1. This contest provides a total award this year of $1,500. At their discretion, the judges may award the entire prize to the writer of the best play submitted, or they may, when the quality of the entries warrants, divide the prize between two or more student playwrights, evenly or otherwise as their judgment dictates. If no play of sufficient merit is submitted in any given year, the award will be withheld.
2. Only stage plays are eligible. Collaborations are permissible, but collaborators must be individually eligible. Any original play will be eligible regardless of the style or content as long as it conforms to the standards of good taste. Musical books or libretti, together with lyrics, are eligible, but they will be judged as dramatic rather than musical compositions. All scripts will receive equal consideration. Translations or adaptations of other plays are ineligible.
3. Plays should be approximately 45 minutes to three hours in playing time. They should be typed (double-spaced) on regular sized white type paper and have adequate margins. The student's pseudonym should appear in the upper right hand corner of the first page.
4. All entries are to be submitted between February 24 and February 27, 2009 before 5:00 p.m., and the winner(s) will be announced at an awards ceremony later in the semester. Entries should be turned in at the office of the Department of Theatre and Cinematic Arts, D-581 HFAC.
5. The Mayhew Awards Committee will appoint a judging committee of three or more members. These will be drawn from the BYU Theatre and Cinematic Arts faculty and other qualified artists and critics.
6. Each student submitting an entry will fill out a cover sheet (which can be obtained in D-581 HFAC or in the Dean’s office, 4002 JFSB) giving name, address, and telephone number and certifying (a) that he or she is eligible by proper enrollment at BYU to enter the contest, and (b) that the entry submitted is the student's own creative work. The student's real name will appear only on this cover sheet; a pseudonym, as indicated above, will be placed on the manuscript itself.
7. The Mayhew committee will make every effort to have the winning play produced on campus during the year following the contest.

Important note: In addition to the specific rules above for the Playwriting Contest, see the sheet of "General Regulations" giving information on all six Mayhew Student Creative Contests. Both the general regulations and the specific rules for each contest should be followed by every student who enters one or more of the contests.


All submissions require a cover sheet. A cover sheet can be picked up in the Dean's Office 4002 JFSB, Art Gallery 303 HFAC, C-581 HFAC, and C-550 HFAC or downloaded here.