Please read and comply with the following submission guidelines:
Contest applicants must be enrolled as full-time students (at least 12 credits for undergrad and 6 credits for graduate students) at Brigham Young University in either semester of the 2024-25 school year.
1.This contest offers cash awards and includes the possibility of staged readings for the winning plays as part of the TMA’s new play development efforts. Play categories are:
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- ten minute plays (up to 12 pages in length)
- one act plays (between 30 and 45 pages in length)
- full length plays (75 pages and above)
- other stage scripts (for nontraditional work like dance performance narratives, devised writing, etc.)
2. The amounts of the cash prizes will vary each year and are determined at the discretion of the contest judges. The total allotment this year for the contest is $2,000. For example, judges may award prizes to the writer of the best play in each category, or they may, when the quality of the entries warrants, divide the prize between two or more student playwrights in each category, evenly or otherwise as their judgment dictates.
3. Only writing for the stage is eligible. Collaborations are welcome, but collaborators must be individually eligible, and the award will be split among the collaborators. Musical books or libretti, together with lyrics, are eligible, but they will be judged as dramatic writing, rather than musical compositions. All scripts will receive equal consideration. Translations or cuttings of other plays are ineligible. Scripts should follow principles of good taste, and the “TMA Selection, Viewing, and Creation Policy.”
4. Scripts should follow rules for standard playwriting formatting, preferably according to “Dramatists Guild guidelines“.
5. Submissions will be accepted between January 6th and February 21st, 2025 by 11:59 p.m. Students may enter one script in each category, for up to four total entries per student. Please submit each script individually HERE.
6. The Mayhew Awards Committee will appoint a judging committee to be drawn from the BYU Theatre faculty and other qualified artists and critics.
7. We invite each student submitting an entry to upload a PDF file of their entry and fill out the appropriate information, certifying (a) that he or she is eligible by proper enrollment at BYU to enter the contest, and (b) that the entry submitted is the student’s own creative work. The student’s real name will appear only to the Mayhew contest organizers. Please do not put your name on the actual script PDF itself; we ask instead that you put your student ID number in its place.
Important note: In addition to the specific rules above for the Playwriting Contest, see the “General Regulations” giving information on all Mayhew Student Creative Contests. Both the general regulations and the specific rules for each contest should be followed by every student who enters one or more of the contests.
Contest Contact Information
Shelley Graham
Playwriting Contest Chairman
Office: 129 WCO
shelley_graham@byu.edu