Enter Oakton playwriting festival for a chance to win up to $200

Student playwrights wanted! Oakton Community College is seeking original one-act script submissions or storytelling monologues of any genre for its “Play On Student Playwriting Festival.” Winning entries will earn up to $200 in the unique competition, open to all community college students in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Now celebrating its 12th year, “Play On” gives budding playwrights a chance to shine when selected entries come to life during the festival at Oakton’s Studio One Theater July 27-29. Submission deadline is Wednesday, April 1.

Entries must not have been previously produced in any genre or style. Students are allowed only one submission as a Word document 10 pages or less, 12-point font. Submissions must include the student’s full name, phone number, mailing address, email address and the name of their current college.

For those looking to further develop their creative talent, Oakton also offers a robust Theater Concentration that includes a core of fundamental courses in acting and stagecraft, along with multiple options for courses in speech, humanities and literature.

Oakton is a haven for literary creativity and a place of proven playwrights. Associate Professor of English Tina Fakhrid-Deen, winner of the 2020 winter/spring MacDowell Colony Fellowship, is the author of the staged reading “Dandelions,” a searing drama about survival, loss and redemption that won a play commission with the Chicago Park District’s Theater on the Lake: In the Works, a program that supports new playwrights in developing new work. Also, her play, “Pulled Punches,” will be produced by Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre (MPAACT) at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theater in April.

For more information about the festival or to submit your entry, email Mary Ringstad-Gagliano at playon@oakton.edu.