Kumu Kahua Theatre and Bamboo Ridge Press Reveal the Winner of the September 2024 Go Try PlayWrite Contest

The September Go Try PlayWrite winner is Matthew Miller for his piece Hell, If I Know. Matthew Miller is an improviser. Born and raised on Oahu, Matthew doesn’t usually write because Matthew has a difficult time being creative in that medium, but Matthew sometimes gets lucky performing in small parts around Oahu instead. Some credits include the wacky American family farce Death of A Salesman (MVT, 2024), the serious British period dramas The Play That Goes Wrong (MVT, 2023) and The 39 Steps (MVT, 2022), and the light hearted American comedy Qualities of Starlight (TAG, 2022). There could be more, or it is all an hallucination from working in corporate. The only thing that Matthew knows for sure is that the One Piece is real!

September 2024 Prompt: 

A joke prompt. First write a joke at the top of the page. The joke does not have to be an original joke you made up. It can be a joke you heard. Then write a ten page maximum scene dramatizing the joke. “Knock knock,” jokes; “why did the…?,” jokes; “did you ever notice”; etc. Any joke you’d like to see acted out. Also, you can just use the joke as inspiration for the scene. You do not have to have a chicken crossing the road…or, you can, if you like.

Each month Kumu Kahua Theatre co-sponsors this playwriting contest with Bamboo RidgePress in their combined effort to nurture local playwrights and authors. Each month a different judge is pulled from amongst the theatre practitioners in the Hawaii theatre community. All plays submitted are read by Kumu Kahua Theatre Artistic Director, Harry Wong III. 


Contest Rules: Each entrant must write a 5-page monologue and/or a 10-page scene based on monthly requirements. Each month a new prompt will be chosen by Kumu Kahua Theatre’s Artistic Director. The prompt will be given on or by the 1st of the month and the due date will always be the last day of the month. All entries must be written in traditional play format; instructions on this format can be found here: https://www.dramatistsguild.com/script-formats courtesy of the Dramatists Guild. 

There will be one winner each month. Scripts will be submitted to the judges anonymously. So please do not put your name on the cover of your script. Winners will receive $100.00 and a subscription to Bamboo Ridge Press. 

They are now accepting entries for the October Go Try PlayWrite Contest!

October 2024 Prompt: 

A shoyu prompt. Write a ten page maximum scene about a conflict at a family party arising from which shoyu to use on a dish, Kikkoman or Aloha. I know there are other brands and please feel free to include them, but I think that local Hawai‘i households divide along these two brands. The conflict can arise from either the use of shoyu in preparation of a dish or use after the dish has been made as a garnish.

Click Here to enter