The Pozez JCC will open on time with regular business hours on Thursday, Feb. 13th.
If you feel the desire to write a book, what would it be about?

Jewish Playwriting Contest

10th Annual Jewish Playwriting Contest
Celebrating a decade of artistic democracy on the page and on the stage!

Sunday, March 9, 2025, 4-5:30pm  |  Cost: $15

Tickets

This one-of-a-kind event is a combination of a TED Talk, a play reading and American Idol. Each of the three plays is introduced by a video from each playwright, then 20-minute excerpts are read by a group of stellar professional local actors, and then the audience gets to vote on a winner.

The Contest is part of the Jewish Plays Project’s wider effort to promote Artistic Democracy – investing a wide range of artists and audience members in choosing the best of new Jewish culture. The Contest has received and vetted over 1,850 plays by 1,200 writers in 32 states and 9 countries since 2011.

The Pozez JCC is proud to bring this event to our stage in 2025 for the tenth year!

2025 Finalists:

  Provenance
Jennifer Maisel
An unusual portrait’s theft and its travels around the world. Canvas. Pencil. Paint. How can one piece of art tear at the hearts of generations?
   
  The Missionaries
Marshall Botvinick
A play about two Christian missionaries who disguise themselves as Hasidim only to discover that sometimes the people you came to convert change you.
   
  On the Edge
Motti Lerner
A father and son face off over their publishing company and their country.
   

Emily Adler
Barry Astrow
Clare Bachner
Alison Drucker
Carol Gordon
Joshua Greene
Michael Halpern
Thomas Holzman
Richard Jaffe
Andrea Jaffe
Martha Karl
Ellen Katkin
Sahsa Olinik
Ronnie Oppenheim
Chip Rome
Deborah Shprentz
David Silversmith
Debra Smith
Deborah Yaffe
David Yaffe

This program is sponsored by David Bruce Smith, Grateful American Foundation.

About the Jewish Plays Project

STEP 1: COLLECT: Each year, JPP brings the Top Plays to as many as 12 Jewish communities around the country, presenting them for lay leaders, clergy, arts-lovers, and regional theater pros. The JPP gathers cripts from around the world —about 300 per year —representing a phenomenally rich and diverse cross section of new Jewish drama. This year, they’ve received and vetted 1,800 PLAYS FROM 1000 PLAYWRIGHTS IN 34 STATES AND 10 COUNTRIES.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY
An Artist’s Panel of more than 80 theater professionals reads like mad – each play is read at least 5 different Artist Panelist. After four months, a select group of plays are named Finalists

STEP 3: DEVELOP
JPP brings the Top Plays to as many as 12 Jewish communities around the country, presenting them for lay leaders, clergy, arts-lovers, and regional theater pros. Pozez JCC is one such community!

STEP 4: SELECT
Each community organizes a committee who reads and determines the top three plays for which the community will vote on the BEST Jewish play. All votes are submitted and the play with the most votes is named THE TOP JEWISH PLAY of 2025.

Learn more about The Jewish Plays Project, the nation’s leading incubator for new Jewish plays.