About the Competition
Endowed by alumnus, novelist, poet and playwright A.E. Hotchner, this annual playwriting competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University. Many past "Hotch" plays have gone on to full production in the PAD season and around the country. Two of our playwrights have won Kevin Kline Awards, and most recently Marisa Wegrzyn, a three-time Hotch participant, was awarded the prestigious national Wendy Wasserstein Award 2009 for her play Hickorydickory--which had its world premiere in our studio theater in 2005.
All selected plays will be workshopped over a two-week period with a professional guest dramaturg, Wash U. actors and a PAD faculty director in Fall 2019. The workshop process will culminate in public readings of each play during two days of presentations. All plays selected will receive a cash award (full-lengths, $100; short plays, $25).
The Performing Arts Department will produce a World Premiere play by student writer(s) in the 2020-2021 season. That play will be selected from Hotchner submissions from the 2019 & 2020 A. E. Hotchner Playwriting Competitions.