Victoria Goring – 1st Place Winner – IF

IF is the story of a toddler who is abducted, then reunited with her parents a decade later. A tragic tale of a stolen life. Reflecting upon the hysteria regarding the safety of small children, we keep our overprotective but well-meaning society in mind, juxtaposing the fear of random danger with the practicalities of maternal love. By creating two mother characters who both love “their” child, but have different parenting styles, the viewer is asked to reconcile their conflicting feelings in choosing the better parent. 

To elicit empathy for deeply flawed characters is the greatest challenge and the greatest triumph of “If.” To feel empathy for a child abductor, one of the most abhorred of crimes in our society, will outrage. If allows the audience to suspend judgment and find compassion with this most deplored crime. Are our criminals’ products of our modern society, increasingly fragmented, where extended families are often a thing of the past? What role does our bureaucratic police process have in dehumanizing criminals? And of course, what role does the media take? 

If aims to present multiple perspectives while eliciting compassion in a moral quandary that can have no happy ending. The role of child welfare is always topical, as is the media. In our increasingly mediaized world, private grief is often made public. How do parents of missing children cope with this extra pressure? What are the true ramifications of transparency? How effective are the public in creating change, and how effective are these new legislations? The creating a female abductor,“If” bypasses other issues of child smuggling and pornography. A character driven script,“If” explores the desire to nurture that compels our abductor to act. How is society failing to nurture it’s own population? And how do individuals reconcile their criminal actions with their morality? Because two of the strongest words anyone can say is “What if ”.

Victoria Goring is an award winning playwright, with 20 produced plays, and twice shortlisted for Juilliard.  Her provocative scripts challenge the audience with multiple perspectives and complex issues of gender, history, and social conventions. 

Before reality TV, Victoria was placing audiences in site specific venues creating hypothetical worlds: From a possible future where the Y chromosome is decaying, to an environment of allergens humans could no longer live in. Victoria has received productions, from many prestigious theaters in Canada and the USA, including Nightwood, Alberta Theater Projects, City Theater, Lorainne Kisma Theater for Young People, Edgemar, and Factory Theater. 

Victoria created Urban Spine, a CAEA theater in 1999, and was contacted by CAEA who provided her Equity membership on the merit of her original work. Even Victoria’s most heartbreaking of scripts is tinged with humor, creating complex emotional journeys that force the audience to wrestle with their morality. These highly original plays have garnered critical acclaim, received grants, and enjoyed box office success. Lie With Me pre-dated the Oscar winning movie Boys Don’t Cry, and Victoria’s version of the Teena/Brandon story transcended boundaries and was a sold-out success. 

Victoria has co-wrote the critically acclaimed Middleschoolandia with her 12 year old daughter for the Hollywood Fringe Festival and Victoria was awarded 2 Artist in Residencies at National Parks to write The Cardboard Countess, awarded a Critics Choice award at Portfringe. Victoria is currently working on her latest play “How To Be Homeless”. 

Barbara Blatner – 2nd Place Winner – JANE, QUEEN’S FOOLE

JANE, QUEEN’S FOOLE is based on the very little that is known of the only documented female Fool/jester in the English court.  Jane, a “mad,” lame, compulsively rhyming beggar, amuses Princess Mary Tudor, cut from succession to the British throne by her father King Henry VIII, and predicts that Mary will, against all odds, be Queen of England someday. Mary takes Jane in as her Fool and confidante, and prizes Jane so long as Jane tells her truths she wants to hear.

Jane, Queen’s Foole, drawing on historical figures of the past, written partially in verse, deals with classic themes such as speaking truth to power, the nature and source of truth, the power of wit and invention, the triumphs of will. My story updates the Fool/monarch duo by casting them as women who wield power very differently in the male-centric English court. 

Barbara Blatner is a poet who writes plays. New York Quarterly Books published her poetry collections, The Still Position and Living with You. Poetry, fiction and reviews have appeared in Beloved on this Earth, Heliotrope, House Organ, Poetry Northwest, New York Quarterly, Apalachee Quarterly, 13th Moon, and others.   

Ms. Blatner has been a Fellow at many residencies, including the Tyrone Guthrie Center, Blue Mountain Center, Banff Colony, Ragdale, Virginia Center for the Arts, Jentel Foundation and La MaMa Umbria International Playwright Retreat. She has a B.A. in Music Composition from Vassar College, an M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University, and a Doctor of Arts in English from SUNY-Albany.

Barbara’s No Star Shines Sharper aired repeatedly on NPR stations and was acquired by the Museum of TV and Radio. Years of Sky, produced at 59E59 Theatres, was awarded the New Works of Merit Prize and was acquired by the Museum of TV and Radio. Jane, Queen’s Foole, second place in the Julie Harris Award 2024, is Finalist in the 2024 Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting and included in Centenary Stage’s 2023 Women Playwrights Series. Hamlet Leaves England appeared on the Pittsburgh New Works Mainstage and Secret Places was developed by New Circle Theatre Company (formerly Circle Rep). Spell was produced in Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival and in audio by Open Door Playhouse.

Joe Sutton – 3rd Place Winner – PERFECTION

PERFECTION – The play unfolds in the glamorous yet treacherous international art world, where passion and ambition collide. Deeta Rowe, a renowned philanthropist and art aficionado, partners with Harrison Ash, the esteemed executive director of New York’s legendary City Museum intending to make a splash.  They discover the perfect opportunity to do so.  It seems a Euphronios Krater, one of the world’s rarest art objects, is up for sale. The only problem is the sale is being orchestrated by Raoul Assa, a notorious art dealer with a reputation for unethical dealings.  

It’s a tale about beauty, ambition, fierce yearnings, and, ultimately, welcome justice.  It challenges the audience to reflect on the true ownership of art and the importance of preserving cultural heritage. The play takes us from shadowy backrooms to the illuminating light of truth, exploring themes of redemption, responsibility, and the true cost of the “quest for perfection”.

Joe Sutton – Joe’s work includes Voir Dire (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), Orwell in America, Twirl, The Winner, The Third Army, and Complicit.  Theatres producing his work include New York Theater Workshop, BAM, Long Wharf, Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, and San Diego’s Old Globe.  His plays have been seen internationally as well.  Most recently in Prague and Hamburg, but not long before that at London’s Old Vic. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, among them fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.