Samantha Pace took top honors this year with Shakespeare and Mushrooms. She is a 16-year-old sophomore at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama and studies with Renee Brown. In Shakespeare and Mushrooms, all Daisy wants to do is run lines from Romeo and Juliet with her dreamy costar, but interfering parents, a nosy best friend, a confused maid, and a nuisance doorbell-ringer block the road to rehearsal. Will her own insecurities block the road to romance? Shakespeare and Mushrooms is a sophisticated romantic comedy.
Kali Pyrlik took Second Place for her work Public Skool. She is a 16-year-old sophomore at Booker T. Washington Magnet School in Montgomery and studies with Jerry Lawrence. Kali was a finalist last year with her play “Atheism in a Southern Baptist World.” Public Skool is about Maggie, a high schooler trapped in detention with two bickering drug addicts. Maggie's ironic observations are an indictment of the system - and a tragedy in the making.
The third place honor went to Sarah Sprayberry for Responsibilities. This 17-year-old attends Beulah High School in Cusseta, Alabama and is the student of Linda Beatty. Responsibilities is about how the choices of a moment can lead to the path of a lifetime. This is a sensitive play dealing with teenage pregnancy and tolerance in the South
2003 Playwright Competition Finalists are
Hank Bullock, 16
Untitled
Junior at McGill-Toolen High School, Saraland. Teacher - Marie McCafferty
Kristi Delaney, 17
Providence
Senior at Bradshaw High School, Florence. Teacher - Darlene Montgomery
Logan Donaldson, 17
The Tap Dancing King of Alabama
Junior at McGill-Toolen High School, Spanish Fort. Teacher - Marie McCafferty
Susie Fagg, 13
Shannon's Dilemma
Freshman at Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia. Teacher - Cynthia Glidewell
Whitney Harvey, 17
Untitled
Senior at Cleveland High School, Oneonta. Teacher - Stoney M. Beavers
Joan Kovatch, 14
E Pluribus Unum
Sophmore at Bradshaw High School, Florence. Teacher - Darlene Montgomery
Ashley Pier, 16
Charleston Heritage
Senior at Bradshaw High School, Florence. Teacher - Darlene Montgomery
Derek Pratt, 19
Trailer Parks and Churches
Senior at Beulah High School, Cusseta. Teacher - Linda Beatty
Roger Smith, 16
Respite
Senior at Hoover High School, Hoover. Teacher - Joshua Rutsky
Cami Snell, 16
Black and White or Shades of Grey
Junior at Bayside Academy, Daphne. Teacher - Jean Burt
