Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors

So long! It's been a good run, but all things must come to an end

2011-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

It is with deep regret that I announce the end of the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition. As a one-person organizing committee, it's been a massive labor, and, as I head toward retirement (in the next couple of years), something that I'll not be able to continue to devote time to. And enormous technical difficulties (mostly involving computers) have made the task even more onerous. I'm deeply grateful for the several hundred playwrights who participated, to the couple of hundred folks who willingly served as evaluators over the years, and to the staff of Ohio State's Department of Theatre, who were helpful in many, many ways.

Still arranging for readings of the 2009 winners, including Lans Taverse's Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie, Elizabeth Orndorff's Aidan’s Gift, Richard Conlon's send forth thy mercies, and Murder in a Nursing Home by R. Lawrence Sifford. So stay tuned--

Alan Woods

Readings Scheduled!

2010-01-15T06:35:00.000-08:00

Had hoped to have more readings set but the winter and spring were, for a variety of reasons, very full. We were able to have a reading of Mary Steelsmith's winning ten minute play, Happy and Gay, at the Senior Theatre USA festival in Asheville, North Carolina, in June, and on July 24, Donna Spector's full-length winner, Not For the Ferryman, will be read at the end of the sixth annual retreat for members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights. Here's the press release:

Donna Spector’s Not For The Ferryman, the winner of the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition (full-length category) will be given a free staged reading on Saturday, July 24th, at 8:00 p.m. in Ohio State University’s New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive on the O.S. U. campus (between the twin towers). Because of construction, access is from Woody Hayes Drive and Lane Avenue; parking is available across the street from the Drake for a modest fee.

Spector’s prize-winning play tracks the stories of two elderly women, sharing a sitting room in an assisted living facility, and the conflicts and connections between their families. Thea Tomadakis is a retired professor of classical literature, while Oriah Peabody is an Appalachian midwife. Spector combines their current lives with surrealistic scenes of confrontations with death, both in ancient Greek and Appalachian guises. Their grandchildren meet, battle, and eventually develop an understanding, while the facility’s doctor attempts to intervene.

Several of Columbus’ most noted performers will participate in the reading. Thea will be read by Katherine Burkman, artistic director of the ensemble group, Women At Play, while Linda Dorff, active at CATCO and in many roles at Players’ Theatre, will read Oriah. Their grandchildren will be read by Christopher Matsos, a recent graduate of Ohio State’s doctoral program in Theatre, and Carolyn Cutri, currently active in Ohio State’s Department of Theatre. Well-known local actor Truman Winbush is the doctor.

Donna Spector, a playwright based in New York, has had many plays produced Off-Broadway, regionally, and in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and Greece. She received two National Endowment for the Humanities grants to study in Greece, and production grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New York Council for the Arts. For more information, www.donnaspector.net. She will be present for the reading.

Over five hundred plays were submitted to the 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition. The competition honors Columbus native (and Ohio State alumna) Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions.

Update: scheduling readings, looking forward to 2011

2010-01-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

Currently in the process of scheduling/arranging readings of the 2009 Heckart winners and runners-up, so watch this space for dates/places/times; the reading of Donna Spector's Not For the Ferryman, the winner of the full-length category, will take place during the annual retreat for members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights, which will be in either July or early August this year.

As the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition takes place in alternate years, the next Heckart Competition will be in 2011; watch this space for details, which will be announced early in January, 2011!

Announcing the 2009 Winners!

2009-12-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN HECKART SENIOR THEATRE COMPETITION

Results of the 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition were announced today by Ohio State University’s Department of Theatre and Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute. The contest, named in memory of Ohio State alumna and Central Ohio native Eileen Heckart, attracted more than five hundred entries this year, in three categories: ten-minute plays, one acts plays, and full length plays.

And the winners are:

Ten-Minute: Mary Steelsmith (Los Angeles, California) Happy and Gay
One act: Katherine DuBois (Boulder, Colorado) Volunteer Work
Full-length: Donna Spector (Warwick, New York) Not For the Ferryman

Finalists in each category include:

First runners-up:
Ten-Minute: Toby Armour (East Haven, Connecticut) Lifer
One act: Richard Conlon (St. Charles, Illinois) send forth thy mercies
Full-length: R. Lawrence Sifford (Washington, D.C.) Murder in a Nursing Home

Second runners-up:
Ten-Minute: Stephanie Allison Walker (Los Angeles, California) Melt
One act: Tevia E. Abrams (New York, New York) Marge and Jack
Full-length (tie): Elizabeth Orndorff (Danville, Kentucky) Aidan’s Gift
Lans Taverse (London, England) Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie

Other finalists included
Ten-Minute: Damon Chua (Los Angeles, California) Dogs Are Evil
Douglas Stewart (Santa Fe, New Mexico) Never Mind
One act: Steven Shutzman (Baltimore, Maryland)Tammy
Rosemary Frisino Toohey (Baltimore, Maryland) Tilapia
Full-length: Paul Elliott (Los Angeles, California) Exit Laughing

The Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan=s The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions. Ms. Heckart was a native of Bexley, Ohio, and an alumna of The Ohio State University.
Winning plays, and first-runners-up, will receive staged readings at The Ohio State University during the 2009-2010 academic year.
Further information: 614/292-8238 (voice), 614/292-3222 (FAX), woods.1@osu.edu

Finalists Announced!

2009-10-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

Finalists were announced today for the 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition, hosted by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. There were 510 plays submitted to the third competition. Winning plays, and first-runners-up, will receive staged readings at The Ohio State University during the 2009-2010 academic year. Winning writers are not required to attend.

Further information: 614/292-8238 (voice), 614/292-3222 (FAX), woods.1@osu.edu; www.heckartdrama.blogspot.com

One act

Abrams, Tevia E. New York, New York Marge and Jack
Conlon, Richard P St. Charles, Illinois send forth thy mercies
Dubois, Katherine Boulder, Colo. Volunteer Work
Schutzman, Steven Baltimore, MD Tammy
Toohey, Rosemary Frisino Baltimore, MD Tilapia

Ten minute

Armour, Toby (Ms.) East Haven, Conn. Lifer
Chua, Damon Los Angeles, Calif. Dogs Are Evil
Steelsmith, Mary Los Angeles, Ca. Happy and Gay
Stewart, Douglas Santa Fe, NM Never Mind
Walker, Stephanie Allison Los Angeles, CA Melt

Full Length

Elliott, Paul Los Angeles, Calif. Exit Laughing
Orndorff, Elizabeth Danville, KY Aidan’s Gift
Sifford, R. Lawrence Washington, D.C. Murder in a Nursing Home
Spector, Donna Warwick, NY Not For the Ferryman
Traverse, Lans London, England Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie

The Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions. Ms. Heckart was a native of Bexley, Ohio, and an alumna of The Ohio State University.

2009 Semi-finalists named

2009-09-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Semifinalists were announced September 11th for the 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition, hosted by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. There were 510 plays submitted to the third competition, which honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions.

Winning plays, and first-runners-up, will receive staged readings at The Ohio State University during the 2009-2010 academic year. Winning writers are not required to attend. We hope to be able to announce finalists by the end of September, and the winners by late October.

Further information: 614/292-8238 (voice), 614/292-3222 (FAX), woods.1@osu.edu; www.heckartdrama.blogspot.com

One act

Abrams, Tevia E. New York, New York Marge and Jack
Conlon, Richard P St. Charles, Illinois send forth thy mercies
Dubois, Katherine Boulder, Colo. Volunteer Work
DuKore, Lawrence New York, NY Death in Venice, California
Jackson, Simon Edinburgh, Scotland The Rose Garden Party
Kinast, Robert L. Prairie Village, Kansas The Leftover Couple
Klarup, Pamela Chicago, Illinois Seeing Siberia
Lerner, Harry Summerfield, Florida Diary of a Fading Rose
Lindsay, Barbara Seattle, Wash This Almost Joy
Mellas, Michael Minneapolis, Minn Waiting
Potter, Jon Rockport, Maine Working
Rothstein, Robin New York, NY Breaking Routine
Schutzman, Steven Baltimore, MD Tammy
Toohey, Rosemary Frisino Baltimore, MD Tilapia
Werner, Raymond Pittsburgh, PA Night Song
Werner, Raymond Pittsburgh, PA Wandering Angus

Ten minute

Appel, Dori. Ashland, Oregon Feathered
Armour, Toby (Ms.) East Haven, Conn. Lifer
Bailey, Jerry Murfreesboro, Tenn. Clyde, Is That You?
Bohane, M. John Nokomis, Florida The Travelling Woman
Chua, Damon Los Angeles, Calif. Dogs Are Evil
Dempsey, Sandra Toronto, Ont. V.S.A.
Lerner, Harry Summerfield, Florida A Love Story
Lewison, David Los Angeles, Calif. Maryanne
Lindsay, Barbara Seattle, Wash. The Takeover
Martin, Maureen A. Sarasota, Florida Memorial Park
Musto, Edward New York, NY Shute Branch
Rigney, Mark Evansville, Indiana Porch Revival
Steelsmith, Mary Los Angeles, Ca. Happy and Gay
Stewart, Douglas Santa Fe, NM Never Mind
Walker, Stephanie Alison Los Angeles, CA Melt

Full Length

Antone, Tiffany Los Angeles, Calif. Ham Brown’s House
Elliott, Paul Los Angeles, Calif. Exit Laughing
Estrine, Judith New York, NY Pinocle and Roses
Gately, Robert Bethlehem, PA Going Solo
Guilford-Blake, Evan Stone Mountain, GA Leavin’ for Heaven
lathrop, mara Port Townsend, Wash The Lily & Lou Show
Orndorff, Elizabeth Danville, KY Aidan’s Gift
Rao, Diane New Concord, OH Sunset: Sunrise
Siegel, Adam New York, NY The Legacy
Sheldon, Carol Novato, Calif. Last Call
Sifford, R. Lawrence Washington, D.C. Murder in a Nursing Home
Spector, Donna Warwick, NY Not For the Ferryman
Toohey, Rosemary Frisino Baltimore, MD Gladys in Wonderland
Traverse, Lans London, England Coleslaw and Coconut Cream Pie
West, Ellen Portland, Oregon Losing Things

Readings scheduled, although still haven't pried the last few evaluations

2009-08-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hosting a retreat for playwrights, members of the International Centre for Women Playwrights, this week, so that's distracted me from getting the final few evaluations. But we do have a schedule for the readings of the winners: here's the listing sent to the local newspaper today:

Sunday, November 15, 2009
Staged reading of the winner of the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors 2009 Competition, full-length play category. 7:00 p.m., New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, on the Ohio State University campus. Free. For further information, www.heckartdrama.blogspot.com

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Staged reading of the winner and first runner-up of the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors 2009 Competition, one-act play category. 7:00 p.m., New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, on the Ohio State University campus. Free. For further information, www.heckartdrama.blogspot.com

Sunday, May 30, 2010
Staged reading of the winners of the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors 2009 Competition, ten-minute play category. 7:00 p.m., New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, on the Ohio State University campus. Free. For further information, www.heckartdrama.blogspot.com

contact: Alan Woods, Heckart Competition Coordinator, 614/292-8232, woods.1@osu.edu

Still waiting . . .

2009-08-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

and so am I; last few evaluators are still promising to get comments to me. Don't know why it's taken so long this time around, and I do apologize to the playwrights, who have been extraordinarily patient! Hoping to have the semifinalists announced in the next week--

Alan

Patience! Running slow

2009-06-24T21:15:00.001-07:00

My apologies for the delays in getting the initial evaluations completed; with the larger volume of plays this time around, it's all taking longer than I'd predicted. Hope to have the list of semifinalists ready by the end of the month, or early in July at the latest. Much thanks for your patience!

Alan Woods

Update on 2009 Competition!

2009-03-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

Eileen Heckart as Mary Richards' globe trotting Aunt Flo on the Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1975 and 1976.

Total plays submitted: 510. That breaks down to:
190 ten minute plays
137 one acts
183 full length plays

Lots of reading for the volunteer evaluators! Hope to have some preliminary results in a couple of months.

Another Update

2009-03-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Everybody Loves Opal Playbill, New York, 1961

Scripts keep coming in; as of today, the numbers are:
112 ten minute plays
90 one acts
124 full length

lots of good work out there, and a week and a half before the 3/20 deadline!

AND NOTE: GUIDELINES BELOW, BENEATH PROGRAM OF EILEEN HECKART AS ELEANOR ROOSEVELT!

Update!

2009-02-19T13:17:00.001-08:00

Eileen Heckart and Patty McCormick in The Bad Seed (1956

Scripts coming in on a regular basis, via both email and snailmail. Totals to date: 43 ten minute plays, 37 one acts, and 59 full length. And there's a month to go before the final deadline

2009 Competition Announced

2009-01-05T11:11:00.001-08:00

Eileen Heckart in Eleanor by Arlene Stadd, July, 1976.

EILEEN HECKART SENIOR DRAMA COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

The 2009 Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition has begun. Intended to increase plays available for the rapidly growing field of Senior Theatre, the third Heckart Competition accepts plays in three categories: full length, one act (45 minutes or less in playing time), and ten-minute.

Only plays which have not yet received major professional productions may be entered. Plays should include major senior characters and/or deal with issues pertaining to seniors (people over 55). Musicals or adaptations may not be entered. There is no submission fee. Winning playwrights will receive cash prizes ($100 for full length, $75 for one-act, $50 for ten minute).

The Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition is sponsored by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. The first Heckart Competition, in 2003, saw more than 470 scripts entered, the 2005 Competition brought 459 entries, and 506 were submitted in 2007.

Details of entering: Electronic or hard copies. Electronic copies should be in word or pdf format; if sending hard copies, please send two copies. Author=s name should appear only on the title page, not in the text of play.
Deadline (postmark): March 20, 2009. We hope to announce finalists and semi finalists by the middle of May, winners by the middle of June. Entries should include a brief biographical statement about the author..SASE should be included if hard copy is to be returned at the conclusion of the competition.

Send submissions to:

Alan Woods
2007 Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute
The Ohio State University
1430 Lincoln Tower
1800 Cannon Drive
Columbus, OH 43210-1230

Woods.1@osu.edu

Winning plays, and first-runners-up, will receive staged readings at The Ohio State University during the 2009-2010 academic year. Winning writers are not required to attend.

The competition honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions.

Further information: 614/292-6614 (voice), 614/688-8417 (FAX), woods.1@osu.edu

2009 Competition: announcement forthcoming!

2008-10-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition will be announced in early January; watch this spot for details!

More changes

2008-02-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

still more changes, brought about by availability of performers and other considerations. So now the readings on February 27th will be of Dori Appel's Bon Voyage and Harriet Weiss's Billie and Henry. Here's the announcement:

Two winners of the Eileeen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition will receive readings at Ohio State’s Drake Performance and Event Center on Wednesday, February 27th, at 7:30 p.m. The plays are Billie and Henry, winner of the ten-minute play category by Harriet Weiss of Palm Springs, California, and Oregon writer Dori Appel’s Bon Voyage, runner-up one-act play. Well-known Columbus performers Linda Dorff, Sarah Worthington, Robin Post, Ann Mirels, and Ira Simons will read the roles in the Drake New Works Lab, 1849 Cannon Drive on the Ohio State University campus, between the twin towers.

In Billie and Henry, two aged motion picture veterans -- a onetime starlet and an extra -- face old age, and plot to jump ahead on the waiting list for the industry retirement home. Harriett Weiss was a staff writer and story editor for All in the Family and Archie Bunker's Place, among other credits. She received the Scott Newman and Gabriel awards, and was a finalist three times for the Humanitas Prize.

Dori Appel’s Bon Voyage examines three sisters, about to embark on a cruise, who find out new things about each other even after long, close lives. Dori Appel’s plays and musicals have been widely produced across the United States. She has performed her work at the Senior Theatre USA meeting in Las Vegas, and at the Senior Theatre Festival in Columbus.

Over five hundred plays were submitted to the 2007 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition. The competition honors Columbus native (and Ohio State alumna) Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions.

The Heckart Competition is administered by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute of The Ohio State University.

Updates, changes, and 2009 Competition

2008-02-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

Some updates and changes: because Ohio State University has opened a gallery/performance space in downtown Columbus, we're currently trying to arrange to hold a couple of the readings of Heckart Competition plays there, for greater visibility. Therefore, the February 7th reading of Judy Juanita's Theodicy has been delayed. Will update when the change is definite.

Since the Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition is held in alternate years, there is no competition in 2008. Guidelines for the next Heckart Competition will be announced in January, 2009, with a deadline for submission in late February or early March. Playwrights who'd like to receive a copy of the guidelines directly should send their contact information to heckartdrama@yahoo.com

Staged Readings of 2007 finalists scheduled!

2007-11-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

Eileen Heckart in Hot Spell (1958)

Staged readings of all of the winners and finalists for the 2007 contest are now set:

11/29/07 winner New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, OSU Campus, Columbus
For Unto Us, by James McLindon, Northampton, MA, full-length

1/20/08 because of a number of requests, For Unto Us will be read again, agian in the New Works Lab at the Drake Center on the OSU campus.

2/7/08 First runner up New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, OSU Campus, Columbus
Theodicy, by Judy Juanita, Oakland, CA, full-length

2/27/08 First runners up New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, OSU Campus, Columbus
Lunch Boat, by Justin Warner, Jackson Heights, NY ten minute
Pitching the Good Game, by Jay D. Hanagan, Geneva, NY one act

4/19/08 Second runner up: Gallery 2002, 38 N State St, Westerville, OH 43081
Still-Life With Dog, by Bonnie Rozanksi, Lawrenceville, NJ

4/24/08 Second runners up: New Works Lab, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, OSU Campus, Columbus
Rosa’s Lament, by Sandra Dempsey, Toronto, ON ten minute
Bon Voyage, by Dori Appel, Ashland, OR one act

2007 Winners Announced!

2007-09-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, we can announce the winners!

Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition Winners, 2007
(synoposes of the plays are on the previous post)

Ten minute plays

Billie and Henry, by Harriett Weiss, Palm Springs, CA

First runner up:
Lunch Boat, by Justin Warner, Jackson Heights, NY

Second runner up:
Rosa’s Lament, by Sandra Dempsey, Toronto, ON

One Act Plays

Song of the Magpie, by Martha Boesing, Oakland, CA

First runner up:
Pitching the Good Game, by Jay D. Hanagan, Geneva, NY

Second runner up:
Bon Voyage, by Dori Appel, Ashland, OR

Full Length Plays

For Unto Us, by James McLindon, Northampton, MA

First runner up:
Theodicy, by Judy Juanita, Oakland, CA

Second runner up:
Still-Life With Dog, by Bonnie Rozanksi, Lawrenceville, NJ

for information on contacting the playwrights, contact us at woods.1@osu.edu

2007 Finalists Announced!

2007-07-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Eileen Heckart with sons Mark (age 2) and Philip (age 4)and friend during filming of Bus Stop, 1956.

Ten Minute Plays
Sandra Dempsey, Toronto, ON, Canada : Rosa’s Lament
Jim Gordon, Norwalk, CT: A Good Deed
Douglas Stewart, Santa Fe, NM: Final Exam
Justin Warner, Jackson Heights, NY: Lunch Boat
Harriett Weiss, Palm Springs, CA: Billie and Henry

One Act Plays
Dori Appel, Ashland, OR: Bon Voyage
Martha Boesing, Oakland, CA: Song of the Magpie
Jay D. Hanagan, Geneva, NY: Pitching the Good Game
Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, OH: Limbo
Mary Steelsmith, Los Angeles, CA: List of Honor

Full Length
Jan August, Mountain View, CA: Still in the Game
Judy Juanita, Oakland, CA: Theodicy
James McLindon, Northampton, MA: For Unto Us
Bonnie Rozanski, Lawrenceville, NJ: Still-Life With Dog
Lynn Snyder, Berkeley, CA: Older Than Dead

More information on the plays and playwrights:

Ten Minute plays

Sandra Dempsey, Toronto, Canada: Rosa’s Lament. A monologue: Rosa, a 70s woman of Russian-Slovakian descent, recalls in the hereafter the humiliation and abuse she endured during life, and the redeeming effort to save a wounded sparrow. Canadian playwright Sandra Dempsey’s plays are known for their vivid, deftly drawn characterizations and vibrant dialogue, acerbic wit, and unique, sensitive styling. Her writing is uncompromising, powerful and vital; compassionate and impassioned.

Jim Gordon, Norwalk, Connecticut: A Good Deed. In a tavern next to a funeral home, Barney, a regular, cheers mourners who come in for a drink with fond memories of the deceased. Actor/Director turned writer, Jim’s have won or been finalists in over 60 national and international competitions, and all have been produced. Jim's most recent full-length play, Fake, was produced Off-Broadway in 2006. In 2005, Jim received the "Alan Minieri Award for Playwriting Excellence" from "The American Globe Theatre" in NYC.

Doug Stewart, Santa Fe, New Mexico: Final Exam. Saint Peter tells Mother Earth that God is fed up with the way humans are destroying Earth; Mother Earth comes up with a final test for humanity. If they pass, great. If not . . . . Doug Stewart is a member of the Santa Fe SRO (Seniors Reaching Out) Players, an Advisory Council member of Senior Theatre USA, and a board member of the Santa Fe Playhouse. His plays have won several awards.

Justin Warner, Jackson Heights, New York: Lunch Boat. A stroke victim with only fine motor skills carves small boats, as his wife reaches her limits. Justin Warner’s plays have been widely produced. He is a Harrington Award winner (BMI Musical Theater Workshop), a Kennedy Center-ACTF winner, a Global Age Project winner, a Source Theatre 10-Minute Play Competition winner, a Sam French Fest Critic's Choice winner.

Harriett Weiss, Palm Springs, California:

Billie and Henry

. Two aged motion picture veterans—a onetime starlet and an extra—face old age, and plot to jump ahead on the waiting list for the industry retirement home. Harriett Weiss was a five-year staff writer and story editor for All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place, among other credits. She received the Scott Newman and Gabriel awards, and was a finalist three times for the Humanitas Prize.

One Act plays

Dori Appel, Ashland, Oregon: Bon Voyage. Three sisters, about to embark on a cruise, find out new things about each other even after long, close lives. Dori Appel’s plays and musicals have been widely produced across the United States. She has performed her work at the Senior Theatre USA meeting in Las Vegas.

Martha Boesing, Oakland, California: Song of the Magpie. A middle class woman lives on the streets as a homeless person for a week, describing her experiences in a monologue intercut with comments from a homeless woman she meets. Probably best known as the founder and artistic director of At the Foot of the Mountain in Minneapolis, the longest running professional women’s theatre in the United States, Martha Boesing has written and directed for nationally. Song of the Magpie was written for the Faithful Fools, a street ministry in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.

Jay D. Hanagan, Geneva, New York: Pitching the Good Game. Long time baseball fans celebrate their anniversary at the game—but Samuel’s beginning to have memory lapses. Jay D. Hanagan’s plays have been featured in festivals in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, as well as in major American cities. His plays are published by Samuel French and Dramatic Publishing.

Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, Ohio: Limbo. The long term (think millennia) caretakers for all the babies in Limbo have a problem: the Church declares that Limbo doesn’t exist. What to do? Maureen Brady Johnson teaches secondary school theatre and is the author of Shoes on the Highway: Using Visual and Audio Cues to Inspire Student Playwrights, published in 2005.

Mary Steelsmith, Los Angeles, California: List of Honor. Slipping away from a reception at which she’ll receive a major honor for a career as a philanthropist after having been a film star, Dory is confronted by a fan who turns out to have revenge on her mind. Produced across North America and internationally, Mary Steelsmith has been writing since her high school days in Boise, Idaho. Her plays have won numerous awards, most recently the Helford Prize at Jacksonville University in Florida for Isaac, I Am.

Full length plays

Jan August, Mountain View, California: Still in the Game. The residents of a senior shared home cope with the death of the home’s legal owner, and with the needs of his heir and daughter, a high-powered executive with no desire to become owner of a senior shared home. Jan August is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at San Francisco State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from San Jose State University. She is the author of several full-length plays in addition to Still in the Game.

Judy Juanita, Oakland, California. Theodicy. Two older black men fall improbably into a river of death, where one, a retried ophthalmologist, questions God and evetns from black history that touched his life. As if in a parallel universe, opposite them, their wives busy themselves with mundane affairs while grieving their lifelong partners. Judy Juanita has been a major writer for the past two decades; her plays have been produced at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Brava! Theatre in San Francisco, the National Black Theatre Festival in North Carolina, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe, among others.

James McLindon, Northampton, Massachusetts: For Unto Us. Two elderly men, one a blind priest, live with, torment, and are tormented by the sighted man’s daughter, a conservative anti-abortion protester. When her pregnant daughter returns home with her female partner, and the local diocese wants to close the priest’s former church because of the costs of scandals the priest unwittingly allowed to take place, complications ensue. James McLindon has four full length plays scheduled for six productions in the coming year. He recently resigned from a partnership in a Boston law firm in order to write plays full time.

Bonnie Rozanski, Lawrenceville, New Jersey: Still-Life With Dog. A recently-widowed grandmother has trouble fitting into the household of her son, his second wife, and two children, and particularly with the family dog. Eventually the grandmother comes to terms with her new family (and they with her) as well as with the hapless, chocolate-loving, pet. Bonnie Rozanski lives in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where her husband, Mordechai, is the President of Rider University. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Business.

Lynn Snyder, Berkeley, California: Older Than Dead. Four aging followers of the Grateful Dead celebrate annually on New Year’s Eve. When one has a stroke, the others are convinced that he’ll be brought out of it by a visit from Jerry Garcia; then they learn of Garcia’s death, and resolve to put their friend out of his misery. But how to safely get into his hospital room? Complications ensue when a Dead-loving policeman enters the picture. Lynn Snyder’s plays have had productions and staged readings across the United States and in England and Italy. She has received playwriting fellowships and grants from the University of Massachusetts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation.

2007 Semifinalists Announced!

2007-07-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

Eileen Heckart at the 1973 Academy Awards with presenter Cloris Leachman; Ms. Heckart was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Butterflies Are Free. According to her son, Luke Yankee, his father kissed her so enthusiastically when her name was announced, holding her face, that he gouged her chin with his fingernail. You can see the spot of blood just below her chin in the photo. This made her, accordingly to Luke, "The first bloody Oscar winner in history!"

Here are the semifinalists for 2007, out of 506 scripts submitted:

Ten Minute Plays

Jani Brandli, Somerville, MA: Moon Man

Sandra Dempsey, Toronto, ON, Canada : Rosa’s Lament

Jim Gordon, Norwalk, CT: A Good Deed

Evelyn Jean Pine, San Francisco, CA: Counting the Minutes

Judith Pratt, Ithaca, NY: Metaphorical Shoes

Linda Holland Rathkopf, Brooklyn, NY: First Tier

Douglas Stewart, Santa Fe, NM: Final Exam

Nicholas Tasi, Worcester, MA: Boxer

Justin Warner, Jackson Heights, NY: Lunch Boat

Harriett Weiss, Palm Springs, CA: Billie and Henry

One Act Plays

Dori Appel, Ashland, OR: Bon Voyage

Martha Boesing, Oakland, CA: Song of the Magpie

June Calender, New York, NY: After Evelyn

Jay D. Hanagan, Geneva, NY: Pitching the Good Game

Judy Carlson Hulbut, Tacoma, WA: Driving Daughter

Maureen Brady Johnson, Oberlin, OH: Limbo

Robert L. Kinast, Prairie Village, KS: Salt in the Pepper Shaker

Kathleen Kramer, Newfield, NY: Hearts of Cloves

John Lordan, Evanston, IL: Friendly Skies

Mary Steelsmith, Los Angeles, CA: List of Honor

Full Length

Jan August, Mountain View, CA: Still in the Game

Donald Drake, Philadelphia, PA: The Passage

Judy Juanita, Oakland, CA: Theodicy

David Kravitz, Oak Park, IL: The Standoff

James McLindon, Northampton, MA: For Unto Us

Julia Pearlstein, New York, NY: PLINKO; or, the Goddess of Static Cling

Bonnie Rozanski, Lawrenceville, NJ: Still-Life With Dog

Mark Scharf, Gaithersburg, MD: The Whispers of Saints

Lynn Snyder, Berkeley, CA: Older Than Dead

Marcia Wilkie, Los Angeles, CA: Living Room

Nancy Zaman, Lake Isabella, CA: To Heir is Human

The competition was particularly brisk this year; there were 506 scripts submitted, in the following categories:

151 ten minute plays
160 one act plays
185 full length

The next Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition is scheduled for 2009

Be Patient!

2007-06-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

We're trying to pry the last evaluations from a few evaluators; with almost a hundred people reading plays, it's sometimes difficult to corral them all (one is reminded of the old cliche about herding cats . . .). But it will happen, we hope in the next week or so. Thanks for your patience--this is a long, drawn out process, we know.

Record Number of Submissions!

2007-04-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Eileen Heckart in Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn (New York Television Theatre 1966), for which she won the Emmy Award.

The postmark deadline for submissions was Saturday, March 31st; as of April 4th, 497 plays had been submitted. And since a few more will appear, delayed for whatever reasons in various mail services -- US and university -- it seems likely that we'll have over 500 submissions for the third Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors competition. That's a new record, and speaks to the spreading popularity of theatre by and for and about seniors!

And, of course, Ohio State's Department of Theatre will be offering its two-week intensive seminars on Theatre and Aging in July; for more information, see http://osuseniortheatre.blogspot.com

2007 Competition Announced

2007-01-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Heckart in The Little Foxes, Stadium Theatre, Ohio State University, 1964.

The 2007 Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition has begun. Intended to increase plays available for the rapidly growing field of Senior Theatre, the third Heckart Competition accepts plays in three categories: full length, one act (45 minutes or less in playing time), and ten-minute.

Only plays which have not yet received major professional productions may be entered. Plays should include major senior characters and/or deal with issues pertaining to seniors (people over 55). Musicals or adaptations may not be entered. There is no submission fee. Winning playwrights will receive cash prizes ($100 for full length, $75 for one-act, $50 for ten minute).

The Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition is sponsored by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. The first Heckart Competition, in 2003, saw more than 470 scripts entered, while the 2005 Competition brought 459 entries.

Details of entering: Hard copies only. No electronic copies accepted. Author's name should appear only on the title page, not in the text of play. deadline (postmark): March 31, 2007. We hope to announce finalists and semi finalists by the middle of May, winners by the middle of June. Entries should include a brief biographical statement about the author..SASE should be included if the script is to be returned at the conclusion of the competition.

Send submissions to:

Alan Woods
2007 Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute
The Ohio State University
1430 Lincoln Tower
1800 Cannon Drive
Columbus, OH 43210-1230

Winning plays, and first-runners-up, will receive staged readings at The Ohio State University during the 2007-2008 academic year. Winning writers are not required to attend.

The competition honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished American actress whose long career culminated in her stunning performance in Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery (2000), for which she received the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. That same year she was awarded the Tony for lifetime achievement. She also was the recipient of an Academy Award (Butterflies Are Free), Golden Globe (The Bad Seed) and an Emmy (Save Me A Place at Forest Lawn). She was recognized with a Margo Jones Medal in 2000 for her long championing of new plays, having appeared in almost thirty world premiere productions.

Further information: 614/292-6614 (voice), 614/688-8417 (FAX), woods.1@osu.edu

2005 Heckart Drama Competition Winners

2007-01-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Heckart in The Bad Seed 1956; she was acclaimed in both the Broadway play (1954-55) and the 1956 film, for which she won the Golden Globe award and was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress.

Winners for the second Heckart Drama Competition were announced at the end of July, 2005. Columbus, Ohio, and New York City playwrights tied for the top honors: Janet Overmyer of Columbus and Dan Aibel of New York tied in the full-length category with their plays My Beginning (Overmyer) and Lapses (Aibel). In the one-act category, Katherine Dubois of Boulder, Colorado, won for Innocent Bystanders, while Milwaukee playwright Ludmilla Bollow's ten-minute play, Saving America, was judged the best short play.

Runners-up were Neville J. Bryant (Oakville, Ontario), full-length play, Roses in November; Dori Appel (Ashland, Oregon), first runner-up one act, Alchemy, and Monica Bauer (Lynn, Massachusetts), second runner-up one act, Real Estate. First runner-up in the ten-minute category was Barbara Lindsay of Seattle, Washington, with On the Line, while Elaine Jarvik of Salt Lake City was second runner-up with Dead Right.

Winning plays were given staged readings in August as part of the 2005 Playwrights' Retreat for the International Center for Women Playwrights at Ohio State University in Columbus. Lapses -- in which an aging man becomes confused about reality -- was read on Saturday, August 13th, while My Beginning's reading was on Sunday, August 21st. Overmyer's play follows a recently-widowed woman learning to live on her own--and enjoying it. Innocent Bystanders, Saving America, Alchemy, and On the Line were read on Saturday, August 20th. All readings were in the New Works Lab, the Drake Performance and Event Center, 1149 Cannon Drive.

The Heckart Competition is sponsored by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at The Ohio State University. The writing partnership of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee created such modern classics as Inherit the Wind, Auntie Mame and its hit musical adaptation, Mame, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, and First Monday in October. Lawrence and Lee, both Ohio natives, were active in teaching writing and in encouraging new playwrights during their distinguished careers.

UPDATE: Dan Aibel's Lapses will receive its world premiere production in May, 2007, at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Details at http://www.detroitreptheatre.com/season.htm

to contact the playwrights:
Dan Aibel's blog is at http://contrapositive.blogspot.com/
Ludmilla Bollow's homepage is http://home.earthlink.net/~bollow/
http://www.stagecraftproductions.net/ to reach Neville Bryant
Dori Appel can be contacted at http://www.geocities.com/doriappel/
Information about Monica Bauer at http://www.bu.edu/bpt/grad/bauer.html
and contact Elaine Jarvik through http://deseretnews.com/dn/staff/card/1,1228,82,00.html

for other contact information, email us at woods.1@osu.edu

2003 Winners and Runners-Up

2007-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here are the winners and runners-up from the first Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors Competition, held in 2003.

Playwrights from Philadelphia, New York, and Louisville took the top spots. The winning plays received staged readings on July 25th and 26th, 2003, at the Short North Playhouse in Columbus, Ohio.

Larry Loebell's Memorial Day won first place among the full-length plays. Loebell is Literary Manager and Dramaturg at the InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia, and he has had plays produced at InterAct, by the Wilma Theatre (also in Philadelphia), at the Attic Theatre (Los Angeles) and the Ritz Theatre (New Jersey), the Changing Scene Theatre in Denver and the Theatre Catalyst of Philadelphia. He is a two time winner of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in Playwriting. Memorial Day is "a moving celebration of life and the renewal of hope in an inner city park," according to Dr. Alan Woods, director of the Lawrence and Lee Institute. It is based on the real-life murder of a community activist in Philadelphia in 1994 for the contents of his wallet.

The Last Dance, by New York-based playwright Edgar Chisholm, was named winner in the one-act play category. Nena Couch, Lawrence and Lee Institute Curator, said, "Chisholm's very funny play shows the power of a long life together as both memory of the past and motivation for the future." The characters in the play, divorced after more than fifty years of marriage, show the affection and concern that survive a lifetime of disappointment.

Nancy Gall-Clayton's Felicity's Family Tree won the ten-minute play category. The short play "deals imaginatively with the problems of memory and a search for family among older Americans," Woods said. "It powerfully shows the inevitable confrontation between an aging woman and the social worker responsible for her well being." Gall-Clayton, a resident of Louisville, has had plays producted at Kentucky's Horse Cave Theatre and the Actors' Theatre of Louisville, among others. She is an active member of the International Center for Women Playwfights, the Dramatists Guild, the Kentucky Writers' Coalititon, and is a board member of Lorna Littleway's Juneteenth Festival.

Warner D. Conarton's Elevator Music was first runner-up in the full length play category, while Katherine Dubois' Shady Manor was second runner up. Massachusetts playwright Miriam F. D'Amato's one-act play, A Noodle Kugel for Company, was named first runner-up in that category, with Delaware, Ohio, playwright Bonnie Milne Gardner's Day Old Bread taking the second runner-up slot. In the ten minute category, Sandra Perlman's Something With Fish was first runner-up; the playwright is from Kent, Ohio. North Carolina writer John Gehris took second runner-up with his ten minute play, Odds 'n Ends.

Members of Footsteps of the Elders and the Senior Repertory of Ohio, senior theatre companies in Columbus, Ohio, read the winning plays in the Short North Playhouse on July 25th (The Long Dance and Felicity's Family Tree, plus A Noodle Kugel for Dinner and Something With Fish) and July 26th (Memorial Day).

To reach the playwrights:
Larry Loebell's home page is http://www.loebell.com/
http://www.bestblackplays.com/ reaches Edgar Chisholm
Bonnie Milne Gardner can be reached at http://english.owu.edu/gardner_bonnie_milne.htm
Sandra Perlman is at http://www.sperlman.com/

for additional contact information, email woods.1@osu.edu