High School Contests

Ten-Minute Play Contest

Online submissions will open January 1, 2019 with a deadline of March 31, 2019. Winners will be announced here on June 6, 2019.

Eligibility for this annual playwriting contest is limited to students in the eleventh grade in the U.S. (or international equivalent of the eleventh grade). The jury consists of members of the Princeton University Program in Theater faculty.

To receive email updates about submission deadlines for the contest each year, please subscribe to our list.

Prizes: First Prize – $500, Second Prize – $250, Third Prize – $100

Congratulations to the 2018 Winners

1st place: Bus Ride by Katherine Rooks
2nd place: Of Sound Mind and Body by Kate Fitzgerald
3rd place: God Makes a Hiring Decision by Shereen Lee

Honorable Mention:
Platinum by Cayleigh Pine
Derailed by Jared Goudsmit
Untitled (Guinea Pig Play) by Patrick Kirwin

Click the titles above to read their prize-winning plays!

Application Form

The application will open here January 1, 2019.

Past Winners

2017

1st place: Three Months by Jordan Oakley
2nd place: Sea Turtles by Jalexis James
3rd place: Ledgeside by Benjamin Connor 

Honorable Mentions:
Alone with Me By Your Side by Emily Trend
Drowning by Mia Nelson

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2016

1st place: Odalisque by Jaelynn Walls
2nd place: Supermarket of Lost by Cassandra (Jing Thong) Hsiao* 
3rd place: Discount Shelf by Cavan Bonner

Honorable Mention:
Beatrix by Molly Littman
Thanksgiving Surprise by Betsy Zaubler

* Originally produced in The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival, Los Angeles, CA

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2015

1st place: An Unaware Bird by Kanishk Pandey, Davis CA
2nd place: For an Ocean by Emily Zhang, Rockville MD
3rd place: The Boy Who Cried “Potato” and “Sally” by Alinah Vision, New York NY
Honorable Mention: Reflections by Emma Taussig, Minneapolis MN

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2014

1st Place: Packing by Catherine Valdez
2nd Place: Wide Eyed and Barely Six Years Old by Arya Sundaram
3rd Place: Liquid Gold by Eden Gordon
Honorable mention: Mother Dear by Kailey McLaughlin

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2013

First place: Stalling by Anne Merrill
Second place: This Is Not A Play by Alexa Derman
Third place: Three Thousand Terajoules by Lauren Byrne
Honorable Mention: Mother’s Orange Sorbet by Amelia Jane Nierenberg

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2012

First Place: Thirst by Kathleen Cole
Second Place: Cupcakes by Isaac Dwyer
Third Place: Hooked by Bianca Hunter
Honorable Mention: This is How the Moslems Feel by Nathan Engel