Playhouse On The Square Announces 5th Annual Young Playwriting Competition

Hosted in partnership with Super Sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, AutoZone, International Paper, and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Playwrights for Change National Competition,

Play Slam! is a competition that invites middle and high school writers to create 10-minute plays surrounded by a given theme. The local winners advance to represent Memphis in the Playwrights for Change National Competition the summer of 2023.

All scripts submitted are adjudicated by a panel of judges that consist of the Play Slam! Coordinator, Playhouse on the Square staff, Resident Company members, and Mid-South writers & directors.

Previous submissions include students from the following local schools: Appling Middle School, Colonial Middle School, Homelife Academy, Lakeland Middle Prep, Maxine Smith STEAM Academy, St. Benedict at Auburndale, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School, Overton High School, Germantown High School, and White Station Middle and High Schools.

Last year's Play Slam! competition High School Division winner, MJ Learned, a senior at First Assembly Christian School in Cordova, TN, was named runner-up of the American Alliance for Theatre & Education Playwrights for Change National Competition. Lauryn Bonds, from Bon Lin Middle School in Bartlett, TN, was the 2020 National Winner with her play Brave.

Five finalists and one winner from the middle and high school divisions will have their scripts presented as staged readings; performed and directed by local professionals at Playhouse on the Square May 19-21, 2023.

This year's theme is:

What No One Talks About

It can take courage to speak about a difficult topic. Sometimes we avoid talking about something important among family and friends. What if we talked about what this is all about? Instead of squabbling about the small stuff. What's at the heart of it that no one seems to want to bring to light? What should be trending? What should everyone be talking about?

Scripts may be submitted online to education@playhouseonthesquare.org or postmarked by January 13, 2023. Mail scripts to: Playhouse on the Square, Attn: Play Slam! 66 S. Cooper St. Memphis, TN 38104.

The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) is among the most recognized arts education organizations. It works to ensure that every young person experiences quality theatre arts in their lives provided by proficient, talented artists and educators. AATE is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Through its membership of theatre artists, in-service and pre-service teachers, professors, directors, scholars and playwrights, AATE serves more than a million students in 48 U.S. states and 19 countries worldwide.

To post a comment, you must register and login.