Inspired by the Humana Festival of New American Plays, the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival premieres ten-minute plays written by local high school students. Each playwright has the opportunity to collaborate with peer writers, a dramaturg, a director and the 2016-2017 Professional Training Company. Through playwright workshops, dramaturgy discussions, production meetings and rehearsals, the New Voices playwrights play an active and integral role in shaping their productions. The entire process culminates in an evening of fully-produced theatre performed by the Acting Apprentices of the Professional Training Company.

The eight plays chosen for the festival this year were selected from 35 schools in twenty counties and from a record-breaking 876 submissions, written independently and through the New Voices Playwriting Residencies. The eight playwrights represent eight schools in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.