NEW VOICES 2026
18 students, ages 14-18, from all over Ukraine, met joined YPU on Zoom to write short plays in response to war.
The original YPU writers mentored the young writers and joined them in meetings.
Distinguished writers, directors and actors, included director Sammi Cannold, playwright Kate Robin, playwright Jonathan Mark Sherman, actor and Juilliard faculty Kathleen McNenny, playwright Neena Beber, playwright Natalie Margolin, and actor Petro Ninovskyi conducted workshops.
The project culminated in a Zoom reading with professional actors including Evan Handler, Samantha Mathis, Kelly AuCoin, and Petro Nonovskyi on June 6th, 2026
THIS IS NOT A DREAM: 9 Ten-Minute Plays by Young Playwrights Ukraine
published by Smith&Kraus
A book signing and reading held at The Drama Book Shop was recorded for the Drama Book Show podcast and featured actors Thomas Sadoski, Erik Jenkins, Delilah Napier, Petro Ninovskyi, Taya Fedorenko.
A panel with Laura Cahill and YPU members Taya Fedorenko and Karina Syrota was hosted by podcaster and actress Ilana Levine of Little Known Facts.
The Drama Book Shop, July 2025
We Can’t Be That Special - A Devised Play Project
A devised play based on interviews conducted by YPU writers in Ukraine in January 2025
Reading, Vineyard Theatre Studio
Actors, Taylor Dunbar, Brynn Gauthier, Rory Greenwood, Julia Kim Caldwell, Leonardo Kahn, Petro Ninovskyi, and Lily Mo Sheen
October 2025
ONE NIGHT IN KYIV
In 2024, the writers conceived of an idea. It would be one play made of intertwining stories written by several writers all taking place over the course of an evening. Starting with friends at a cafe, ignoring an air alert and ending in a shelter where neighbors and friends gather, including the family of a ten year-old boy celebrating is birthday.
Readings of the play were held on Zoom with professional actors, with and without an audience over several months.
Actors included Kelly AuCoin, Julie Boyd, Catherine Curtin, Jonny-James Kajoba, Dina Spybey-Waters, Petro Ninovskyi, and Ella Stiller.
November-October 2024
Mentorship Project
On April 1st, 2023, distinguished playwrights and directors joined the YPU family to teach and guide the young writers. The mentorship project culminated in a reading of 9 ten-minute plays on Zoom on August 20th, 2023.
The mentors of the plays were Will Arbery, Peter Hedges, Billy Finnegan, Jessica Goldberg, Daniel Goldfarb, Jacquelyn Reingold, Kate Robin, Alexis Scheer.
The plays were directed by Mark Brokaw, Maggie Burrows, Sammi Cannold, Suzanne Heathcote, Peter Hedges, Jodie Markell, Paul McCrane, Tyne Rafaeli, Lars Rudolfsson, and Danya Taymor.
With the following cast: Becky Ann Baker, Reed Birney, Scott Cohen, Maddie Corman, Sharlene Cruz, Catherine Curtin, Alex Feldman, Midori Francis, David Harbour, Cherry Jones, Ulliana Klimchuk, Oona Laurence, Alessandra Mesa, Ani Mesa, Petro Ninovskyi, Mary Beth Peil, Isabel Renner, Thomas Sadoski, Ivanna Sakhno, Liev Schreiber, Michael Shannon, Joe Tippett, Harriet Walter, Merritt Wever, and Emily Young.
April 1st-September 1st 2023