J-D High School senior Alessio Vega is among twelve winners of the 2023 Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival in Los Angeles. The title comes with an amazing opportunity.
In the coming months, Alessio will work with a professional stage/screenwriting mentor to revise his original short play “Opus 9, No. 2.” He will also participate in the rehearsal process with a professional stage director and actors. His play will run in the live festival over a four night period this summer.
“I made it a point for my senior year to “say yes more” and it led to so many new exciting opportunities for me, like this one. I think that anytime you have an opportunity to try something new, you owe it to yourself to just say yes, because you never know where you may land. This has been an amazing opportunity and I’m grateful for J-D and for everyone that helped to make it possible” said Alessio Vega.
“Opus 9, No. 2.” premiered at this year’s J-DHS Playwrights Festival in March. It was also performed during Syracuse Stage’s Young Playwrights Festival alongside plays written by four other J-D winners.
High school English Teacher Matthew Phillips says Alessio’s musical talents have been well recognized in the J-D community, but many don’t realize he’s also an excellent writer and dramatic performer.
“Opus 9” is a mature and sophisticated play that challenges the audience as well as the performers. It’s very rare to see a high school student write a script like this one, so I’m thrilled that professional organizations like Syracuse Stage and The Blank Theatre have chosen to bring Alessio’s vision to the live stage” said Phillips.
This marks the fourth year in a row a J-D student has won the Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival. J-DHS Graduate Alethea Shirilan-Howlett ’20 won the contest in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Unfortunately, COVID-19 forced the productions to be virtual, so she never had the chance to go to Los Angeles to help with the production.
Congratulations Alessio!