The Voaden Prize

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 a professional three-day workshop of their winning script in September 2023 at Queen’s University and a public staged reading of the play, followed by a talk-back session at Kingston WritersFest. In addition, 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. The workshop will also be open to attendance by students of 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 2023 Fall term to supplement the curriculum. By entering the competition, the playwright agrees to this provision.

Submission Procedure

1. Submissions will be accepted from November 15, 2022 to January 15, 2023. 
2. Prior to submitting your script for consideration, please pay the entry fee of $50 CAN by Visa or MasterCard through the secure payment system (ePly).
3. Once the entry fee payment is confirmed through ePly, please submit one PDF copy of the play being entered. Scripts will only be accepted through email. Send entries to Amie Bello at belloa@queensu.ca and include contact information and the ePly confirmation number from the entry fee paid.
4. The playwright’s name must not appear anywhere in the text of the entry, only on the Entry Form. The preferred font is Times or Courier 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).
5. We are no longer accepting musicals but plays that include incidental music are welcome. Entries involving music should 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 are excluded from the submission.
6. Entries are handled 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

Depending upon the number of entries received, there are either two or three rounds of adjudication with a distinct group of adjudicators for each round. All plays are read blind (i.e., without knowledge of the author).

Entries are now closed for submission.

Results

The names of the First and Second Prize-winning playwrights and the titles of their plays, as well as the names and titles of the entrants receiving Honourable Mentions, will be announced in June 2023.