Here are the winners of IRT’s statewide playwriting competition

The Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) named Mei Kihara and Lucille Ansell winners of the 2024 Young Playwrights in Process (YPIP). The annual playwriting competition, which was created in 2005 through the Margot L. and Robert S. Eccles Trust, is for Indiana students, grades 6-12. The YPIP program aims to encourage middle and high school students across the state to dip their hand in playwriting and produce works that reflect and challenge the world they live in. Kihara and Ansell, who won the middle school and high school divisions, respectively, were chosen out of 120 submissions across the state.& Each submission was reviewed by a committee of theater and writing professionals over five months. Out of the submissions, 25 semi-finalists were chosen and invited to attend a voluntary day-long workshop with IRT’s Playwright in Residence James Still and Resident Dramaturg Richard J. Roberts. READ MORE: IRT presents play based on artist Frida Kahlo After completing the workshop, each of the semi-finalists submitted their work, then Still, Roberts and guest advisor Arora Real de Asua selected six finalists — Ella Haynes, Leon Xiang, Lucille Ansell, Nandini Kondhare, Ronit Mengele and Mei Kihara. From there, Kihara and Ansell were selected as winners. The...