2016 WINNERS
It is with great pleasure that we announce the Winners, Finalists, and Scripts of Honorable Mention for the 2016 New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest. These playwrights should be very proud because their scripts were chosen from a plethora of well-written, meaningful scripts. The competition was exceptionally strong. Congratulations to all the playwrights cited below! FIRST PLACE
Legacy by Seth Freeman (See Log Line / Synopsis Below) SECOND PLACE: (a tie for Second Place) The Juggler by James Rayfield (See Log Line / Synopsis Below) The Politician's Wife by Angie Farrow (See Log Line / Synopsis Below) FINALISTS (alphabetical)
Addicted by David Hanson Dream House by Cassie M. Seinuk Exposure by Laura Zlatos Medea's Will by Alex Adams Rat Trap by Sherryl Melnyk Shaken by Deirdre Girard HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetical)
A Private Conversation by Maureen McGuirk Beethoven and Misfortune Cookies by Joan Ravenna Sussman Ben Franklin & Baron von Steuben vs. the Paine County School Board by Danielle Dresden Crib by Gino DiIorio Dancing with the Devil by Jim Lucason Felt Angels by Jenn Weatherall Foreclosure or Yelling at Women Walking Their Dogs by Raymond J. Barry I Was There by Sam Parry Like Home by John Shea Mary/Hunter by Brian Quirk My Brother's Keeper by Henry Miller Reliquary by Mark Kessler Save the Children by Tyler Powell The Life and Times of Francisco Javier Restrepo by Carlos Rojas The Sea Wife by Joseph Lauinger Tien the Pot Painter by Peter Bibby United by Toni Press-Coffman What Will People Think? by Anthoula Katsimatides When Words Fail by Lizi Shea PLAY LOG LINE / SYNOPSIS
2016 FIRST PLACE: Legacy by Seth Freeman A freshman girl is gang-raped by a group of fraternity members at one of their house’s legendary parties. When the school is slow to investigate, a young man probes the incident himself and is forced to confront his own behavior, that of his friends, and even his family. What he learns challenges what he had previously believed were the truths about his world and his life. 2016 SECOND PLACE: (a tie for Second Place) The Juggler by James Rayfield In this colorful, poignant play, the master of a dying art-form, a juggler, has his chaotic, sex-addicted life-style come flying back at him when he learns that his wife is dying from cancer. Bits and pieces of their lives surface as they struggle to come to terms with the impending loss of life and love, and their need for forgiveness. 2016 SECOND PLACE: (a tie for Second Place) The Politician's Wife by Angie Farrow A woman of great privilege becomes caught up in the refugee crisis. Torn between her loyalties to her conservative husband and her desire to help displaced people on an offshore island, she finds herself unwittingly at the centre of a national scandal. Now she must take a stance, and the consequences could throw her life, and various others', into turmoil. |
UPDATES FOR 2016 WINNERS
Legacy by Seth Freeman received a June 24, 2017 reading at NYC's 13th Street Repertory Company, directed by Joe Battista, Artistic Director at the Rep.
From Seth Freeman: "Thank you for the reading of Legacy. It won't surprise you to learn how much hard work, energy, thought and caring Joe (Battista) put into realizing the play in this form (a reading.) All of the talent and creativity paid off in what, by all accounts, was a genuinely powerful evening for everyone there. All performances were strong, and the two young leads were particularly believable and affecting... My thanks to Sandra Nordgren, June Rachelson-Ospa and Stephanie Nathan, and of course to the remarkable Joe Battista, for your faith in, and support of, this play." The Politician's Wife was short-listed for the Adam New Zealand Play Award 2016.
The Politician's Wife received a 2016 production at New Zealand's Centerpoint Theatre in Palmerston North. The Politician's Wife received a 2016 production at BAT''S Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. |