The Voaden Prize

The Voaden Prize is a national playwriting competition. It was established in 1993 and held its first competition in 1997. The Voaden Prize is offered biennially. 

We are pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous support of the National Arts Center, this year’s prize amounts have been significantly increased.

Submissions will be accepted by email to voaden.danschool@queensu.ca starting January 05, 2027, and ending at 11:59 PM on February 05, 2027. See below for instructions and the link to the entry payment page.

Prizes

First Prize: $20,000 and 12 hours of workshopping of the winning script at Queen’s University culminating in a lightly-staged public reading and talkback / feedback session. Theatre personnel and the focus of the workshop will be finalized after consultation with the winning playwright.

Second Prize: $10,000

Honourable Mentions: 2 finalists will each receive a $1,000 Honourable Mention award

Who was Herman Voaden?

Herman Voaden (1903-1991) graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923, followed by a Master of Arts in 1926. He was a Canadian playwright, director, and theatrical innovator and was a lifelong champion of Canadian culture. Herman Voaden was one of the most significant playwrights in Canada prior to the Second World War. Voaden championed a multimedia form of theatre that he called “Symphonic Expression” that integrated artistic lighting effects, “sprach-stimmung,” music, dance, and unusual sets. He was the head of the Canadian Arts Council (1945-1948), The Canadian Conference of the Arts (1966-1968), and the Canadian Guild of Crafts (1968-1970). He received the Order of Canada in 1974.

Entry Guidelines

• Open to any Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Only one play per playwright.
• Only full-length plays in English will be accepted. Legal clearance of all adapted material not in the public domain is the responsibility of the playwright. For the purposes of this competition, “full-length” is defined as a play with an estimated run time of one hour or longer.
• Plays cannot have been previously produced, published, contracted, or commissioned by a professional theatre.
• The First Prize-winning playwright will be given 12-hours of workshopping of their winning script in fall 2027 followed by a lightly-staged public reading. The workshop will also be open to attendance by DAN School of Drama and Music students. The winning playwright will be invited to attend, and may be asked to appear as a guest, in some classes offered by the DAN School of Drama and Music. By entering the competition, the playwright agrees to this provision.
• The First and Second Prize-winning plays may be distributed to some classes at the DAN School of Drama and Music in the 2027 Fall term to supplement the curriculum. By entering the competition, the playwright agrees to this provision.

Submission Procedure

• Submissions will be accepted from January 05, 2027, to February 05, 2027, with the winners announced in June 2027.
• Prior to submitting your script for consideration, please pay the entry fee of $65 CAD (per submitted play) by Visa or MasterCard only through the secure payment page. 
• Once the entry fee payment is confirmed, please submit one PDF copy of the play being entered. Scripts will only be accepted through email. Please send entries to voaden.danschool@queensu.ca and include a screen shot of your payment receipt.
• The playwright’s name must not appear anywhere in the text of the entry, only on the Entry Payment Form. The preferred font is Times New Roman in 12-point size. The pages of the document should be numbered in the header or footer. The PDF should be saved with only the title as the file name (e.g. AMidsummerNightsDream.pdf). 
• We are no longer accepting musicals, although plays that include incidental music are welcome. Entries involving music may be accompanied by an MP3 file of the recorded music and lyrics. Sheet music will also be accepted, but please ensure that all references to the composer, lyricist and/or playwright is excluded from the submission. 
• We handle entries with care and confidentiality, but the Dan School of Drama and Music cannot assume responsibility for lost or damaged files. Receipt of entry will be confirmed by a reply email.

Adjudication

There are three rounds of adjudication. A distinct group of adjudicators judges each round. All plays are read blind (e.g., without knowledge of the author; adjudicators who are familiar with a script will recuse themselves and trade that script for another).

Recent Winners, 2025

First Prize Winner – Christine Foster for Come Find Me

Second Prize Winner – Lyndsey Bourne for Mabel’s Mine

Honourable Mentions – David Brock for Funny Bird and Celia McBride for Lessons From Providence