The 38th Young Playwrights Festival highlights three world premiere plays that highlight the world of relationships and connections from past love to family to superheroes. This year’s winning plays are:
Love & Gyros by Lily Zhang | Directed by Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke
After decades apart, James and Cecelia, two former high school sweethearts, bump into each other at a restaurant on New Year’s Eve 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.
Family Fishing Trip by Lydia Vodopic | 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.
Superheroes Anonymous by Carolina Boss | Directed by Ilesa Duncan
A group of undercover superheroes gather at a special support group for the opportunity to discuss their problems. But the meeting organizer turns out to be a wealthy teenage tech genius, who has ulterior motives for bringing the group together.
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 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); Marquecia Jordan (costume designer); Cecelia Chan (props designer); Alex Albrecht (sound designer); Adi Davis (production manager) and Jessica Minogue (stage manager).
Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s 38th Annual Young Playwrights Festival runs January 2 – 26, 2025 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Tickets are available Thursday, Jan. 2 – Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The performance then continues Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 – $30.
Tickets: Adults: $30 | Seniors: $25 | Students: $15
Student Matinee Tickets: teachers and school administrators should contact ypf@pegasustheatrechicago.org
About the Artists
Lexi Alioto (she/her) credits include Theater Wit, PrideArts, The Second City, Black Ensemble, First Folio, Lifeline, and The Annoyance. She toured with Second City’s hit show, She The People, at both San Diego Repertory Theater and Boston’s Huntington Theatre. She is a comedic writer with her group, Hot Girls and improviser with BLANK! The Musical at The Revival Theater. Lexi is thrilled to be a part of Pegasus’ YPF 38! Rep: Grossman & Jack Talent. Follow @aalioto92.
Shenise Brown (she/her) credits include Black Ensemble’s Urban Love Story and Remus & the Black History Museum; The Garbologist (US) and Intimate Apparel (US-Northlight Theatre); and MPAACT’S Master Comic, and Spoken Word(Jeff nominated and Black Theater Alliance and African American Arts Alliance awards for her role as Michilla). Brown graduated from Columbia College Chicago and is excited to join the YPF38 team. Instagram: @Shenise Danyél
Colin Callahan (they/he) redits include The Trial in the Delta (Collaboraction) and at UIC: Not About Nightingales, The Strangers, The Lover. Film Credits: “Paradox Chamber” (Matthew Evan Balz), “All That Glitters” (Triad Pictures), “If I Could Write Love Into Men”, and “Talking S#*t!” Colin recently graduated with a BFA from UIC. http://colincallahanartist.com/ Instagram: @coliincallahan
Jacob Coggshall (he/him) is excited to make his Pegasus Theatre debut. Recent theatrical credits include Winter Garden (John Wilkes Booth) at Tin Drum Theatre Company and Indebted (Eris) at Subrosa Theatre Collective. A recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul, Jacob is represented by DDO Artists Agency.
Ben Izlar Jr. (he/him) Chicago credits include work at the Lions Theater, Black Ensemble Theater, and Raven. He is excited to add Pegasus Theatre to the list! Ben received a BFA from Montclair State.
Noelle Oh (she/they) recent credits include Descent and What Earth Does While You’re Asleep (Subtext Studio Theater– actor and contributing choreographer); and at UIC: The Lover, Lydia Diamond’s Smart People, and Gloria (UIC). Film credits: “All That Glitters”, “Samsara Mountain”, and “It Ends.”
Diego Rivera-Rodriguez (he/him) is excited to join YPF for his second year. He has most recently appeared in Becky, Nurse of Salem at shattered globe. Originally from Lawrence, Kansas, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in theatre performance and film production.
Emma Fulmer (she/they) recent credits include: Sin Aqua (Babes with Blades Theatre Company), Detroit 67 (Chicago Theatre Week), Blood at the Root (eta Creative Arts Foundation). She is a recent Columbia College Chicago grad who is thrilled to join YPF38 to further her love for new work.
Lawrence Eirik Green (he/him) is a Philadelphia native currently based in Chicago. Recent credits include: Ironbound at Raven Theater, Gold Dogma, a USC thesis film shown at the Micheaux International Film Festival, and Cluster XY, a Universidad de Argentina thesis series. He is an alumnus of Acting Studio Chicago, Black Box Studio, and Pennsylvania State University. Lawrence is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
Jake Jones (he/him) credits include Upstream (Indy Fringe), God Gun, and Destroy! All! Evidence! (Two Chairs Theatre Co.), Criminals Go to Prison (@ The Second City), Charlotte’s Web (Alphabet Soup Productions), and Dooby Dooby Moo (Lifeline Theatre). An Emilio Estevez Scholar and a BFA recipient from Wright State University, Jake is a member of sketch comedy group Catastrophic Success where he has performed at The Den and The Second City. @____jakejones
Benjamin Jouras (Βενιαμίν τζουράς – he/him) is a native Chicago artist whose recent credits include Te Cottage(Citadel Theatre), Dante 360 (The Athenaeum), and Measure for Measure (The Shakespeare Project). Ben was educated at Northwestern University, and regularly performs in immersive theatre productions throughout the city.