Theatre Play Competition

It is an open competition (two editions have been international), organized since 1986 in a regular rhythm: autumn – competition opening, late spring – announcing the winners. Selected plays are published in “New Plays for Children and Young People” and presented within the Reading Stage. The authors of the most interesting pieces are invited to take part in the Playwright's Workshops. The objective of the competition is to enrich the programme of the professional theatre groups with modern drama pieces of a high artistic value and relevant subject matter. Plays created in the course of this competition are also eagerly explored by amateur theatre groups.
The competition jury consists of outstanding theatre and literature experts and practitioners: Paweł Aigner, Piotr Cieplak, Roman Kordziński, Ernest Bryll, Janusz Degler, Zbigniew Dzięgiel, Bogusław Kierc, Jerzy Koenig, Milan Kwiatkowski, Tadeusz Pajdała, Maciej Prus, Jan Skotnicki, Piotr Tomaszuk, Maciej Wojtyszko. It has been coordinated since its inception by Zbigniew Rudziński, who is also the jury secretary. Children's Art Centre in Poznań regards this competition as one of its most important activities. It has been supported financially by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for years.  Every competition entry is catalogued and archived. The result is a collection of over 1400 modern drama pieces for children and young people. Over 600 authors have participated. There have been over 110 premieres on the Polish professional stages based on the competition plays.