Susan J. Westfall National Short Playwriting Contest
Susan J. Westfall National Short Playwriting Contest
Susan J. Westfall National Short Playwriting Contest
Susan J. Westfall National Short Playwriting Contest
The 2025–2026 Finalists
Created to acknowledge playwright excellence in short plays and musicals
30
FINALISTS
600
SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED
245
FINALISTS SINCE 2012
City Theatre seeks compelling plays that rise above the ordinary.
This season, 600 playwrights from across the country submitted lively, timely, hilarious, provocative, poignant, and surprising scripts. Playwrights were invited to submit short plays that span style and genre, including bilingual scripts and ten-minute musicals. We encourage writers who self-identify as coming from a historically marginalized community and writers at all career levels to submit. Once received, each play is reviewed by 2-3 readers and the highest-scoring plays move to a second round. For our 30th season, Artistic Director Margaret M. Ledford selected 30 finalist plays. Playwrights never pay a submission fee, and readers receive an honorarium for their time. Finalist scripts are contenders for production at various programs City Theatre presents year-round.
THE FINALISTS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend
37 Origami Bees
CHICAGO, IL
Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend is an award-winning playwright, a member of the Dramatists Guild, and President of the Board of Arts For All, a NYC-based nonprofit bringing accessible artistic opportunities to children who face barriers to exploring the arts. She is a big fan of cheese.
Queen Esther
Ping! Ping!
NEW YORK, NY
Raised in The ATL + rooted in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Queen Esther is a NYC based generative performing artist, producer and TED Speaker. She applies an unconventional theatricality to original songs and stagecraft, constructing worlds infused with historical truths and an unapologetic Blackness that resonates from the past into the present.
Alex Fortune
Leave Only Crumbs
CHICAGO, IL
Alex Fortune is a playwright and screenwriter in Chicago. His play Forsythian Dweller’s Club (Golden Lanyard winner, Minnesota Fringe), is now a feature film. His short plays include Hello From the End of the World (Yellow Rose) as well as Narrative Machine Broke, Leave only Crumbs, and Halberdiers (The Impostors).
D.W. Gregory
D.W. Gregory
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV
D.W. Gregory is best known for Radium Girls, with nearly 3,000 productions worldwide. She is developing a musical version with composer Steven M. Alper and lyricist Sarah Knapp. Other works include Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, The Yellow Stocking Play, and A Thing Of Beauty.
Steve Harper
For the Dark-Skinned Movie Going People of the World
LOS ANGELES, CA
Steve Harper is a playwright, actor, and TV writer-producer. His plays have been produced by The Fire This Time Festival, Vivid Stage, and The Theater Project, and developed by New York Theatre Workshop, New York Stage & Film, Classical Theatre of Harlem, and The Road Theatre Company. Juilliard playwriting graduate.
Luke Herzog
The 7th Inversion
BROOKLYN, NY
Luke Herzog is a playwright and screenwriter pursuing his Dramatic Writing MFA at NYU Tisch. One of 20 artists in the country chosen as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and honored at the White House. In 2023, he won the John Cauble Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, and his work can be accessed on the New Play Exchange. BA: Amherst College.
Kandace James
This Is How You Capture the Light
PITTSBURGH, PA
Kandace James’ work has been developed at GPTC, Voices of Women Theatre Festival, and Yale Cabaret. She is a MacDowell Fellow, former Core Apprentice at the Playwrights’ Center, and recipient of the Hip-Hop Theatre Creator, Rosa Parks Playwriting, and John Cauble Awards. Her play is forthcoming from CMU Press.
Cerulean Chen Long
Fly
NEW YORK, NY
Cerulean is a writer, director, and co-artistic producing director of in-version ensemble, a collective of women and non-binary artists. A queer artist from China, they seek grammar and form to challenge, transform, and heal. Recent credits include Fish in the Tank (Hollywood Fringe), Vanishing (Edinburgh Fringe), Before it Hurts (ChuanFest).
David MacGregor
A Modest Proposal II
HOWELL, MI
David’s work has been performed from New York to Tasmania and is published by Concord Theatricals and Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW). He adapted his play "Vino Veritas" into a film starring Carrie Preston, and his newest play, "Mildred Whiskey," will premiere at the Purple Rose Theatre (Chelsea, MI) in 2027.
William L. Walker Montgomerie
Refresh to Load
PARIS, TX
A Texas-based playwright whose work weaves history, identity, and community into deeply human stories. Drawing inspiration from global storytelling traditions and a love of theatrical minimalism and ensemble work, Montgomerie creates work that honors the ordinary and the extraordinary in equal measure. His artistic vision centers on the power of memory, resilience, and connection—celebrating the voices that shape us, the ghosts that haunt us, and the beauty found in rebuilding and belonging.
Leslie Powell
Change
TUCSON, AZ
Leslie Powell’s (she/her/hers) long and short plays have been workshopped and produced nationwide and in Canada including the InspiraTo festival. Her fiction and non-fiction work has appeared online and in journals such as Zoetrope. She is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild and lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Samara Siskind
Strangers Off a Train
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
Samara Siskind is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced worldwide and published by Concord Theatricals, Next Stage Press, and featured in eight of the annual Smith & Kraus "Best Of" anthologies from 2023 to 2026. She is the winner of The Growing Stages 2026 New Play-Reading Festival, winner of the 2025 Verna Safran Prize, shortlisted for the 2025 Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize, and longlisted for Theatre503's 2025 International Playwriting Award. Samara is the Resident Dramaturg for Athena Project and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.
Katherine Swan
Room 504: Winner
CHICAGO, IL
Katherine Swan lives in Chicago. Her plays include Red Bell (Finalist, Premiere Stages) and Some Other Woman Like Me (Finalist, Henley Rose Award). Her plays have been performed or developed at The Road, William Inge Theatre Festival, Renaissance Theatreworks, and others, and are anthologized by Smith & Kraus.
Lily Walsh
Chance Encounter
PORTLAND, OR
Lily Walsh is a recent graduate of Willamette University, where she earned a BA in Theatre with a concentration in acting and directing. As a playwright and theatre maker, they are drawn to work that cultivates collaboration and embraces the most vulnerable and joyful parts of human connection.
Katelin Wilcox
Tig & Izzy
BROOKLYN, NY
Katelin Wilcox is a Getchell Award Finalist, short-listed for Seattle Public Theater’s Distillery program, Parity Development Award Third-Rounder, Sam French Festival Top 12 Finalist, Women’s Work Short Play Lab playwright, and WP Lab Semi-Finalist. Notre Dame graduate, CRY HAVOC Associate Artistic Director, proud member Actors Equity and Dramatists Guild.
Leo Eigen
Lox
NEW YORK CITY, NY
Leo Eigen is an incoming student at Princeton University. He has won numerous national writing awards, and his plays have been staged in New York City, Los Angeles, and several other cities. One of his scripts was produced as a short film that has appeared at festivals across the country.
August W. Guszkowski
Kate, Once
CAMBRIDGE, MA
August W. Guszkowski is a playwright and librarian from Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work has appeared onstage in collaboration with Parish Players, Broadway Bods, the Red Bull Theater, the Boston Theater Marathon, and the Boston Fringe Festival. He lives with his partner and their big orange cat, Widget.
Rand Higbee
A Pointless Jester
YACHATS, OR
Originally from Spearfish, South Dakota, Rand Higbee obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Since UNLV days Rand has become known for his “family friendly” comedies such as “The Head That Wouldn’t Die.” He currently lives on the Oregon Coast in Yachats.
Rebecca Kane
Help from the Pod
QUEENS, NY
Rebecca Kane’s writing has appeared in numerous theatres, festivals, and readings in New York City and beyond, with credits including Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, Last Frontier Theatre Conference, William Inge New Play Festival, the National Women’s Theatre Festival, and many more.
Rachel Lynett
oranges
SAINT PAUL, MN
Rachel Lynett is a queer Afro-Latine playwright. Lynett was the 2021 recipient of the Yale Drama Prize for their play, Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson) and the 2021 recipient of the National Latinx Playwriting Award for their play, Black Mexican. Lynett received commissions from Barrington Stage Company, Florida Studio Theatre, and Yale Rep. Rachel Lynett is a 2026-2027 McKnight Fellow in Playwriting at the Playwrights’ Center.
Melissa Maney
The Scorned Women's Salon
NEW YORK, NY
Melissa Maney (she/her) is a playwright whose work explores the spectrum of womanhood through absurdism, nuance, and humor. Her work has been presented at SoHo Playhouse, The Great Plains Theatre Commons, The Valdez Theatre Conference, New Perspectives Theatre Company, Theatre Row, The Tank, Theater for the New City, The Chain Theatre, The Players Theatre, and others.
Eric Pfeffinger
The Loom Where It Happens
TOLEDO, OH
Eric Pfeffinger is a Dramatists Guild member and a Relentless Award honoree from the American Playwriting Foundation. His plays have been produced by the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Denver Theatre Center, and elsewhere. He was last spotted somewhere in flyover country.
Emma S. Rund
The Fix a Dinosaur
CHICAGO, IL
Emma S. Rund is a Chicago-based playwright, dramaturg, and avid reader passionate about the power of live theatre to share truth. As Tim O'Brien so beautifully wrote in The Things They Carried, "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." She’s had the pleasure of workshopping her plays with Women’s Theatre Alliance, Wayward Sisters, Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI), the Rogue Theatre Festival, and more. You can find Emma’s work on NPX.
Yu-Li Alice Shen
Pearls Before Swine
TOLEDO, OH
Yu-Li Alice Shen is a playwright, English professor, and audiobook narrator. Her plays have received awards from the American Playwriting Foundation, ATHE-KCACTF, and SETC, and they have been fully produced in New York and a handful of other states. In her spare time, Alice sings and plays ukulele at local assisted living facilities, co-hosts a humor/improv podcast called Going Terribly, and lends her quirky, versatile voice to the audiobook narration industry.
Curt Strickland
Speed Dating
STOUGHTON, MA
Curt Strickland is a Boston-based playwright whose work explores American life across decades. Inspired by August Wilson’s monumental ten-play cycle, he is completing his own tenplay opus, each set in a different decade of American history. His plays are available on the New Play Exchange. In 2026, Curt will serve as Visiting Playwright at the historic King’s Theater in Harlem, where his play Landscaping will premiere. In addition to his writing, . He believes art should heal, inspire, provoke, and connect—reminding us of our shared humanity.
Alaina Tennant
Liberation
AKRON, OH
Alaina Tennant is a playwright from Akron, Ohio who specializes in historical and research based pieces. She is a BFA at Ohio University and an Alumna of The O’Neill’s NTI. Recent awards include the ACTF Region V Best Full Length, Bela Kiralyfalvi Playwriting Award, and International Thespy Award for Playwriting.
Sharon Harris Warrick
Tupperware
JACKSONVILLE, FL
Sharon Harris Warrick is a Florida novelist and playwright. A member of the Dramatists Guild of America, she has published in national magazines and written award-winning poetry. Sharon has written three novels: The House That Jack Built (A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups), The Chronicles of JimmyCrackCorn, and The Stepladies.
Paul Torres Wong
Wedding Bliss Miss
MIAMI, FL
Paul Torres Wong earned an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a BFA in Theater Studies from Southern Methodist University. Paul’s involvement in theatre has included professional work as an actor, director, theater manager and playwright. He has been selected as a cohort member of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs' Playwright Development Program, Miami's City Theatre Homegrown Playwrights initiative, the Candela Playwriting Fellowship in New York City, and has developed new work at The Playwrights' Center, Minnesota.
Past Finalists and Winners
2024–25
Taylor Blackman, It’s Karen B****
Adrian Crawford, Confession on a Composition Notebook
Thomas Day, The Power of Language
Nancy Hopps, End of the Rope
Susan Jackson, Coat of Gold
M.J. Kang, Three Sisters’ Wishes
Áine King, Selkie
David MacGregor, The Trouble with Cashews
Eric Pfeffinger, The Collection
Lia Romeo, The Long Way Home
Cassie Seinuk, Hostage: Not a Play About Betta Fish
Chloe Selavka, Puddle
Samara Siskind, Kevin and Jules
Jill Twiss, Me.
Brian Vinero, Ten Minutes ’til Christmas
2023–24
J.B. Alexander, Melting the Ice
John Bavoso, An Awkward Conversation in the Shadow of Mount Moriah
Krystle Dellihue, Hattie: A Seat at the Table
Kimberly Fraser, Solomon
Rebecca Kane, Safe Walk
Pam Kingsley, Boxes
Rhiannon Ling, Manic Pixie Dream Girl Goes to Brunch
Colette Mazunik, Sapience
Thomas Misuraca, Jiating
Pamela Morgan, Mirror, Mirror, Mirror
Robert Murphy, The Pros and Cons of Implosion
Karissa Murrell Myers, Search for an Ending
Jennifer O’Grady, Sugar
Steven Satta, Lily, Arthur
Brandon Urrutia, Dickery Pokery
2020–21
WINNER
Ace Anderson, Everything I Am
Nayna Agrawal, Reality Check
Claudia Barnett, Natural Traps
Jacqueline Bircher, Thin Ice
Shelli Pentimall Bookler, The Shame Play
Dan Borengasser, Death Brings a Casserole
Dorothea Cahan, Another Man’s Treasure
Rachael Carnes, Inertia
Sheila Cowley, Starry Night
Rich Espey, figuring out things when we are 90
Christine Evana, Joy
Patrick Gabridge, Santa’s Dolphins
Catherine Haigney, Game Changer
Heidi Kraay, Lift
William Leavengood, Almost Light
Khalil Lesaldo, Sing
David Lindsay-Abaire, Misdial
Jeff Locker, Us Two
Danielle Lyle, Alligators Minks + New Money
Susan Miller, Census
Timothy Nolan, E Minor Seventh
Daryl Patrice, Regret to Inform You
Phanesia Pharel, Jump Rope
Karen Saari, Joyland
Clinnesha Sibley, from a region of her mind
2019–20
France-Luce Benson, Fall
Amy Berryman, Winner
Jacquelin Bircher, Webster’s Bitch
Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich, Three A.M.
Karen Fix Curry, Crazy Quilts
Cayenne Douglass, Variable Rates of Kindness
Siegmund Fuchs, The Other Side
Vince Gatton, Hey
Richard Hellesen, Chopin’s Piano
Gethsemane Herron-Coward, The Falling Man
Daniel Hirsch, A Small Breach of Protocol at Big Rick’s Rockin’ Sky Dive Academy
Donna Hoke, You Haven’t Changed a Bit
Andra Hunter, Star Bright
Stephen Kaplan, In Mrs. Baker’s Room
William Kovacsik, Bottle for a Special Occasion
John Minigan, Closing Doors
Marj O’Neill-Butler, There’s a New Life Coming
Amber Palmer, Baby Dyke Whisperer
Eric Pfeffinger, Something This Way Comes
Phanesia Pharel, And Other Dreams We Had
Kris Rasmussen, Seussified
Lia Romeo, Lifestyle Content
Paloma Sierra, Cola’o
Philip Middleton Williams, A Life Enriching Community
Steve Yockey, Go Get ’Em, Tiger
2018–19
Jen Diamond, This Is How Ghosts Speak
Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Rabiosa and El Yunque in English
Scott Dixon, Encyclopedia Elizabetha
Gracie Gardner, Ballgirl
Vince Gatton, Better
Stephen Kaplan, Death Defying
Jean Koppen, Got a Light?
Jeff Locker, The Forgotten Place
Cristina Luzarraga, Egg Timer
David MacGregor, Black Friday
Michael John McGoldrick, The Moment After
Jenny Mead, But That’s Okay
Lisa Mongillo, Hospital Kids
Amber Palmer, The Speedy Gonzales Memorial Turtle Sanctuary
Lia Romeo, The Presentation
Jack Rushton, Mistranslations
Kirt Shineman, A Life Assembled
Zach Spound, Dinosaur
Bara Swain, Extraordinary
D.J. Sylvis, Stars
Jennie Webb, Smiling Cat Candy Heart
Steve Yockey, Telephones & Bad Weather
2017–18
WINNER
Ken Weitzman, Covenant (…or Bagels and Butchery)
Preston Max Allen and Will Buck, Franklin Pierce: Dragon Slayer
Ian August, Frozen Foods
Leslie Ayvazian, Smiling at You
France-Luce Benson, Melanin
Jeff Bouthiette, Birthday
Rachel Bublitz, Swallowed
Audrey Cefaly, Bloodbath at the Fillmore
Sheila Cowley, Duck
Alex Dremann, Precipice
Greg Edwards and Andy Roninson, The Almost In-Laws
Brent Englar, Wednesday’s Child
Gina Femia, Fly, Baby
Scott Gibson, Ailurophobia
Lauren Gunderson, Damsel & Distress
Phillip Hall, The Nurse
Andrew Heinze, The Bar Mitzvah of Jesus Goldfarb
Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Work It, Bitch
Lindsay Joy, The Cleaners
Emily Kaczmarek, American Kids
Amanda Keating, This Movie
Mark Harvey Levine, Oh, Tannenbaum
Ross Maxwell, Don’t Turn Around
Emmeline McCabe, Shivaree
Rich Orloff, Defenders of the Tender Gender Bender
Eric Pfeffinger, Melto Man and Lady Mantis
Ashley Lauren Rogers, Becky’s Christmas Wish
Becca Schlossberg, The Story of Golem and the Pathetic Girl
Greg Smith, Schrodinger’s Gun
Tracey Smith, Meet the Pets
Justin Warner, Ghost Lite
2016–17
WINNER
Christyn Budzyna, Charles Cohen and Helen Park, Baked Goods
Dean Bevan, Grim Reaper
Nathan Brisby, Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot
Jeff Fraga, I Know Just What You Mean
Timothy Huang, Missing Karma
Chisa Hutchinson, Choosing Love
Jonathan Josephson, Grandpa and the Gay Rabbi
David MacGregor, Just Desserts
Susan Miller, Human Affairs
Lin-Manuel Miranda, 21 Chump Street
Eric Pfeffinger, That Thing That Time
Yasmine Rana, Leaf Cutter
Hillary Rollins, Big Fat Cow
Lia Romeo, Out of the Park
Scott Sickles, The Bedroom Summit
Angela Stern, Mama’s Eggnog
Seamus Sullivan, Valkyrie in the Roller Disco
R. Eric Thomas, Miriam 1234
Korde Tuttle, Clarity
Lizzie Vieh, Monsoon Season
\Philip Middleton Williams, A Moment of Clarity
Jane Willis, That Kid
2015–16
WINNER
Greg Edwards and Andy Roninson,
Evelyn Shaffer and the Chance of a Lifetime
Scott Barsotti, Tell Me Who You See
Suzanne Bradbeer, The Colonel of Okoboji
Landon Braverman and Derek Hassler, Choices
Tearrance Chisholm, Cathedral Theater
Patricia Cotter, Rules of Comedy
Carey Crim, Room 313
Chris Critelli and Andy Roninson, Warped
Greg Edwards and Ron Barnett, Episcus & Edendus
Rich Espey, In Memory of Ms. Mary Brown
Vanessa Garcia, Freek
Elin Hampton, F4
Brough Hansen, The Blue
Naomi Iizuka, Hold You
Gary Jaffe, Sunset
Jennifer Jasper, Eggs
Chris O’Connor, Miss Ring Has Lost Her Phone
Daria Polatin, Getting Ahead in the Big Bad World
Lia Romeo, Last Call
Paul Tei, Wednesday’s Child
Greg Waters, The Devil’s Assistant
2014–15
WINNER
France-Luce Benson, Risen from the Dough
James Armstrong, The Trade
Neena Beber, Running into You
France-Luce Benson, The Talk
Eleanor Burgess, Park Slope Minstrel Show
Patricia Cotter, The Anthropology Section
Jane Elias, Baby Steps
Rich Espey, The Joyce Kilmer Service Center
Lauren Feldman, Sand and Sam
Vanessa Garcia, The Crocodile’s Bite
Vince Gatton, In the Whole History of Hi-Q
Miranda Hall, The Value of Y
David Hilder, Misfortune
Donna Hoke, Survival Strategy
Jillian Leff, Real Talk
Jane Martin, Bedtime
Susan Miller, Reading List
Audrey Polinski, Burger Ballet
Lia Romeo, Yog Sothoth
R. Eric Thomas, Human Resources
Greg Waters, The Poetry Curse
Louise Wigglesworth, Real Art
Ann Wuehler, The Mating Season of Flying Monkeys
Anne Wynter, Ruby, Now and Again
2013–14
Leslie Ayvazian, The Click
Carey Crim, Glamping
Richard Dresser, Halftime
Fielding Edlow, Bump Between Friends
Jessica Farr, Nadie
Edith Freni, Flare
Ira Gamerman, Did This Matter? (A Game Show)
Vanessa Garcia, Lasso
Gary Garrison, Game On
Mira Gibson, Old Flame
Holli Harms, Cougar
William Pendergast III, The Last of the McLaughlins
Arlitia Jones, Tornado
Craig Pospisil, There’s No Here Here
Theo Reyna, The Scottish Play
R. David Robinson, Ink
Jake Rosenberg, No One Gives a Clap
Andrew Rosendorf, Sisyphus
Mark Routhier, Leaving
Becca Schlossberg, Hands
Lojo Simon, Batshit Crazy
Gwydion Suilebhan, Vertical Constellation with Bomb
R. Eric Thomas, When You Put It Like That It’s Ridiculous
Michael Weems, One Three Two
Sheri Wilner, The One
2012–13
Leslie Ayvazian, The Favor
Brad Beckham and Hector Pino, Papeles
Kendra Blevins, iZombies
Alex Broun, 50 Guns
Cricket Daniel, Break Dreams
Emily Dendinger, Everybody Hurts (Sometimes)
Vanessa Garcia, Pawn
Holli Harms, Make John Patrick Shanley Go Home
Israel Horovitz, The Bump
David Bar Katz, Mothra vs. the Casting Director: An Allegory
Peter Kennedy, Disconnections
Alexis Kozak, Girls Pray or the Kitchen Stigmata
Nina Mansfield, Bite Me
Catya McMullen, Missed Connections
Darren Miller and Kevin Mead, Edison/Tesla
John Minigan, It’s the Jews
Rick Park, Please Report Any Suspicious Activity
Mary Sansone, Wrigleys
Bara Swain, The Hotel Lobbyist
Deborah Yarchun, The Starfire Dance
2011–12
Andie Arthur, The Dueling Edwards
Allan Baker, …Last and Always
Allan Bates, Forced Entry
Bekah Brunstetter, Run
Barbara Bryan, Without Regard to New Orleans
Carey Crim, Green Dot Day
Patrick Gabridge, Escape to Wonderland
C.S. Hanson, The Art of the Interview?
Holly Hepp-Galvan, Departure
David Bar Katz, Handing Down the Recipe
David Kranes, The Memory Pillow
Jamie Pachino, Status Update
Adam Peltzman, Bedfellows
Kyle John Schmidt, The Dungeons and the Dragons
Lojo Simon, Moscow
J.C. Svec, Valerie and Theresa
Joyce Turiskylie, I’ll Be There
Richard Vetere, The Kid’s Menu
Sheri Wilner, A Tall Order