Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program
Playwriting Awards Checklist
Letter from Playwriting Chair
The distinguished playwright and screenwriter Michael Kanin (1910-1993)
arranged for a remarkable series of awards to be given to student
writers whose plays are produced as part of the festival. The
purpose of the program is to encourage college students to write
for the stage by providing the opportunity for them to engage
in the complete playwriting process.
Playwrights can best learn their craft by collaborating with
actors, directors, and others through all stages of production,
including rehearsals and performances. The festival expects the
same high standard of production support for original scripts
as is given any entry.
Each new play registered as a Participating production will be
considered for regional and national festival presentation with
other entries. The play selected to receive the National Student
Playwriting Award and the John Cauble Short Play Awards will be
presented at the national festival. The KCACTF National Selection
Team will view National Student Playwriting Award and John Cauble
Short Play Awards entrants selected for regional festival presentation
and select from that pool of entries.
The student-written play must be entered at the appropriate level.
Plays eligible for the National Student Playwriting Award and
the John Cauble Short Play Awards must be Participating-level
entries. All others may be entered at either the Associate or
Participating level. All student-written entries must receive
some kind of public performance.
Student playwrights interested in participating in the Ten-Minute
Play Award should contact the regional chair for specific information.
National Student Playwriting Award
John Cauble Short Play Award
Anchorage Press Theatre for
Youth Playwriting Award
Musical Theater Award
Lorraine Hansberry National
Playwriting Award
Rules and Procedures for the Michael
Kanin Playwriting Awards Program
A new play or musical may be a collaboration, adaptation, company-written
play, or a play based on factual materials but may not be a translation.
To be eligible, adaptations from other works must include written
permission for works under copyright and must involve substantial
changes in form and/or expression.
A full-length play is defined as either one major work or two
or more shorter works written by the same playwright, based on
a single theme, or encompassed within a unifying framework. In
all cases, the entry must provide a full evening of theater-approximately
one and one-half hours or longer, including intermissions. (See
the Short Play Awards Program for productions that may not fit
this category.)
The award(s) for which the play is to be considered must be clearly
indicated on the registration form filed with the national office,
the copy filed with the regional chair, and the copy filed with
the regional playwriting chair. Verification of student status
of the playwright must be provided by the theater department chair.
A space is provided on the registration form to confirm student
eligibility.
College theaters may produce plays written by students other than
their own, provided the students meet the requirements detailed
in item 5 below.
To be eligible for any student playwriting award, an undergraduate
must carry a minimum of 6 semester hours (or equivalent quarter
hours), while a graduate must carry 3 semester hours (or equivalent
quarter hours). Undergraduate, graduate, and continuing part-time
student playwrights must be matriculating, degree-seeking students.
It is expected that work on the new play will have begun during
the period the student is so enrolled, and the production must
be presented during that period or within two years after his
or her enrollment ends. The head of the theater department in
which the student playwright is enrolled will verify in writing
to the regional Playwriting Awards Committee chair that the playwright
is a bona fide student as set forth in this paragraph.
As with regular entries, materials may be submitted at any time
during the year. Those presented after the deadline established
by the region will be considered for KCACTF XLI.
All student-original plays entered in KCACTF XL are eligible
for any of the appropriate playwriting awards. Only Participating
productions may be considered for the regional and national festivals.
If the play is a student-original play, acknowledgment of all
events must be noted in the program, e.g., "This play
is entered in the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program and
is being considered for the Lorraine Hansberry Award and the National
Student Playwriting Award."
A separate copy of the script must be forwarded to the KCACTF
National Officefor each playwriting award program entered.
In addition, a copy of the script should be sent to the regional
playwriting chair no later than thirty days prior to the play's
initial KCACTF production. All new works intended for inclusion
in the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program must be accompanied
by written documentation or a script. A one-page synopsis for
each new play must accompany the application form and the script.
The final draft of the script must be in the national office
no later than November 1, 2006. Failure to submit scripts before
the deadline will result in ineligibility for the award. The KCACTF
"Cover Sheet for Scripts" must accompany your submission.
Entries should be mailed to :
KCACTF
Playwriting Awards
P.O. Box 10808
Arlington, VA 22210
Playwrights, student and nonstudent, whose plays are developed
and produced as part of the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards
Program, agree to acknowledge in perpetuity the Kennedy Center
American College Theater Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts in all productions of the play subsequent
to its presentation in the KCACTF, regardless of whether the presentation
occurred on the local, regional, or national level. Acknowledgment
must appear in written form in the program (such as Stagebill)
production credits.
The Playwriting Awards Committee encourages the continuing development
of new plays through revisions leading toward subsequent productions.
The entry of a new play in the awards program does not disqualify
it from future entry as a participating or associate production
for the Playwriting Awards Program by the school that originally
produced the work, or by any school, provided that: 1) the work
has been revised; 2) the play did not previously receive one of the
national Playwriting Awards Program awards; 3) the playwright
is still eligible (as set forth in paragraph 5, above).
Recipients of the Michael Kanin Playwriting Award program whose
plays are not presented as part of the Washington national festival
will be invited to the Kennedy Center during the KCACTF national
festival to accept the award at an KCACTF public event. The cost
of travel to the Kennedy Center will not be the responsibility
of the Kennedy Center. The recipient's regional chair can accept
the award on behalf of the recipient and/or his or her school.
All scripts must be typed following the standard play manuscript
format (e.g. Samuel French style sheet). Clear photo-copies or
letter-quality computer print-outs are acceptable. All manuscripts
must be firmly bound in a cover. Submissions not adhering to these
guidelines will be disqualified.) Eligible scripts must be received
by the KCACTF national office by the deadline specified.
Note: There are separate Rules and Procedures for the Short Play
Awards Program and the Musical Theater Award.