The Mike Dobbins New Plays from the Heartland Midwest One-Act Competition is offered annually with the deadline of April 1. The 2023 competition is closed.
Congratulations to the winners of our 2023 New Plays from the Heartland Midwest One-Act Competition!
CASH FLOW by Marjorie Williamson, St. Louis MO
OLDIES BUT GOODIES by Terri Ryburn, Normal IL
FIVE VIEWS OF DAVID HOCKNEY’S “THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING IN NORMANDY 2020” by Amy Crider, Chicago IL
The Mike Dobbins Memorial New Plays from the Heartland (NPH) provides Midwestern playwrights a chance to share their original plays with residents of Central Illinois. Heartland Theatre Company solicits new, never-produced one-act plays from writers in ten Midwestern States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2023. The competition launches annually on Labor Day.
Play submissions are judged for excellence by a panel of judges who review all of the submitted plays to choose the top six entries. The six finalists are then sent without identification to a final judge, an experienced playwright with national prominence, who chooses the final three plays for a staged reading at our theatre.
The three winning plays are presented as fully staged readings (costumes, lighting, props, limited blocking) on July 14,15,16, 2023. On July 13, our guest playwright offers a forum for playwrights with tips for writing successful plays. On July 14, the three winning playwrights receive an exclusive master class in the afternoon with our visiting playwright, and are honored at a playwrights’ reception following the performance that night.
About the competition:
Previous Winners of New Plays from the Heartland
Heartland Theatre Company is dedicated to providing new playwrights a forum for recognition in our theatre and our community.
This program is funded by the Mirza Arts & Culture Grant of the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation and the Town of Normal Harmon Arts Grant
