Playwriting | Kennedy Center

The National Playwriting Program’s Mission Statement
è��AVAmerican College Theatre Festival National Playwriting Program is dedicated to supporting student playwrights in the development of their original work for the stage, with dramaturgical and performance opportunities that emphasize respect of the written word and for the playwright’s contribution to the theatrical process.

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 entered 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 playwriting process.

Award Categories

Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Six actors stand in a row, at music stands. — Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.

Program

Both Participating and Associate productions receive outside response on their home campuses and, with some exceptions, are eligible for all KCACTF-sponsored awards. Schools may:

Nominate one bona fide student performer from its entry for participation in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions;
Nominate student designers to participate in the scenic, sound, costume, and lighting design programs;
Be considered for all applicable playwriting awards (Associate entries are not eligible for the National Student Playwriting Award or the John Cauble Short Play Award); and
Be considered for all other applicable KCACTF awards.

KCACTF reserves the right to withhold any award.

For more information on entering productions, including Sponsorship information, visit Additional Guidelines.

Additional Rules and Regulations

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 for productions that may not fit this category.)

College theaters may produce plays written by students other than their own, provided the students meet the requirements detailed in Play Eligibility.

All student-written original plays entered in the current KCACTF year are eligible for any of the appropriate playwriting awards.

Each new play registered as a Participating production will be considered for regional and national festival presentation with other entries. The festival expects the same high standard of production support for original scripts as is given any entry.

Student playwrights interested in participating in the Ten-Minute Play Award category, or the John Cauble Short Play Award category should see the information below and contact the regional chair for specific information because scripts entered in those categories are screened at the regional level.

If the play is a student-written original play, acknowledgment of all individual award entries 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."

Playwrights 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 KCACTF, regardless of whether the presentation occurred at the local, regional, or national level. Acknowledgment must appear in written form in the program.

The KCACTF National Playwriting Program encourages the continuing development of new plays through revisions. 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:

the work has been revised;
the play did not previously win one of the national Playwriting Awards;
the playwright is still eligible (as set forth in Playwright Eligibility).

Visit the Awards Categories page for more information about each award and its past recipients.