BEST PLAY

BEST PLAY

Seedubya and Mizhall

In a Dallas barbershop in the 1960s, an elderly white woman has her first encounter with the Black shoeshine man she has always resented.

John C. Davenport is a career journalist and former stand-up comic who veered into playwriting, which he usually does while seated. He has had productions (mostly one-act comedies) in 26 states, London, Australia, Canada and Panama. His full-length plays have been produced in Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Bremerton, Wash. His work has been included in one-act festivals at (among other places) the Estrogenius Festival in New York; Acme Theater in Maynard, MA; Santa Paula (CA) Theater Center; the Snowdance Festival in Racine, WI; Spokane Civic Theatre’s Playwrights Festival; and Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, NY. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and Seattle Playwrights Circle and co-founder of Red Rover Theatre Company.

The Disappearing Woman

Grandma Geraldine wakes up to find a hand is missing—and soon other parts of her also disappear. In a very busy household, it’s up to her granddaughter to show what Geraldine can still give to her family.

Holly Hepp-Galván is a playwright, book writer and lyricist. Her plays and musicals have been presented at Lincoln Center, New York Performing Arts Library, Project Y Theatre Company, New Perspectives Theatre Company, Core Artist Ensemble, New Circle Theatre Company, The Bechdel Group, and more. She also has written over twenty plays for young audiences that have been produced at theatres around the country. She was in the inaugural class of the Rita and Burton M.F.A. in Playwriting at Hunter College where she studied under the inimitable Tina Howe. She was the winner of the 2025 Thomas Barbour Playwriting Award, and currently serves on the faculty of Baruch College and Fordham University where she teaches undergraduate courses in Journalism and graduate courses in Playwriting, Creative Dramatics, and Theatre for Youth  www.hollyhepp-galvan.com

Just Asking

Lawyer Roger Ellis comes to Mrs. Mendelson’s door with a document demanding she stop contacting her late husband Julius. Roger knows Mrs. Mendelson can’t be in contact with the dead—but why, each time he returns with another legal document, does she know more and more about his childhood?

Cary Pepper has had work presented throughout the United States and internationally. Among his full-length plays, How It Works won the 2012 Ashland New Plays Festival and Cufflinked was a semifinalist for the 2014 festival. Among his one-act plays, The Walrus Said won the Religious Arts Guild Playwriting Competition; Small Things won the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival One Act Play Contest; Party Favors won the Goshen Peace Play Contest. Most recently, From the Hoot won the Playwrights First Award, Dolly Gets Her Shot became his third production by Drip Action Theatre Trail in their Arundel Festival (UK) presentation, House of the Holy Moment marked Cary’s fourth appearance in the Newmarket International Festival of One Act Plays (Canada), and What Do They Want? made him the first (and to date only) playwright to be included in The St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s LaBute New Theater Festival three times. Cary is a member of the Dramatists Guild, and a four-time contributor to Applause Books’ Best American Short Plays series.

Lock It Down

A new substitute teacher and her mass communications class must deal with a school lockdown.

John J. Kelly, an emeritus professor of theatre from Elmira College in New York, is a playwright whose works have been published, anthologized, and performed by theatres across the country and around the world. Since returning to Florida several years ago, dozens of short plays and several of his full-length works have their way to the stage. John is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild.

Primitive Intelligence

A love-struck caveman seeks the help of an advanced AI to win over the woman of his dreams. When natural intelligence doesn’t always know what it needs, can artificial intelligence do any better?

James Perry was born and raised in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He joined the military when he was 19 years old and has been traveling the world ever since. After retiring honorably from the United States Army in 2020, he began passionately pursuing an education in theatre arts—first earning an AA from Las Positas College, and later a BA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University in 2024. He has since performed in a number of film and theatre productions throughout the Bay Area. While still new to playwriting, his work has received staged readings and productions at theatres across the United States in Vermont, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Georgia, and Nebraska. More of his work can be found online at The New Play Exchange. James acknowledges that he is a privileged, middle-aged white male, but he is also a feminist, a disabled veteran, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. He believes deeply in the power of theatre to reflect, question, and reshape the world, and advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion both on stage and off.