22nd Annual Young Playwrights Festival presented by Pegasus Players at Truman College- O'Rourke Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Predictability is present in all the work (though a temporary power outage during McAndrew's piece on opening night provided some excitement). But so are youthful enthusiasm and an earnest desire to confront painful issues, which help make the undeniably derivative themes easier to take. And these are, of course, young voices -- not cynical old hands recycling past favorites for commercial gain."

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...Four smart, imaginative, high school-bred female dramatists whose work is being showcased have a great deal on their minds -- everything from the marital infidelities of Shakespeare and the complexity of slave era families to the high anxiety of graduation and the way dreams can sometimes be passed from one generation of women to the next. These insightful young women demonstrate an impressive ability to translate their sophisticated ideas into zesty dialogue and utterly believable action."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...Even if some of the selected plays' quality is in question, this young playwrights edition is tops in production values and acting. Set designer Jack Magaw frames the stage with a lively collage of historical teenage portraits which glimmer game-show style by lighting designer Diane Fairchild. The acting company is also to be commended as they morph through multiple roles and professionally play the dialogue."

Chicago Free Press - Recommended

"...Every year I try to make this show one of the first reviews. The one-acts, culled and workshopped from 700 contributions by Chicago teen dramatists, in effect reinvent the theatrical wheel, returning drama to its source in make-believe that simulates, makes sense and sometimes improves on reality. More playful and less predictable than past offerings, the 2008 harbingers, all written by young women, combine a strong sense of structure with no fear of feeling."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...The effects of the mentorship by Lisa Dillman, Aaron Carter, Tanya Saracho A. and Marisa Wegtzyn that taught writing skills to hundreds of teens sure proved to raise the level of sophistication of the winning plays. The YPF program is a wonderful treasure that needs to continue to expand so it can help find the next great playwrights."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...The performance consisted of four one-act plays that featured a mentorship program for the high school students to pair up with professional playwrights to help tweak and guide the play in its best collaborative form. Obviously this is a great opportunity for the novice playwrights and I wish it could be available to more than four plays/playwrights, as the chosen work I saw failed to capture my full attention."