46th Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival Announces Six Winning Plays

Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals company, has announced the winners of the 2021 Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (OOB), the nation's premier short play competition. The six plays will be published and available for licensing by Samuel French in the 46th edition of its Off Off Broadway collection:

All Things Considered, It Was Probably the Most Productive Meeting The Escondido Unified School District PTA Ever Had by A.J. Ditty

DOGS OF SOCIETY by Julia Grogan

By Grace, Pt. 2 by Agyeiwaa Asante

Grieved by Jahquale Mazyck

pearl apple penguin by Aisling Towl

Kitchen Design by Suzanne Willett

The Final 30 Playwrights competed for the six prize spots chosen from over 750 submissions worldwide. The distinguished lineup of judges included playwrights Dennis A. Allen II, Miranda Rose Hall, Trish Harnetiaux, 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard and Harrison David Rivers, along with dramaturg Jeremy Stoller, Executive Director of National New Play Network Nan Barnett, Artistic Director for City Theatre Miami Margaret M. Ledford and Co-Founder and Literary Director for City Theatre Miami Susan Westfall.

"This year's Top 30 plays were full of amazing stories and unique voices," said Casey McLain, OOB Festival Artistic Director. "While we missed seeing these pieces on the stage, we were more than excited to share them with the OOB audience and judges through our second virtual festival. The six plays chosen for the 46th OOB Festival publication are a great sample of the amazing work we saw this year."

Originating in 1975, the OOB Festival is one of Samuel French's primary initiatives to introduce the next wave of emerging playwrights. In the 46 years of the OOB Festival, over 550 theatre companies and schools have participated. Applicants have included companies from coast to coast as well as from Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring playwrights. These include Audrey Cefaly, whose full-length version of her 40th OOB Festival-winning play The Gulf won 2018's Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBTQ Drama, and Martyna Majok, whose play The Cost of Living (originally produced as part of 39th OOB Festival as John, Who's Here from Cambridge) won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Other notable past participants include Bekah Brunstetter, Eleanor Burgess, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Sheila Callaghan, khat knotahaiku, Gracie Gardner, Jeremy O. Harris, Shirley Lauro, Theresa Rebeck, Jen Silverman, Lauren Yee and Steve Yockey.

To stay up to date with all Festival information, follow @OOBFestival on Twitter, facebook.com/oobfestival, and #OOBFestival on all social platforms.

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