Clauder Competition - Portland Stage

The Clauder Competition is a playwriting award hosted by Portland Stage and open to all New England playwrights.

Four Decades of Clauder

New England’s most prestigious playwriting award, the Clauder Competition was created in 1981 by Jeb Brooks, who continues to underwrite the program. The Clauder Competition celebrates the distinctive voices of our region’s playwrights and brings their work to the attention of the greater theatrical community. Portland Stage started hosting readings and productions of the winning plays in 1998, and has been administering the Clauder Competition since 2001, where it has remained for over two decades!

A Supportive Launchpad

The Clauder Competition identifies exciting new works by New England playwrights and ensures their successful launch through readings and productions at Portland Stage. These readings provide exposure, encouragement and critical feedback to promising playwrights who typically receive little more than a return postcard for material they send to theaters and producers.

Submissions are closed for the 2024 Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights. Submissions will reopen December 1st, 2025 and will remain open through March 31st, 2026.

Learn More About Script Submissions

Clauder Success Stories

Past winners or finalists who have launched successful playwriting careers include: Benjamin Benne, Callie Kimball, Brenda Withers, Tom Coash, Adam Bock, Laura Harrington, Elizabeth Egloff, Bridget Carpenter, Melinda Lopez, Liz Duffy Adams, William Donnelly, Kim Rosenstock, and Pulitzer Prize-winners Quiara Alegria Hudes and Paula Vogel.

2012 Clauder Winner, Veils by Tom Coash was nominated for American Theatre Critics Association’s New Play Award. Read more about the play and the award here.

Clauder Prizes

Clauder Grand Prize: a $3,000 cash award, and a workshop at Portland Stage, followed by a full scale production on our Mainstage or in our Studio Theater the following season.

Gold Prizes: $1,500 cash awards each, plus a workshop at Portland Stage.

Additional recognition will be awarded to the best play from each of the six New England states.

2024 Clauder Winners

The 2024 Clauder Gold Prize winners
Intimate Surveillance by Catherine Stewart
Like Flies by Maggie Kearnan
Mere Waters by Jillian Blevins

This year due to the fierce competition of our finalists, we are eager to see how each play grows in workshop before determining a Grand Prize winner.

State Winners
Connecticut: Color Boy by Esperanza Balcárcel
Maine: The Slashing of Eastbrook by Joshua W. Jackson
Massachusetts: To Be Determined
New Hampshire: Intimate Surveillance by Catherine Stewart
Rhode Island: Snake by Davis Alianiello
Vermont: The Seymour Sisters by Carole Vasta Foley

Clauder Competition Script Submissions

Submissions for the 2024 Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights are now currently closed. Submissions for the 2026 Clauder Competition will open on December 1st, 2025 and will remain open through March 31st, 2026.

Clauder Competition Eligibility

Playwrights must currently live or attend school in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Vermont. This residency requirement may be waived in cases where the material has significant relevance to New England AND where the playwright has previously lived in New England for a considerable period of time. For questions of eligibility, please email us.
Plays must be full-length, with a running time between one and three hours.
Plays must require no more than 8 actors to perform. Playwrights must provide a precise casting plot for larger casts that require doubling.
Plays must be original works, NOT an adaptation or translation.
Plays must NOT be primarily for younger audiences.

Plays must NOT have received a professional production, publication, world premiere, or a pledge/commitment for the same prior to the announcement of the Clauder Winner. This includes Actors Equity showcase and waiver productions. Plays that have had readings or non-AEA productions are still eligible.

Clauder Competition Submission Guidelines

One script per playwright.

Plays may be emailed as a .pdf, .docx, or .doc file to clauder(at)portlandstage(dot)org.

Submissions must include:

A complete blind copy script with their name and contact info removed from the title page. Instead please list your contact information on your artistic statement.
A cast breakdown. Plays must require no more than 8 actors to perform. Playwrights must provide a precise casting plot for larger casts that require doubling. This may be included in your script.
An artistic statement describing where they are in their process (is the play still undergoing major changes, are there questions you have about certain sequences, are you only looking at minor textual changes or cuts going forwards, etc.). This is useful for us to take into consideration when evaluating plays. Please be sure to include your name, mailing address, and contact information on your artistic statement.

All submissions meeting the eligibility criteria will be reviewed by at least 2 readers, and will receive an individualized letter of response including readers’ comments following the announcement of the winner.

Playwrights should expect a response in March of 2025.

If you are an eligible playwright interested in joining the list for Clauder Competition notification, please send an e-mail with your name, state of residence, and home mailing address to our Literary Manager by clicking here.