LOS ANGELES -- The Blank Theatre Company is now accepting submissions for its eighth annual Young Playwrights Festival, through April 1, 2000. Winning plays will be mounted by professional actors and directors in June 2000.

The Festival is a national competition which produces the work of eight to 12 teenage playwrights each year. Since its inception, the Festival has produced more than 70 plays by fledgling playwrights.

The rules for the competition are: playwrights must be 19 years of age or younger on April 1, 2000; the original plays and musicals can be of any length on any subject matter, but must be legible. Pages must be numbered and submitted unbound; submissions must be postmarked by April 1, 2000, limit of three plays per person. All plays must include a cover sheet with the play's title, playwright's name, date of birth, school (if any), home address and home phone number.

Each nominated play will be assigned a mentor who will help the writer hone his work for performance. Past mentors have included Terrence McNally, Jack Heifner, Constance M. Burge, Nora Dunn and Garry Marshall, among others. After rewrites, the playwright will be able to see his work performed by industry professionals in fully staged workshop propductions.

Last year's winning play Boy, by 18-year-old Beth Bigler, was nominated for an L.A. Weekly Award for One-Act Playwrighting. For more information, check out the company's website at www.theblank.com or contact Chritopher Steele, Festival producer, at (323) 662-7734. -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent