PHILADELPHIA – Barrymore Award-nominated director David O’Connor has been appointed to serve as the Resident Director of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, the award-winning program that taps the potential of youth and inspires learning through playwriting in more than 50 public and private K-12 schools each year. Having spent over 8 years working with students in the Young Playwrights program, O’Connor will serve as a consulting director, overseeing the upcoming Young Voices Monologue Festival and inspiring young writers to reach their full potential as artists.

“David really embodies the Young Playwrights organizational philosophy,” says Glen Knapp, Philadelphia Young Playwrights’ Executive Producing Director. Knapp explains the importance of having established, professional artists connect to the students as creative teammates. “David understands that if we approach students with respect and authenticity, we will get better work and the students will thrive.”

“I’ve seen first hand what it means for the playwrights to come into this program and not be treated like students but to be treated like working artists – not just taken seriously but pushed and challenged. Their ideas are not only listened to but deeply explored by a collaborative group of people. It’s life changing for anybody,” adds O’Connor.

O’Connor is a Barrymore Award-nominated director who has been a teaching artist with Philadelphia Young Playwrights since 2004. As a professional artist in the Philadelphia region, his credits include directing for Arden Theatre Company, PlayPenn, Hedgerow Theatre, the Philly Fringe and Lantern Theater Company, where he received a Barrymore nomination for “Master Harold”…and the boys and was named Philadelphia Weekly’s Director of the Year (2006).