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FST Receives Publix Supermarkets Charities Grant To Support Write A Play 2024-2025 Season

January 16, 2025

January 16, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Wendy Kiesewetter
Marketing and Media Relations Associate
(941) 366 – 9017 ext. 338
wkiesewetter@floridastudiotheatre.org

FST Receives Publix Supermarkets Charities Grant To Support Write A Play 2024-2025 Season

SARASOTA, Fla. — Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is pleased to announce a $5,000 charitable gift from Publix Supermarkets Charities to support its WRITE A PLAY program during the 2024–2025 season. Publix Supermarkets Charities has been a steadfast partner of WRITE A PLAY since 1995, helping FST reach more than 38,000 students annually.

WRITE A PLAY is an arts-in-education initiative that encourages creativity, strengthens literacy, and instills an appreciation of the arts. Now entering its 34th year, WRITE A PLAY equips students with the tools and inspiration to craft original plays. The program celebrates their achievements through interactive performances, hands-on workshops, and full productions of their winning plays at the annual Young Playwrights Festival.

“Thanks to the generous support of Publix Charities, we are able to make our WRITE A PLAY program accessible to more children in our community,” says Caroline Saldivar, Director of Children’s Theatre at Florida Studio Theatre. Their commitment helps us introduce young minds to the magic of live theatre, inspire them to create their own plays, and celebrate their creativity with full productions of the winning plays at our Young Playwrights Festival. We’re incredibly grateful for their ongoing partnership in nurturing the next generation."

Since its inception in 1991, WRITE A PLAY has impacted the lives of over 1 million children. The program reaches a diverse population, with a strong emphasis on students attending Title I and underserved schools. For many, WRITE A PLAY provides their first experience with live theatre.

Florida Studio Theatre extends its heartfelt gratitude to Publix Supermarkets Charities for their enduring support, which continues to enrich the lives of students across the region.

For more information about WRITE A PLAY or to support FST’s outreach initiatives, visit floridastudiotheatre.org.

ABOUT PUBLIX SUPERMARKETS CHARITIES
At Publix Charities, we endeavor to support nonprofit organizations that assist people in need within our communities, so that they have the opportunity to lead successful lives. We are dedicated to preserving the dignity and value of the human spirit in the face of adversity, determined to offer people hope and a choice for the future, and devoted to the highest standards of community involvement as demonstrated by our founder, George W. Jenkins.

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About Florida Studio Theatre

Known as Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Artist Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company then acquired the former Woman’s Club building, becoming the first permanent venue. Shortly after Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins arrived, the building was purchased and renamed The Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its five theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Gompertz Theatre, the Parisian style Goldstein Cabaret and John C. Court Cabaret, and Bowne’s Lab Theatre. 

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience.  FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world.  As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.

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