Where Theatre is Born

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Announcing the Winners of the 26th Annual MiniPlay Competition

Mini Play Camp
Saturdays, January 16 - March 6
10:00am - 3:00pm
Mandatory Tech Rehearsal: Sunday, March 7, 2010
3rd Grade - High School
Tuition: $120 (payment plans/scholarships available)
Location: The Project School at 349 South Washington

Mini Play Festival
Performances: March 8 & 9 2010 at 7:00 pm
Tickets: $8 at the door
Location: Rhinos All Ages Music Club at 331 South Washington

Winners for the 26th annual Mini Play competition have been revealed. The BPP received nearly 250 play submissions to the contest, out of which only nine were selected, each demonstrating great emerging talent.

Elementary and middle school students wrote on the theme of "Engaging the Environment". They spun tales that included coal mining mountain top removal, endangered sea turtles, sentient toxic sludge monsters, and two children on a quest to save their world from an eternity of dead trees and scorched earth. High school students were not required to write on a theme. Their plays ranged from two parents who just wish their kids would go to sleep, a tale of a woman finding her place in the antebellum south even if it's in men's clothing, and a sweet tale of a painter who paints with astonishing strokes of reality.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Elementary School Division

First Place: The Flowering Flute by Ping Showalter, 5th grade, University Elementary School, Whitney Coake, teacher

Second Place: Tomorrow Will be Better by Emma Cannon, 5th grade, University Elementary School, Whitney Coake, teacher

Third Place: The Patch by Emilie Elizabeth Goswami, 4th grade, University Elementary School, Liesel Loudermilk, teacher

Middle School Division

First Place: Sea Turtles in a Dilemma by Savannah Lee, 8th grade, Batchelor Middle School, Brenda Polley, teacher

Second Place: Up in Smoke by Charlotte Wager Miller, 6th grade, University Elementary School, Erin Cerwinski, teacher

Third Place: Toxic Karma by Brynn Parkinson, 8th grade, Batchelor Middle School, Brenda Polley, teacher

High School Division

First Place: Ahh, Parenthood by Elizabeth Anderson, 9th grade, Bloomington South High School, teacher, Catherine Rademacher

Second Place: The Painter by Mary Rose Choi, 11th grade, Bloomington South High School, teacher, Catherine Rademacher

Third Place: Love at the Wrong Time by Nicole Cox, 9th grade, Bloomington South High School, teacher, Catherine Rademacher

Producing Artistic Director

Rabinovitz, who takes up the position of Producing Artistic Director of the Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP) in mid-September, arrives in town with impressive credentials.

Chad began his career as a freelance director while still an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a dual degree in theater and business (with a concentration in marketing).

Since that time he has directed more than fifty productions across the country focusing mostly on new and contemporary work. He has served as Artistic Director at the Crested Butte Mountain Theater (Colorado); Education Director of the Greenbrier Valley Theater (Lewisburg, West Virginia), Assistant Managing Director of the Northern Lights Playhouse (Hazelhurst, Wisconsin); and Artistic Associate of Westport Country Playhouse (Connecticut). Immediately prior to coming to Bloomington, he directed shows in NYC, Ohio, Colorado, and CT. His production of The Pavilion at Westport Country Playhouse was personally sponsored by Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman and was well-reviewed by the NY Times.

In addition, Chad has been writing a book on the worst jobs celebrity actors held prior to their artistic careers blossoming. Gleaned from exclusive interviews, the book also contains the survival recipes of each well-known actor and will help to raise money for an important charity by donating one third of its proceeds to The Hole in the Wall Camps.

Dynamic, articulate, and very personable, Rabinovitz will build on the significant contributions of his predecessor, Richard Perez, in raising the local as well as national visibility of the BPP as a major force in the production of new plays over the past thirty years.

The following is a brief interview with the Mr. Rabinovitz about his new position at the BPP:

Of all the theaters in the country, what attracted you to BPP?

New Works! BPP is a theater company that's doing new plays in a community that's ready to support them. In the theater world it is imperative, vital, and critical that new plays are not only being written, but workshopped, fostered, and produced. While there is a place for theaters reinventing classics, I want to be a part of the theater that's bringing new voices and new ideas into the world. That's BPP and that's why I'm overjoyed to take on my new Artistic Director role!

Now that you've been named artistic director, how do you see the theater evolving over the next few years?

On a local level, it will continue to foster the work of new artists and bring high quality art to its audiences. I intend to raise the production levels and will strive to produce even greater performances than in its remarkable 30 year history. I see the theater becoming more integral to the community by collaborating with other businesses and interest groups and working together to support common missions. I want it to be the home for all artists in the community and the arts destination that Bloomington cannot live without. On a national level, I aim to link BPP with other theaters across the country, working towards innovation in theatrical partnerships and becoming a well-known entity throughout the theater community.

Why is it important that BPP produce new plays?

It is my firm belief that there is nothing more important right now in the theater community. If the majority of theaters continue to focus solely on the restaging of classic works then theater as an art form will quickly become a museum - an exhibit of what came before film. But theater can be more current, more intimate, and more theatrical! It's small theaters like BPP that are able to take risks on new works, develop them, and bring them to life. And what better place than in a diverse community that's home to a leading university? How cool is it that the theater in your own town is the place where theater can be reborn, reinvented, and reinvigorated? I feel so strongly about this that I've devoted my career to it!

What excites you about your move to Bloomington?

Mostly, I just can't wait to meet so many new people. Everyone I've met in Bloomington thus far has been exceptionally welcoming. I look forward to getting to know the community closely and to working hard at maximizing the incredible potential and undeniable value I see in Bloomington Playwrights Project.