Thank you to the winners and to everyone who entered our 2024 Playwright Competition.
The full length play winner is “Resistance” by Taylor Sklenar of Ames.
“Resistance” When a new herbicide is marketed that utilizes a novel chemical pathway, many farmers in this small Iowa town are relieved to have a new tool for combatting herbicide-tolerant weeds. But, Syd, an edgy organic farmer, fights back against the new chemical and tries to convince her neighbors that it poses risks to their farms and to each other.
Taylor Sklenar is a playwright, Artistic Associate for the EcoTheatre Lab, and science communication lecturer at Iowa State University. He spent two years pursuing his MA in Theatre in Columbia, Missouri, where he served as the managing director of the Missouri Playwrights’ Workshop and the Mizzou New Play Series. More recently, he earned his MFA in Creative Writing and Environment and MS in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, where he served as poetry and drama editor for “Flyway Journal of Writing” and Environment and Coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Colloquium Series. His writing explores the intersection of science, sustainability, and rural life and informs his narrative-based approach to teaching science communication. www.taylorsklenar.com
One of the one act winners is “Love is a Mystery” by Edith Goodwin of Council Bluffs.
“Love is a Mystery” is about Dr. Paul Clark and his wife Pam, and Wendy Adams, EdD and her husband Mike. They are two couples who have been friends for years; two couples whose marriages are both in trouble. Paul claims that with his busy medical practice, the limited time he has at home is precious. He’d like to spend it with his wife, but she’s never there. Pam feels like the hired housekeeper since the kids left, not her husband’s lover. Wendy has a high-profile job at the local university which includes lots of business meetings and schmoozing with out-of-town dignitaries. She’s embarrassed to bring Mike along. He owns a construction company, for heaven’s sake. He can’t even make small talk! Mike enjoys being around “his guys”, having a beer and talking about practical issues, not the future of education.
Will these two couples iron out their differences? Will their long-term commitments to each other outweigh their present dissatisfactions? Or will they just leave, seeking satisfaction elsewhere? Join Paul, Pam, Wendy and Mike as they discover that love is truly a mystery.
Edie Goodwin enjoys a large family, plays the piano for personal and public enjoyment, and digs in the dirt as much as she wishes. Her career as a pediatric Physical Therapist allows her to serve children, families and educators in their homes, schools, and institutions. And now after 44 years of writing medical reports, she is penning fiction! You can check out her recently released book, “Bertie’s Place”. She’s a strong believer in family, kids, having fun, and happy endings. She’s had a blessed life, for sure.
The other one act winner is “The Gravedigger” by Quinn Raven Young of Cedar Falls.
“The Gravedigger” explores grief and regret through the eyes of a man who, by his own admission, has lived too long. He delivers his own eulogy, in memories of bullet holes and burning houses.
Quinn Young is a student of aerospace engineering at Iowa State University. She considers herself primarily a novelist, with “The Gravedigger” representing her first foray into playwriting. Since March, she has been writing and illustrating a graphic novel.