“The current landscape of contemporary playwriting is so vibrant. There is an abundance of writing which blooms with strong points of view, memorable plots and characters, and risk-taking moments of stagecraft. The semifinalists and finalists are deserving of reaching audiences in need of catharsis—from communal grieving to a good laugh.”

 

– Heather Helinsky, (she/her) Literary Manager

2024 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Honorable Mention
  • otou-san by Sean-Joseph Choo
  • Seven Hoshi by Lisa Sanaye Dring
  • Are We There Yet? by Jahna Ferron-Smith;
  • Have to Believe We Are Magic by Sara Guerrero
  • Superposition: A Crawling Play in Two Parts by Hasti Jafari
  • A Form of Flattery by Melissa Leilani Larson
  • My Home on the Moon by Minna Lee
  • Balikbayan Box by Jeffrey Lo
  • Optional Boss Battle by Nick Malakhow
  • Nanay by Molly Olis-Krost
  • R&B by Phanésia Pharel
  • Maybe the saddest thing by Harrison David Rivers
2024 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalists
  •  Calley N. Anderson, The Alligator
  •  Jennifer Barclay, Behave Yourself
  •  Nikki Brake-Sillá, ReWombed
  •  Karen Marguerite Caronna, Dream of a Marginal Deity
  •  Sam Chanse, Fellowship
  •  Avery Deutsch, The Last Beach Day
  •  NJ Draine, The Housing Situation on Neptune
  •  Mya Ison, Laure
  •  Garrett David Kim, Belligerency
  •  Cas Koenig, DYKER BYKES
  •  Ethan Luk, Flight of a Legless Bird
  •  Zizi Majid, They Came in the Night 
  •  Divya Mangwani, Vigil-Auntys
  •  Schaeffer Nelson, Hottest Church Dads
  • Miles Orduña, Lola
  •  Rena Patel, Pyar aur Coffee
  •  a.k. payne, Dwellers
  •  Eliana Pipes, Cowboy and the Moon
  •  Christina Pumariega, Her Math Play
  •  Ankita Raturi, Fifty Boxes of Earth
  •  Aurora Real de Asua, The Pride Before
  •  TyLie Shider, Whittier
  •  DeAndre Short, At Ease
  •  Phillip Christian Smith, Riverside Drive
  •  Caridad Svich, Chelsea & Ivanka
  •  Emma Watkins, Elizabeth is Going into the Ground
  •  Madison Wetzell, The Body Play
  •  David Zheng, Ching Chong Maka Haya
2024 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalists
  • Ai Aida, The True Tale of Princess Kaguya
  • Boni B. Alvarez, Sticky Rice
  • Amanda L. Andrei, Lena Passes By
  • Brent Askari, The Refugees
  • Alayna Jacqueline, You Know I’d Never (Even If I Did)
  • Jen Browne, Standing in the River While the World Falls Down
  • Phillip Gregory Burke, The Suncatchers of Sahel: An Ancestral Tale Told To Today’s Griot, Part II: The Two Twilights
  • B.J. Burton, Maddie on Her Way Home
  • Nora Sørena Casey, The Censorship of Dreams
  • Chima Chikazunga, 1 Letter Shy of Coincidence
  • Matthew Chong, Lessons
  • Xavier Clark, backstroke boys
  • Katie Coleman, The Madonna of Logan Square
  • Lynne Conner, The Mother
  • Samantha Cooper, She Lives with a Shrine
  • Kate Danley, Working for Crumbs
  • Angela J. Davis, Griswold
  • Maddie Dennis-Yates, We’re Just Redoing The Kitchen
  • Nelson Diaz-Marcano, 1898 or How Sugar Conquered the Enchantment
  • Judy M. Dove, Shinsei (rebirth)
  • Sean Dunnington, The Children’s Farm
  • Alisha Espinosa, The Dirt is Fertile
  • Helen Everbach, Tea Patches
  • Zachariah Ezer, The Stones of Life
  • Jeanette Farr, Hedda on Fire: A Play Inspired by Ibsen and Climate Grief
  • Gina Femia, the thing about air
  • Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, Come Again
  • Elizabeth Flanagan, Meth
  • Jeremy Gable, Carpenter Gorge
  • Craig Garcia, The Here and Now
  • Taylor Dodd Geu, Passing Over
  • Ruth Geye, These and Those
  • Emma Gibson, Lumin
  • Maximillian Gill, Blank Slate
  • Mikki Gillette, American Girl
  • lily gonzales, my eyes are up here honey
  • Franky D. Gonzalez, Escobar’s Hippo
  • Ahon Gooptu, Seasons of Love
  • Keiko Green, Hells Canyon
  • Malique Guinn, Bounty on Our Heads
  • Katherine Gwynn, All I Want to Do is Be Pretty Like You
  • Rach Harris, Trophically Cascaded
  • Andrea Hart, Mounds or Talking Shit about a Pretty Sunset
  • Alli Hartley-Kong, People Should Talk About What’s Real
  • Steven Hayet, Hugo Saves Christmas…in May!
  • Howard Ho, Reset
  • Daniel Holzman, Me & Who
  • Poliento Ico, A Love Letter to Loss
  • J. Lynn Jackson, Lucía Fuentes
  • Keenya J. Jackson, The Return of the Shogun
  • KJ Jarboe, Soured Milk
  • Jen Jarnagin, demolition extreme
  • Jacob Juntunen, See You in a Minute
  • Lisa Y. Kang, American Migration
  • M.J. Kang, The Battle of Saratoga
  • Ambata Kazi-Nance, M Power: A (Re)Birth Story
  • Lisa Kenner Grissom, here comes the night
  • Alex Lead, Easter Eggs for a Statistic
  • Tracey Conyer Lee, The First Time
  • Matthew Libby, Sisters
  • Alex Lin, Bad Chinese Daughter
  • Alicia Louzoun-Heisler, Bashert
  • John Mabey, Desert Oceans
  • Gloria Majule, Uncut
  • Eric Marlin, AirSpace
  • Leigh M. Marshall, The Hunters & All the Haunted
  • C. Meaker, Ghosts in the Graveyard
  • Francisco Mendoza, Piggyback
  • Alison Minami, Sinkhole
  • LJ Morizono, Transcending the Belly of the Beast
  • Aya Sophie Nassif, Without Her
  • Asia Nichols, The Incredible Darling(s)
  • Cynthia Galaz Ochoa, Matriarch
  • Dave Osmundsen, More of a Heart
  • Novid Parsi, Remains and Returns
  • José Pérez IV, Very Berry Dead
  • Reynaldo Piniella, Son of an Unknown Father
  • Zahida Rahemtulla, The Frontliners
  • Andrew Rincón, El Mito or The Myth of my Pain
  • Colette Robert, [landscape play]
  • Jacob K. Robinson, The Lark Ascending
  • Kira Rockwell, Space Bound
  • Ashley Lauren Rogers, Don’t Think About Elephants
  • Lisa Marie Rollins, Token
  • Madeline Rouverol, You’re Not a Mystery to Me
  • Martine Sainvil, Indispensable
  • Marcus Scott, There Goes the Neighborhood
  • Mak Shealy, exceptional
  • Nic A. Sommerfeld, Pieces
  • travis tate, YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL
  • Sebastian Timpe, The House of Mulberry Street
  • Amy Tofte, The Rest of Us
  • Jackson Tucker-Meyer, The Perfection of the Donut
  • Josiah Thomas Turner, BECOMING!!, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 2279
  • and All that Followed
  • James Anthony Tyler, Pranayama
  • Joseph D. Valdez, Warrior’s Blood
  • Hope Villanueva, Brackish
  • Caity-Shea Violette, Rx Machina
  • Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters, Come to Me, Cling to You
  • LaDarrion Williams, Hurt People
  • Lauren Wimmer, The Cookie Institute
  • Susan Yassky, The Women’s Center
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