Austin Hay One Act Play Award

The Drama Committee of The Arts Club of Washington is pleased to announce the opening of the contest for the 2026 Austin Hay One Act Play Award.  Submissions will be accepted starting on April 1, 2026, and ending either when we hit 125 submissions, or June 1, 2026, whichever is sooner.  The rules for the contest and the submission process are described below.

The Arts Club of Washington

For over a century, The Arts Club of Washington has promoted and celebrated the visual, performing, and literary arts in the nation’s capital.  Gatherings for members, exhibits and performances for the public, and a range of private events, are held in our historic I Street mansion, which was formerly the home of President James Monroe and his family.

The Award

The winner of the 2026 Austin Hay One Act Play Award will receive a $1,000 prize.  The winning play will receive a produced staged reading, with a professional director and actors, to take place at the Club in December.  The winning playwright will be invited to attend that reading, four tickets to the performance, and two nights’ accommodations at the Club.

A panel of volunteer readers will read all submitted scripts, and will decide the five finalists.  The winning script will then be selected by a panel of theater professionals working in the Washington, D.C. area.

In addition to the winning playwright, four other finalists will be publicly announced and will receive feedback on their submission from our panel of professional judges.

We anticipate announcing the winner and four other finalists by no later than October.

Rules

• This contest is for one act plays: a strong preference will be given to plays with running times between approximately 20-50 minutes.  We strongly discourage the submission of 10-minute plays, or plays running longer than 1 hour.  The contest is not limited in any way by theme, content, or style. Give us what you think is your best work!
• Plays that have previously been produced (other than readings) or published will not be considered.
• The script must be capable of being performed with a cast of no more than six actors.  If the play has more than six characters, doubling should be explained as part of the character descriptions.
• Each playwright may submit only one script.
• Playwrights must be residents of the United States.
• Scripts will be judged “blind.”  Accordingly, the submitted script must not indicate the name of the playwright, or include any other playwright-identifying information.  Contact information will be collected as part of the submission process, but not shared with any of the judges.
• The Arts Club of Washington shall have the right to produce a staged reading of the winning script.  In all other respects, playwrights shall retain all rights to their scripts.

Submission Process

Submissions will be accepted starting April 1, 2026.  Only the first 125 scripts that are submitted, and comply with the rules, will be considered.  Regardless, no submissions will be accepted after June 1, 2026.

An entry fee of $20 is required.  The Arts Club of Washington, a 501c3 charitable organization, affirms that entry fees will go solely to funding the $1,000 award to the author of the winning play, paying the artists involved in the staged reading of the winning script, and covering other incidental expenses incurred by the Club in administering this contest.

Submissions must be made in PDF format, through the submission page of the Club’s website.

To begin your submission process, click here!

Questions?  Contact us at drama@artsclubofwashington.org

2025 Competition Information

The winner of the 2025 competition was “Guilty Pleasure” a New Play by Charlie Probus