Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival
The Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting
The Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting will be offered for the outstanding student-written full-length comic play. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of memorable characters, Samuel Clemens - the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist also known as Mark Twain - was a fearless observer of society, who outraged many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly.
- 1st Place Cash Award of $2,500.
- Professional Development Fellowship. The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival will provide the award recipient with an all-expenses paid professional
- 2nd Place Award of $1,500.
- Dramatists Guild Award. The Dramatists Guild Award provides the playwrights with Active membership in the Guild.
- Grants of $750 and $500 will be made to the producing organizations of the first and second place prize recipients, respectively.
The play must be produced by a college or university or publicly presented in a “rehearsed” or “staged reading” format following a significant development process. The must comply with the guidelines for scripts entered in the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Program.
For other questions, refer to "Rules and Procedures for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program" above.
The Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award Winners
- 2011
- The Lord of the Underworld's Home for Unwed Mothers by Louisa Hill, University of Iowa
- Runner-up - Vanishing Act by R.N. Healey, Carnegie-Mellon University
- 2010
- THE BOOK OF ADAM by Matthew Fotis, University of Missouri
- Runner-up - WHALES by Bob Bartlett, Catholic University of America
- 2009
- Metropolis Has No Superman by G. William Zorn, Western Michigan University
- 2008
- Miranda is Morning - Stephen Spotswood, Catholic University of America
- Tennis at Nablus by Ismail Khalidi, New York University
- 2007
- Well Plotted - Stephen Lewis, Catholic University of America
- 2nd Place - Burying Barbie by Christopher Dimond, Carnegie-Mellon University
- 2006
- Reel, Paul Shouldberg, Indiana University
- 2nd Place - In The Sawtooths, Dano Madden, Rutgers University
- 2005
- The Last Black Play, Nathan Louis Jackson, Ebony Theatre Company of Kansas State University
- 2004
- Cow-Tipping and Other Signs of Stress by Gregory Fletcher, Playwrights' Theatre of Boston University
- 2003
- Good Morning Athens! A Rock Musical , book, music and lyrics by Sean Keogh, University of Wyoming
- 2002
- Training Wisteria, by Molly Smith Metzler, Playwrights'Theatre of Boston University
- 2001 (Co-recipients)
- The Movie Game, by Adam Hummel, University of Minnesota-Duluth
- Rainy Day People, by Todd McCollough, University of Wyoming
- 2000
- These Two Couples Went to Italy.... by Paul Rusconi, University of Texas at Austin
- 2nd Place - Lenny Hackman's Liver by Matthew Dryden Roland, Boston University
- 1999
- An Irish Play, Dan O'Brien of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Mr. O'Brien received a cash award of $2500.00 and a fellowship to attend the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival in San Francisco. Brown University received a $750.00 grant for producing the play
- Sid and Elsie, Benari Poulten of Brandeis University, Boston, Massachusetts
Mr. Poulten received a cash award of $1500.00. Brandeis University received a grant of $500.00 for producing the play
