A.E. Hotchner Competition: 2022 Submission Instructions

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 Washington University Students are eligible to submit.  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 2021. 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). 

 

Submission Procedure

Submission Procedures for 2022*

 1.   Scripts must be unproduced and unpublished. Full-length plays, one-acts and ten-minute plays ARE ALL ELIGIBLE.

  2.    All currently enrolled Washington University students are eligible. 

  3.    All submissions must be typed and submitted as a pdf.

  4.    The adjudication is a "blind" process, therefore, the author's name should not appear anywhere on the script.

  5.    Scripts must be submitted electronically by 5:00 p.m. Friday, January 28, 2022.

  6.    The winning playwrights will be announced in March 2022.

  7.    For any further information contact The Performing Arts Department at 314-935-5858. 

*We will be switching to an electronic format for submissions.  Details on how to submit for 2022 will be added soon.  Please check back!

 

Still have questions?

Email the Performing Arts Department at pad@wustl.edu or call 314-935-5858