A Look Inside the 44th Annual Playwrights’ Festival

The cast, crew and writers of the 44th Annual John P. Anderson Playwrights' Festival Photo by Hannah Bell '28, courtesy of Marist Theater Guild

On May 2 and 3, the Marist Theater Guild presented the 44th Annual John P. Anderson Playwrights’ Festival, a competition featuring five student-written plays.

The Playwrights’ Festival is unique in that it is a completely student-run production, from the writers to the directors, from the costume designers to the tech crew. The student-written plays are chosen by a committee of professors.

When it came to writing their plays, many of the student playwrights started the process in Playwriting Workshop, a semester-long course taught by Dr. Eileen Curley, professor of English and Theatre. Dr. Curley gave students writing prompts and had them share their work with other members of the class, encouraging collaboration and helping the students generate new ideas for their plays.

The final project of the course is to write a ten to 15-minute play, which can then be submitted to the Playwrights’ Festival.

“Dr. Curley always encouraged us to submit our plays,” said Alice Adams ‘28, author of “Assemblance.”

“I wanted to write about something prominent in my life, and it was my first semester doing Model UN,” she said. “It just felt like something I knew, but only to the degree that I had just joined it. That’s what the play ended up being about.”

Samaya Morse ‘27 also wrote her play, “Conference Room E,” in Curley’s Playwriting Workshop.

“I like to take inspiration from other works that I love,” said Morse. “One of my favorites is ‘12 Angry Men,’ which was a big inspiration for me in terms of having a group of people figuring out how to agree on a common goal, even when they have very distinct personalities and priorities.”

Other playwrights experienced a longer writing process. Emily Cavanna ‘26, author of “The Waiting Room,” first wrote their play in a one-week practicum course held in fall 2024. For one week, a visiting playwright from New York Stage and Film worked with students to develop their playwriting skills. From there, they continued to workshop “The Waiting Room” in other English courses, turning it into a traditional short story.

One of the requirements to submit to the festival is for plays to be 15 minutes or less. Submissions must also follow the “rule of fives” – no more than five set pieces, five props, five characters, five lighting cues and five costume changes.

“I had to cut it two separate times,” said Cavanna. “So it’s been through a lot of revisions and changes.”

Emily Vincent ‘28, on the other hand, wrote her play “Someone To Talk To” completely on her own.

“I went to the Festival last year and thought, ‘Wait, this is an option?’” she said. “So this year I carved out some time to write something. I just wanted to try it.”

The winner of this year’s Playwrights’ Festival, Laura Drinkwater ‘26, took inspiration from her classes as a double major in English and Crime and Justice Studies. 

“At the time I was writing it, I was taking a class called Psychological Perspectives on Criminal Behavior,” said Drinkwater. “We were talking about interrogations, and I was just really into it. I was also inspired by Truman Capote, who wrote ‘In Cold Blood.’”

Drinkwater’s play “Thirteen Years Past” used simultaneous staging, with two scenes going on at once. Taking inspiration from Capote, her play consisted of two interrogations following a murder.

In the end, every playwright echoed a similar sentiment: seeing their plays directed and acted out by fellow students was the highlight of the festival.

“It’s a student collaboration, which is just indescribable to see,” said Vincent. “Seeing all these people who are so excited about theater, and to put this much time into a student’s work was amazing.”