Theater podcast and public radio program Playing on Air has announced the winners of the third annual James Stevenson Prize for Comedic Short Plays. The nation's largest open-submission short play prize, the Stevenson Prize awards a professional audio production and $6,000 cash prize to the play that best celebrates the comic wit of longtime author, illustrator, and New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson.
From 960 open submissions, the 2020 winner of the Stevenson Prize is "I think it's worth pointing out that I've been very serious throughout this entire discussion or, Dave and Julia are stuck in a tree" by Mallory Jane Weiss.
The second prize of $3,000 goes to "S.W.A.T." by Jaymes Sanchez, and third prize of $1,000 goes to "The Donor" by Avery Deutsch.
This year's top plays were selected by an acclaimed panel of judges. Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, Tony-winning director Rebecca Taichman, and Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang were joined by Playing on Air founder and Producing Artistic Director Claudia Catania and prize sponsor Josie Merck as jurors for the final round of scripts. All readers and judges scored scripts blind, with no knowledge of playwrights' past credits.