Infinitheatre's WRITE-ON-Q! Playwriting Competition Winners Announced

Every year Infinithéâtre looks for innovative, challenging and exciting new works by Québec playwrights. Plays developed by Infinithéâtre have been performed all over the island of Montréal and beyond, in Stratford Ontario, Toronto, British Columbia, in Ottawa at the NAC, New York, Tokyo, Cairo and Edinburgh.

For the past seven years, a major source of Infinithéâtre's new plays has been its annual Write-on-Q! Québec playwriting competition, including recent success Progress! by Alyson Grant which played a sold out run at the Royal Victoria Hospital legacy site, and Oren Safdie's Unseamly, the New York Times critics' pick that just closed Off-Broadway. This year's jury, chaired by Pat Donnelly, with Gerry Lipnowski, Laurence Sellyn and Jennifer Moorehouse, is excited to announce the 2015 winners, whose plays will be read in The Pipeline.

First Place, Pam Dunn Prize, $3000: Two Piranhas, by Leopold St-Pierre

From the Jury, "This thorny train-station encounter between two intimate adversaries is compelling, with skillfully written dialogue and a timeless, enigmatic quality. Two Piranhas is a theatrically sophisticated, emotionally powerful play with challenging roles for actors as well as enticing directorial/scenographic possibilities. It takes us on a journey into a shared past of betrayal and heartbreak and arrives at a resolution which leaves us yearning for a return ticket."

Second Place Prize $1500: Lunch Hour by Oren Safdie

From the jury, "Familiar characters in a contemporary urban setting indulge in soup, sandwiches and sex in this astutely observed, fast-paced comedy. A lunchtime friendship leads to extramarital complications that leave destruction in their wake. As Lunch Hour suggests, it may be a trend... "

Third Place Prize $500: Burning Tongues by Louise Arsenault

From the jury, "Burning Tongues is a family drama about adult children who upset the uneasy equilibrium of the empty nest by digging up the past. This play, set in Pointe Claire, has local flavour, authentic characters, a dash of Québec politics and a seductive ghost."

Infinithéâtre's The Pipeline at the Rialto is set for the Rialto Infinite Studio, 5711 Parc Ave, 3rd floor on Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 13, 7pm; Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2pm. Admission is pay-what-you-can/$10 suggested. For contest rules and further information, call 514 987-1774 or visit www.infinitheatre.com/write-on-q.