Competitions · Humanities and writing · Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest
The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest.
It closes at two hundred and fifty plays or in early April, whichever comes first - so the real deadline is however long it takes for two hundred and fifty people to submit. Eleventh grade only.
Read this first
First come, first served - and then it is shut.
Almost nothing else on this site works this way, and it changes the whole calendar of the entry.
The cap is 250 plays
Submissions close once the organisers have received two hundred and fifty entries, on a first-come basis, or in early April - whichever happens first.
So the deadline is not a date
A student who plans to submit in the last week of March may find the contest already closed. The safe assumption is that it closes early.
Eleventh grade only
US eleventh graders, or international students in the equivalent year. One year of eligibility, like the Milberg poetry prize run by the same centre.
One play each
Applicants may submit a single play. There is no second entry.
At a glance
The essentials.
The contest is part of the theatre programme at Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts, and is judged each year by members of the university’s theatre faculty.
- Who can enter
- Students in the eleventh grade in the United States, or the equivalent year internationally
- Entries per person
- One play
- Length
- A ten-minute play
- How you submit
- An application form and the play, through the contest website
- Cost
- There is an entry fee. Ask the organiser for the current amount
- Previously entered plays
- Accepted. A play submitted to another competition may be entered here
- Feedback
- None. The organisers state plainly that they cannot provide critical feedback on submissions
- Judges
- Members of Princeton’s theatre faculty. The committee has at times been led by a working, award-winning playwright
- Results
- The winners are published on Princeton’s official website
- First prize
- $500
- Second prize
- $250
- Opens
- Early in the calendar year, closing at 250 entries or in early April
What a ten-minute play is
A complete play, not a scene.
The form is well established in American theatre and it has its own demands. Understanding them is most of the preparation.
Ten minutes of stage time
Roughly ten pages in standard play format. Short enough to hold in one idea, long enough to need a real structure.
It has to be self-contained
A beginning, something that changes, and an ending. An excerpt from a longer play is not a ten-minute play, and reads as one.
Which means few characters
There is not time to establish many people. Two or three, with something already between them when the lights come up.
And any genre works
Past winners have included comedy, short science fiction and thrillers. The organisers publish previous winning plays on the contest site, and reading a few is the fastest way to understand the form.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares an entry.
A short form, one submission, and a contest that may close early. Everything points at finishing before you think you need to.
Reading past winners first
They are published on the contest site. Ten of them can be read in an evening, and they show what the judges have actually chosen.
Writing to the form, not to a page count
Ten minutes is a shape, not a length. A play that resolves in eight minutes is better than one that stops at ten.
Hearing it read aloud
The single most useful thing anyone can do with a script. Dialogue that works on the page and dies in the mouth is the commonest fault in student playwriting.
And submitting early, deliberately
With a 250-entry cap, submitting in February rather than late March is not caution - it is the difference between entering and not.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past questions and writing pack
The same material our own Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFEvery past question the competition has set
- PDFShortlisted and published essays, to calibrate the standard
- PDFStructure, referencing and word-count guide
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Lu
Master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania and a double major in psychology and philosophy at Mount Holyoke. Cross-cultural teaching experience across China and the US, with research work in child and adolescent development, cognition, and international students' identity.
Yang
Educated at American Heritage School, then English literature and philosophy at the University of British Columbia and a master's in language education at Toronto. Eleven years in North America, with a close working knowledge of the international curricula and overseas admissions.
Zhang
Master's in cognitive science at UC San Diego on full scholarship, after double honours in neurobiology and behaviour and in cognitive science at UC Davis. Ten years overseas, a perfect TOEFL speaking score, and named an outstanding education scholar at UCSD.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The Ten-Minute Play Contest, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
When does it close?
When the organisers have received 250 entries, on a first-come basis, or in early April - whichever comes first. In practice the cap may close it well before the date.
Who can enter?
Students in the eleventh grade in the United States, or the equivalent year internationally.
How many plays can I submit?
One.
Can I submit a play I have entered elsewhere?
Yes. Plays that have been submitted to other competitions are accepted.
Will I get feedback?
No. The organisers state that they are unable to provide critical feedback on submissions.
Who judges it?
Members of Princeton’s theatre faculty. The committee has at times been led by a working award-winning playwright.
What are the prizes?
$500 for first place and $250 for second. The winners are announced on Princeton’s official website.
Is there an entry fee?
Yes. Ask the organiser for the current amount.
What kind of plays win?
Past winners have ranged widely - comedy, short science fiction, thrillers. Previous winning plays are published on the contest site and are the best guide available.
How do I submit?
Through the contest website, submitting an application form together with the play.
Related
Other writing competitions.
What students enter alongside this one.
Play contest enquiries
Submit early. The cap decides the deadline.
Two hundred and fifty entries and it closes, whatever the calendar says. Tell us what the student wants to write and an advisor will help get a finished ten-minute play ready well before the date on the website.