Thank you to the winners and to everyone who entered our 2022 playwright competition.
The winning full-length play was “County Line Road” by Michael Rothmayer, which is a mystery with perhaps a tinge of the supernatural. “County Line Road” explores the ways we try to find truth in the face of the unexplained as it follows Lisa and Ben Wilson who find themselves home where they cannot account for 3 hours of missing time or even how they got there. Michael is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Drake University where he teaches courses in Acting, Directing and Theatre History as well as Playwriting.
One of the winning one-acts is “The Things That We Know” by Sierra Rosetta which explores the dynamics of a mother daughter relationship and how they respond when thrown a curveball. Sierra is currently a senior undergraduate student studying Theatre at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. She based “The Things That We Know” on her relationship with her own mother, who suffers from a chronic illness. Writing this play helped Sierra grapple with her own fears of losing her mother at the worst possible moment.
Our next winning one-act is “Columba” by Rachel Smart which follows a husband and wife in a desolate and dying world and asking themselves what are they willing to die for? Rachel is a recent graduate of Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. She majored in Theatre, English Teaching and Secondary Education. She has written other ten-minute plays, one which received a production and honors at KCACTF and its first production this spring. Rachel also submitted “Columba” to the Midwest KCACTF conference where it was selected to receive a staged reading at the festival and honorable mention in their contest. Rachel is working on revising the script and turning it into a full-length play.