Drama student entry takes home top award in 2021 Play Right Prize playwriting competition

trevor.kenney — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 22:09:27 +0000

Dramatic Arts student Jessica Syratt is the winner of the 2021 Play Right Prize competition for her entry, The Evening Comes.

Jessica Syratt

Syratt’s play was described by the competition jury as, “a poetic, spiritually rich, three-woman rumination on the common experience of grief and loss through different ages and time periods. Beautifully structured, layered with song and ritual, and authentically moving, the play exhibits a mature understanding of the power of language to express, share, and hopefully to heal, profound sorrow.”

For her win, Syratt receives $1,500 and her play will be featured at a virtual play reading on Thursday, April 8.

The play will receive support from drama faculty member Justin Blum who will work with Syratt on the process of taking the written play to see how it would unfold on stage.

“Receiving this award is a huge honour,” says Syratt. “Playwrighting is something I very much enjoy, and to have the chance to share my work, and for it to have had an impact is a huge encouragement to keep growing and learning as an artist.”

Daylin Chase

Second prize in the competition, receiving $750, went to Daylin Chase. Her entry, Neosapien, tells the story of two scientists trapped in a world of their own making. The play imagines a world where the need to solve food insecurity pushes two scientists to skew their morality and ethics. Well-crafted characters and rich dialogue left the jury with a lot to chew on after reading.

"As someone who often spends hours daydreaming about being a writer and not doing any writing, I would like to personally thank the Play Right Prize for providing me the motivation to finish a one act play as well as the opportunity to submit it for such a prestigious award,” says Chase.

Avery Olson

Avery Olson receives third place and $250 for her play, Two Women on A Bench in the Middle of Winter, which tells a dramatic story that intelligently blends the recognizable reality of young women living in contemporary culture with the timeless quality of myth.

Vic and Bella are friends, intent on escaping the traumas of their everyday lives. Brought to a park bench by a mysterious figure, when things don’t go as expected they discover that it doesn’t take much to go from thinking about ending it all to fighting for their lives.

“It's a bit ironic for a writing prize, but I truly don't have the words to express what an honour it is to have placed in this competition — especially alongside some incredibly talented friends,” shares Olson. “I've been writing for as long as I can remember, and I'll take this as a sign I'm doing something right.”

Since 2008, Terry Whitehead (BA ’94) has been inspiring future playwrights through the Play Right Prize, awarding $2,500 annually to student playwrights and highlighting the winning entries at a public play reading.

The 2020 public reading was scheduled in the weeks after the COVID-19 shutdown, and to honour last year’s winning playwright, Quinn Larder, both the 2020 and 2021 winning plays will be read at the virtual reading. The event is open to the public and free to attend with no registration required, Thursday, April 8, 6 p.m. via zoom (https://uleth.zoom.us/j/94499868694).

The 2021 Play Right Prize jury was made up of drama faculty members Drs. Shelley Scott and Justin Blum, and Trevor Rueger from the Alberta Playwright’s Network who will provide dramaturgical support to the 2nd and 3rd prize plays.

Student excellence celebrated through 2020 Play Right Prize awards

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 21:54:10 +0000

The future of play writing in Canada continues to flourish as three new budding playwrights are announced as the 2020 uLethbridge Play Right Prize recipients.

Play Right prize winners from left to right include Quinn Larder, Paul Vanhoutteghem and Jake Rose.

Since 2007, alumnus Terry Whitehead (BA ’94) has supported ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students with an interest in playwriting through the Play Right Prize awards, a total of $2,500 in scholarships and a public reading of the winning play. This year’s first prize author, and winner of $1,500, is second-year drama student Quinn Larder for his play The Murder. The play creates a refreshingly off-kilter theatrical world that cleverly asks us to question who and what a person is, and how and why we value things. The jury was particularly impressed by the creative use of language and how the characters, while skewed in intriguing ways, still have satisfying dramatic journeys.

Second place, and $750, goes to Paul Vanhoutteghem for his play Askopos. Channeling the finely wrought tedium of Theatre of the Absurd, this clever play stages the eternal punishments of the classical Greek Underworld. The jury appreciated its intellectual sophistication.

Third place, and $250, will be awarded to Jake Rose for his play Vargamor in which three characters at the edge of their known world struggle with the sins of their past, finally coming face to face with them. The play is rich with imagery and stark dialogue, leaving the reader to sift through the subtext to discover who these people are. The jury commented that it was well-crafted and imaginative, a story of hope that is both dark and light. This makes Rose a two-time Play Right Prize recipient, having placed third in 2018 for his play Glorious Clockwork.

Coordinated by drama faculty member Mia van Leeuwen, this year’s jury was made up of Justin Blum (drama), Heather Ladd (English) and Trevor Rueger, executive director of the Alberta Playwright’s Network.

"This is my first year co-ordinating the Play Right Prize submissions and I was thrilled to see how many students got involved,” exclaims van Leeuwen. “This is a great opportunity to spark and support emerging talent; the drama department is thankful to Terry Whitehead and his continued support."

Over the past 13 years, 35 uLethbridge students have received financial support through the Play Right Prize, with many recipients going on to successful careers in playwriting and theatre production. James Odin Wade (BFA Multidisciplinary ’11), a two-time Play Right Prize recipient in 2010 and 2011 has gone on to win awards in Canada and the U.S. His play In Tongues premieres on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Theatre stage Mar. 17-21.

Audiences will have the first chance to hear Larder’s winning play The Murder at the Play Right Prize Gala & Cabaret on Thursday, Mar. 26 at 5 p.m. in the David Spinks Theatre. The event is free to attend, open to the public, and will include the play reading as well as cabaret-style performances by graduating students and faculty.

UNews - Quinn Larder

Drama student entry takes home top award in 2021 Play Right Prize playwriting competition

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Student excellence celebrated through 2020 Play Right Prize awards

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