Kumu Kahua Theatre Names 2026 Playwriting Contest Winners
Sean-Joseph Choo, Cathy Midori Stonie and Teagan Rae Staskawicz take top honors in three prize categories.
Kumu Kahua Theatre has announced the 2026 winners of its Annual Playwriting Contest, co-sponsored with the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Department of Theatre and Dance. The contest offers three categories focused on feature-length plays, with opportunities for both Hawai'i residents and non-residents to submit original scripts. Following a review by an impartial and distinguished panel of judges, the 2026 winner of the top $600 Hawai'i Prize—for plays exploring aspects of the Hawai'i experience—is Sean-Joseph Choo of Honolulu with his script, aloha state.
Cathy Midori Stonie of San Jose, CA has won the $450 Pacific/Rim Prize recognizing a play set in, or exploring, the Pacific Islands/Rim experience for her script In the Shadow of Mt. Fuji. Taking home the $250 Resident Prize, a category open to any story topic from residents of Hawaiʻi, is Teagan Rae Staskawicz of Honolulu with her play Hawaiian Sup'pa Man. Each of the winners, as well as all entrants from the Annual Playwriting Contest, also have the opportunity to become part of Kumu Kahua Theatre Competition Plays—a collection of manuscripts housed and bound in the Hawaiian & Pacific Collection, Hamilton Library on the UH Mānoa campus. This collection, under various titles, goes back to the 1940s, and is a historical record of the competition.
“Our annual competition brings together diverse voices—both well-established and emerging—all helping to grow and contribute to the vibrancy of local theatre and a celebration of stories either from or of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Rim,” said Harry Wong III, Kumu Kahua's Artistic Director. “These 2026 winners and their works are exciting and distinct examples of the power of the craft of playwrighting, and we're delighted to recognize their artistry and to continue this opportunity for future applicants.”
The call for the 2027 Annual Playwriting Contest is open now through Monday, January 4, 2027. Submission details are available at http://www.kumukahua.org/playwritingcontest.
In addition to the Annual Playwriting Contest designed for full-length scripts, storytellers are invited to submit short monologues and scenes (up to 5 and 10 pages respectively) to Kumu Kahua's monthly Go Try PlayWrite, created in collaboration with Bamboo Ridge Press. Go Try PlayWrite releases a new writing prompt on the first of each month, with scripts inspired by a particular prompt due at the end of that same month. The August 2026 prompt asks writers to explore interactions between neighbors in the aftermath of a hurricane. For further information on a variety of competitions, classes, and opportunities available for writer's of all levels, visit kumukahua.org/playwrights.
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