STARKVILLE (May 23, 2008) – The winners of the 2009 Mississippi Theatre Association One-Act Playwriting Competition were announced earlier this month during the Mississippi Theatre Association’s 2009 Festival held in Natchez, MS. After judges around the state reviewed the scripts, the top scripts were reviewed by author and playwright Mark Dunn. Dunn selected the winning scripts for both the adult and youth competitions.

Beth Kander of Jackson, MS was selected as the first place winner of the adult division with her one-act play See Jane Quit. Kander received a $500 check for winning first place and a reading of the script during the 2009 Festival. According to Dunn, “Kander’s script was very well developed with strong characters and an interesting and intriguing plot. He added that he looks forward to reading more of her scripts in the future. Mary Dayle McCormick of Greenville, MS won second place for her play At The Floating Palace and third place went to Megan Morrison of Jackson for her play In the Garden.

Kristen Bankson from Biloxi High School was the winner of the youth playwriting competition. This was the first year for MTA to host the youth competition. Bankston received $250 for her award winning play Blame the Fool. The play also received a staged reading during the 2009 Festival in which high school students directed and performed the one-act play as a staged reading. In addition to a packed audience, Bankston and the final adjudicator were on hand to answer questions. Bankston said of the staged reading, “the actors did a wonderful job of bringing her script to life. It was the frist time I had seen it actually read aloud and it was a great experience for me.” Final adjudicator Dunn noted that she has exceptional talent for writing and should continue writing plays. He encouraged her to continue looking for inspiration by people-watching daily. Second place went to Patti Brummett of Oxford, MS and third place went to Brittany Womack of Mendenhall, MS.

MTA maintains a listing of most of the plays submitted to the competition as a means of promoting the authors and their works with other theatres. The website lists the play, a brief description and contact information for the author.

“Understanding Mississippi’s rich history of producing talented playwrights, MTA created the competition as a means of fostering and encouraging emerging playwrights by providing them with a venue to have their work reviewed as well as performed in a workshop setting.” Kris Lee, Adult Playwriting Competition chair, said. “We look forward to seeing the work that our state’s writers will submit in 2009.” Guidelines for the competition are provided on the MTA Web site at www.mta-online.org. Scripts will be accepted until September 1, 2009.

The mission of MTA is to foster appreciation of and participation in children’s, college, community, high school, professional and university theatre in Mississippi by sponsoring festivals, workshops and retreats; communicating with members and the public; acting as an advocate to government agencies, business, and the public; recognizing excellence in performance and production; and sanctioning representatives to regional festivals. MTA is sponsored in part by a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.