Expert Overview

Princeton University playwriting contest for 11th-grade students in the U.S. and abroad, run by the Lewis Center for the Arts. Students submit one English-language play of up to ten pages, and a guest playwright judges. First place wins $500. The contest closes when 250 entries arrive.

Format

Individual

Judging Format

Jurors

Monetary

Grade Eligibility

Rising Juniors

Geographic Eligibility

US, International

Discipline

PlaywritingCreative WritingDramaTheater

Entries

250

Percent Awarded

Important Dates

Submissions Open

December 31, 2026

Submission Deadline

Rolling

Final Deadline

March 31, 2027

Passed

Open

Approaching: < 1 mo.

Priority: < 2 weeks

Urgent: < 1 week

Registration Cost

No entry fee

About

Entrants submit one play as a PDF through the online form, on any subject, with an optional extra page for a title page or cast list. Pre-existing plays and plays entered elsewhere are allowed, but AI-generated plays are not, and co-written plays qualify only if every writer is in 11th grade. Prizes are $500, $250, and $100 for the top three, plus honorable mentions, 12 in the latest cycle. There are no certificates, scripts are not returned, and entrants receive no critical feedback; winners are notified in June.

The 250-entry cap makes the contest a race: in recent years it has closed before its deadline, so a finished play on opening day matters more than the posted date. The organizer publishes no entry totals beyond the cap, and no production or reading is offered, so the prize is the credential.

A placement puts a student’s script on the Princeton Lewis Center’s winners list, chosen by a working playwright.