Jouras.
The current production team for the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes: Ruben Carrazana (director, Family Fishing Trip); IIesa Duncan (director, Superheroes Anonymous); Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke (director, Love & Gyros); Harrison Ornelas (scenic designer); Josh Wroblewski (lighting designer); Cecelia Chan (props designer); Alex Albrecht (sound designer); Adi Davis (production manager) and Jessica Minogue (stage manager).
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
ABOUT RUBEN CARRAZANA, DIRECTOR, Family Fishing Trip
Ruben Carrazana is an actor, director, writer, producer and teaching artist originally from Miami. After working professionally in the Dallas theater scene for several years, he moved to Chicago, and was formerly the community engagement manager at Northlight Theatre. Carranza is a recipient of the Eisemann Edge Initiative grant with OutLoud Dallas, the Edyth Renshaw Award, an Activating Vacancy grant from bcWORKSHOP and the National Endowment for the Arts, a TACA Resiliency Initiative Grant, an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and a three-time recipient of grants from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. He also co-founded The Tribe, a theater collective dedicated to the development of original work in Dallas, and named a Dallas Mastermind by the Dallas Observer. He is currently a Steering Committee member of the Cultural Access Collaborative. He holds a BFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University.
ABOUT ILESA DUNCAN, DIRECTOR, Superheroes Anonymous
Ilesa Duncan is the executive and producing artistic director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the former artistic director and an ensemble member at Lifeline Theatre. She has directed numerous plays for Pegasus’ Young Playwrights Festival as well as Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea, Eclipsed (Jeff Nominated), Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery (Jeff Nominated), Rutherford’s Travels (Jeff Nominated, co-adapter), The Green Book, For Her as a Piano, and Blacula: Young, Black & Undead. At Lifeline, she recently directed the Jeff Nominated Native Son, From the Mississippi Delta, Neverwhere (Jeff Recommended 2018) and Blue Shadow (2010 KidSeries Premiere). A producer, director, writer, educator and theater-maker, Duncan is an avid collaborator on new work. Duncan has also worked with The Goodman, Writers Theatre, Congo Square, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington D.C.) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). As an educator, she has led youth development and arts education programs in Chicago for more than 13 years. She is a past awardee of an NEA/TCG Directing fellowship and a 3 Arts Ragdale’s Fellowship. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab and the Chicago Director’s Lab and is an associate artist with Chicago Dramatists (where she previously served as education and community engagement director).
ABOUT RESHMI HAZRA RUSTEBAKKE, DIRECTOR, Love & Gyros
Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke is a multi-faceted film and theater maker who develops work as a creator, director, producer, storyteller and curator. She works creatively developing new work and also directing, producing and production managing many varieties of shoots and plays. She has worked at The Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Free Street and many more. She is the co-director of critically acclaimed BRUJOS and director for 8,000, FOBia,The Haven, Ethel and Agnes, Geeta’s Guide to Moving On and several more projects in development. She has her BFA from New York University, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. During her time in New York, she received the Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, as well as the Artist of Color Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop.
ABOUT PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO
Pegasus Theatre Chicago has been a mainstay in the Chicago theater community for more than four decades. Its mission is to champion new, authentic voices and produce boldly imaginative theatre primarily by and about black or other people of color. Home of the Young Playwrights Festival, the company promotes cultural equity while celebrating intercultural communication. Pegasus is committed to initiating important conversations through the arts with strong community engagement and socially relevant programming. The Young Playwrights Festival for high school-age scribes celebrates its 38th year in 2025. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received 77 Joseph Jefferson Awards since its inception.
Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 5 - 26, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 2 - Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30 and go on sale Monday, Nov. 25 at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via YPF@PegasusTheatreChicago.org.
The 38th Young Playwrights Festival is made possible with the generous support of Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation at Field Foundation (ART), Polk Bros. Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Festival is also made possible in part by an Illinois Arts Council Agency grant.
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