Jewish Plays Project Brings Playwriting Contest to Toronto for First Time

The Jewish Plays Project  is coming to Toronto for the first time to present the 1st Annual Toronto Jewish Playwriting Contest, in a partnership with the Miles Nadal JCC (Deanna Di Lello), Harold Green Jewish Theatre, Koffler Arts, and the Kultura Collective (Sam Mogelonsky). The Contest will be held on Sunday, May 3 at 7 pm.

The writers whose work will be presented include Lila Rachel Becker (Washington, DC), Roee Joseph and translator Shir Friebach (Tel Aviv, ISR), and Jacob Surovsky (Los Angeles, CA). Actor, writer, and producer Hershel Blatt will produce the event at the MNJCC, and the evening will be directed and hosted by Illana Stein, JPP Director of Artistic Programs.

"These are critical days for Jews, and for our culture at large. At the JPP, we believe in Artistic Democracy, what it can accomplish in the world." said Mr. Winitsky. "Together with the Toronto community, we've advanced 9 new Jewish plays into 15 productions around the U.S. just in the last year alone. That impact is driven by your participation, and we can't wait to see you!"

"Bringing this internationally renowned competition to Toronto is long overdue! We are excited to share these bold and exciting new works with Toronto audiences and showcase the incredible talent in the city!" says Blatt.

This one-of-a-kind event is a combination of a TED Talk, a play reading and American Idol. Each of the three plays is introduced by a video from each playwright, then 20-minute excerpts are read by a stellar all-Canadian acting ensemble that includes Sarah Orenstein, Jonas Chernick, Ori Black, Hershel Blatt, Brittany Kay, and Anat Kriger.

The Contest is part of the JPP's wider effort to promote the best of new Jewish culture around the United States, Europe, Israel and Canada.

The Finalists for the National Jewish Playwriting Contest were selected from over 325 submissions from 28 states and 7 countries. A panel of Toronto arts luminaries selected the most important three plays, and audiences at the event will vote on one winner. The winning play will receive a developmental workshop as part of the Festival of New Jewish Theater in the fall of 2026.

The Toronto Top 3 plays are:

• Flatbush Lysistrata by Lila Rachel Becker (she/her) - Brooklyn/Washington, D.C.

Leah, Gali, and Shoshi gather at an axe-throwing parlor to plan a sex strike. They kibbitz, they scheme, they hurl axes. Also, there are a lot of interesting birds. A play about fundamentalism: what draws us to it and how women carve spaces for themselves within it.

• This Place Stinks by Jacob Surovsky (he/him) - Los Angeles, CA

A highly theatrical retelling of Noah's Ark that doesn't omit the dark and ugly parts of the story. Noah is a perfectionist who has been told to save the world, while his family is desperate to live up to his standards. Do you need to destroy the world to save it?

• Shura by Roee Joseph (he/him) - Tel Aviv, ISR

A playwright-soldier documents the impossible task of identifying the dead after Oct 7, uncovering the fragile line between witnessing horror and choosing life.

The JPP will hold similar regional contests in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Houston, Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, and New York City. More than 1,000 people will contribute to choosing the ultimate winner - a unique process that provides one-of-kind feedback to playwrights and invaluable audience response to prospective producers.

Find full information on all of the plays - including writer or agent contact information - at the JPP's website: www.jewishplaysproject.org. Interested producers, agents, and literary managers can email plays@jewishplaysproject.org.

About The Jewish Playwriting Contest

The Jewish Playwriting Contest seeks to discover, highlight, and nurture contemporary Jewish drama by engaging with artistic and Jewish communities throughout the English-speaking world. The Contest has received and vetted over 2,800 plays by 1,800 writers in 34 states and 10 countries. The JPP has actively developed 60 of those plays,419 of which have gone on to production in cities across the globe, including New York, Los Angeles, London, and Tel Aviv, playing for more than 130,000 audience members.

About The Jewish Plays Project

The Jewish Plays Project, founded in 2011, identifies, develops, and presents new works of theater via one-of-a-kind explorations of contemporary Jewish identity between audiences, artists, and patrons. The JPP's innovative and competitive development process engages Jewish communities in the vetting, selecting, and championing of new voices and secures mainstream production opportunities for the best new plays.