The inaugural Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy Competition has selected playwright Gabriel Jason Dean as its winner for his play In Bloom. Dean was awarded $8,000 plus a travel stipend to workshop the piece in Victoria, B.C.

The Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy Competition is the world’s largest playwright competition for the writing of tragedy. This year they had 182 playwrights from 11 countries participated.

The competition runs in partnership with Canada’s Langham Court Theatre, and was founded by Edwin Wong, author of the new book, The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected [Friesen Press, 2019].

Runners-up included:
Michael Bucklin for Signature Photo
Scott McCrea for Mysterious Ecstasy of the Lonely Business Traveler
Philip Christian Smith for The Chechens
J.D. Volk for Chrysalis

Bios of the jurors, the playwrights, and synopses of the plays are available at: www.risktheatre.com/winners

The 2020 Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy competition is now accepting entries at www.risktheatre.com.