The Department of (PMA) is pleased to announce the winners of two annual events: the Heermans-McCalmon Dramatic Writing Competition and the Drama Book Award.
The first-place winners of the Heermans-McCalmon Dramatic Writing Competition are Quinn Theobald ’22 for the play “Those That Left” and Cynthia He ’20 for the screenplay “Take Away.” New this year is the spoken word/solo performance category, the winner of which is Miya Kuramoto ’22 for “Hi my name is [Mee-ya].”
Winning second place in the competition are Caroline Hinrichs ’22 for the stage play “Audrey!” and Shannon O’Shea ’22 for the screenplay “Unidentified Flying Objects.” Natalie Slaiman ’22 receives honorable mention for the stage play “A Tragedy behind the Gates.”
Winners were selected by industry professionals Cheri Magid, a playwright, screenwriter, and composer; Stewart Thorndike, a screenwriter and filmmaker; and PMA professor Karen Jaime.
The Heermans-McCalmon Dramatic Writing Competition, which has been around for 70 years, was established at the bequest of Forbes Heermans (class of 1878), in memory of George McCalmon, professor of speech and drama. First-place winners earn cash prizes of $500 and second-place winners receive $250.
The department also announces Allen Porterie as the 2020 winner of the Drama Book Award. PMA faculty and staff vote on the annual award, which is given to a Cornell University senior in recognition of outstanding achievement in theatre. The recipient receives up to $100 for scripts and books from either Samuel French or Dramatists Play Service.
