This is the 32nd year of our Festival, the nation's first event of its kind. It will encourage and reward the creative expression of hundreds of area students in grades 1 through 12. The name of our Festival honors the work and memory of Marilyn Bianchi who co-founded Dobama Theatre in 1959.

A Brief Overview

For an extended overview, click here.

For a story that appeared in Cleveland Scene, click here.

What is The Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival?

For the 32nd year, Dobama Theater, a small professional theater company in Cleveland Heights, has produced the work of young playwrights, ages 6 to 18. Each year the theater receives between four and five hundred plays written in classrooms or at home by young people all over Cuyahoga County. These plays explore all sorts of subjects using a range of styles. Some come from students who have never seen a play performed, some from sophisticated seventeen year olds with accomplished writing portfolios. What distinguishes the plays that win the Festival and end up on our stage, however, is the playwright's capacity for original storytelling and imaginative dialogue and characters.

Who can participate in the Festival?

The Festival is open to students in grades 1 through 12 who are being educated in Cuyahoga County: Public, Private, or Home Schooled.

What happens after I send my play in to the Festival?

Each play is read by multiple judges. These judges are either theater professionals or very knowledgeable arts patrons. Each judge gives written feedback to the playwright about his or her play. Finalists are chosen and read by the Festival Director, the Artistic Director of Dobama Theater, and a third theater artist, usually a playwright. The winners are then chosen and contacted.

What happens if I win the Festival?

Each of the winners receives:

• The publication of your play in the Festival book
• Possible production of your play *
• A $100 savings bond
• Public recognition in local media

* Of the winners chosen in a year, about two-thirds receive a full professional production.

How can I enter the Festival?

You can download your application form right now and start writing! To display the form, click here. (Acrobat Reader™ required.)

   OR

You can explore the Resource Links (below) and write a play later.

Teachers and students alike should feel free to e-mail questions to dobama@dobama.org. Please note that we will also try to meet requests for classroom workshops and site visits to our theater.

• How to Get Started
• Building Blocks for Playwrights
• Creative Prompts for Students
  Elementary School   Middle School   High School
• Playwriting Resources