Playwriting Contest Gives Kids a Voice Against Bullying

Three local organizations are taking the bull by the horns—or rather the bully—to raise awareness of a nationwide epidemic. 

Adventure Theatre, along with partner Montgomery County Recreation and sponsor Monument Bank, is staging a 10-Minute anti-bullying playwriting contest for middle school students.

First, second and third place winners will be chosen and will receive gift cards of $100, $50 and $25, respectively. Winners will also be given a private dramaturgy session alongside professional playwrights as well as the opportunity to have their play directed and performed in a staged reading by professional local thespians.

Six plays, three from the student winners and three donated professional scripts, will be presented at a staged reading and awards ceremony March 30 at 7 p.m. on Adventure Theatre’s main stage.  

The contest is open to both private schools and MCPS schools, grades 6 to 8. Information has been sent out to all local schools and the rules and parameters for the contest are up online. Kids can enter through their teacher if the whole class wants to participate or enter themselves online directly. 

The completed script is limited to ten minutes. Scripts can have no more than two male and two female characters. Monologues, screenplays and musicals are not eligible, nor are adaptations of other authors’ works. 

Submissions are due January 15. A jury of regional and national theater educators, playwrights and directors will announce the three winners on February 1.

A series of free workshops for interested participants are scheduled in December at various Montgomery County Recreation locations and at Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park.

Kathryn Hnatio, the education & outreach director at Adventure Theatre, is the person that thought up the anti-bullying play contest idea. The origin, she said, was the theatre’s production last year of "The Red Balloon".

“Part of [the play] is that a boy befriends a balloon and he is bullied," explained Hnatio, "And of course bullying is being talked about in the media. So, we asked each kid in the audience to take a bullying pledge. But all I was hearing were adults talking about bullying, not the kids. That’s sort of where this idea came from, to give kids a voice.”  

Therefore, Hnatio said, “Adventure Theatre and Montgomery County Recreation decided students should tell their stories in their own words and be given an opportunity to acknowledge the issue, allowing their peers and the community at large to hear all they have to say.”

For a full list of requirements for play submissions and to reserve a space to attend a workshop, visit www.adventuretheatre.org. Festival night will be March 30 at 7 p.m. on Adventure Theatre’s main stage.  

For more information about National Anti-Bullying Month, visit The National Bullying Prevention Center.