McNerney Playwriting Contest
IMPORTANT UPDATE: The COVID-19 pandemic not only caused the cancellation of the 2020 Spoleto Festival, USA and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, but also greatly impacted our selection panel and its ability to select this year's winning plays.
The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of the College of Charleston have caused this truly unfortunate delay in the announcement of the 2020 contest finalists and winners. On November 1st, 2020 the top 10 finalists along with the winning and runner-up plays will finally be announced. In an attempt to recognize the unfairness of and to reconcile for this incredibly long delay, each of the finalist plays will be offered a public reading on Zoom throughout the Spring 2021 semester. Playwright’s permissions will be sought in advance of the date of such readings. Additionally, since a condition of the annual contest is that the winning and runner-up plays are also to be presented via public staged readings at Piccolo Spoleto, the 2020 winners will be given their readings along with the 2021 winners at next year's Piccolo Spoleto. If you have any questions, please click here to email us. Note: Please note that the live staged readings at the 2021 Piccolo Spoleto Festival are dependent on the state of the pandemic and festival guidelines.
Twelfth Annual National Playwriting Contest
In 2006 an anonymous donor created the Todd McNerney Playwriting Award to honor faculty member and former Chair Todd McNerney and to recognize the excellence of College of Charleston student playwrights. The initial award was created to be awarded to a student written 10-minute play and continues to this day. In 2009, the same generous donor provided additional resources to create a second award that focuses on full-length plays that is open to playwrights from across the nation. The donor and the award support the development of new plays and raise awareness of the College and its Theatre and Dance Department's commitment to new work.
Winner
$400.00 cash prize
Stage reading at the 2020 Piccolo Spoleto Festival
Travel allowance to attend the reading
Runner-Up
$100.00 cash prize
Stage reading at the 2020 Piccolo Spoleto Festival
Submission Requirements:
--SASE Business envelope for notification of results
--Material must be unpublished and unproduced.
--Full length, no musicals
--$10 entry fee, payable to College of Charleston
--Open for submission November 1st, 2020
--Deadline February 15th, 2021
--Hard copy mailed to:
Todd McNerney National Playwriting Contest
College of Charleston
Department of Theatre and Dance
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424
All items must be received to be eligible for consideration.
Questions:
Shannon Horn
(843) 953-6306
McNerney Playwriting Award Winners
2019
Winner -- The Dying Declaration of Madge Oberholzter by Raegan Payne
Runner-Up -- The Poles of Inaccessibility by Craig Pospisil
Finalists -- Dead Behind the Eyes (or The Ingenue Play) by Becca Anderson
Dinosaur(s)by James Still
The Dying Declaration of Madge Oberholzter by Raegan Payne
Indoctrination by Harold Ellis Clark
Intellectual Property by Richard Lyons Conlon
Queer Theory by Lacey Alexander
Parts & Pieces by Amy Tofte
The Poles of Inaccessibility by Craig Pospisil
The Savage Queen by Edgar Chisholm
When They Came by MT Cozzola
2018
Winner -- The Lady Demands Satisfaction by Arthur M. Jolly
Runner-Up -- Rev by Rachel Bykowski
Finalists -- The End Will Hurt by Laura Neill
Exposure by Pauline David-Sax
Frank by Joanna Castle Miller
Frankie and Johnny (The Play) by Keenya Jackson
Fuel by Caridad Svich
The Gray List by Allen Provost
The Hero and the Scholar by Marshall Botvinick
The Lady Demands Satisfactuon by Arthur M. Jolly
(A) New World by James Still
Rev by Rachel Bykowski
2017
Winner – Treehouse by Joe Musso
Runner-Up – Flying by Sheila Cowley
Finalists – The Evolution of Darwin by Steve Warren
Family Pains by Erin Osgood
Flying by Sheila Cowley
The Letters by David Zellnik
Radar Range by Maura Campbell
The Plastic City by Matthew Kelly
Pooka by James McLindon
Signature Photo by Michael Bucklin
Sycorax: Cyber Queen of Qamara by Fengar Gael
Treehouse by Joe Musso
2016
Winner – Swimming Upstream by Rich Rubin
Runner-Up – Like a Billion Likes by Erik Forrest Jackson
Finalists - All Things Evolve by Carl L. Williams
Black Super Hero Magic Mama by Inda Craig-Galvan
Chore Monkeys by Patrick Gabridge
Greenville Tomorrow by Chris Widney
Infinite Beginnings by David Vazdauskas
Queens for a Year by T.D. Mitchell
Like a Billion Likes by Erik Forrest Jackson
Radical Two by Carlos Jerome
The Snowmaker by Aleks Merilo
Swimming Upstream by Rich Rubin
2015
Winner – Last Night and the Night Before (formerly Sam) by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
Runner-Up – Miranda by James Still
2014
Winner – Safe by Donna Hoke
Runner-Up – Veils by Tom Coash
2013
Winner – Spark by Carídad Svich
Runner-Up – Mad Gravity by William Missouri Downs
2012
Winner – The House That Jack Built by James Still
Runner-Up – Fortune’s Child by Mark Scharf
2011
Winner – Life Is Mostly Straws by Richard Manly
Runner-Up – Dead and Buried by James McLindon
2010
Winner - Advanced Women by Michèle Aldin Kushner
Runner-Up – The Willow Grove by Walter Thinnes