Tales of friendship, youth and motherhood are the topics of the winning scripts of the 2025 Play Right Prize Competition at the University of Lethbridge.
Carter Popielarz, Levi Mason and Maddie McKee are the winners of this year’s competition, highlighting the breadth and depth of talent that ULethbridge students possess in creative writing.
The Play Right Prize, sponsored by Chancellor Terry Whitehead (BA ’94), is an annual competition that awards $2,500 in cash prizes to students and supports their professional development in playwriting. This year’s jurors include Jenn Taylor, Managing Director of the Alberta Playwright’s Network, and award-winning playwright and alumna Chelsea Woolley (BA/BEd ’14), who received the 2024 ULethbridge Alumni Association Young Alumni Award.
Popielarz wins $1,500 for first place; Mason wins $750 for second and McKee receives $250 for third. All Play Right Prize winners receive professional dramaturgical support to further develop and refine their scripts for the stage.
Drama (performance) student Carter Popielarz won first place in the competition for his script, Honk If You’re Lonely. Described as a generous character study of friendship between two older men, Popielarz says he was intrigued by what it means to leave old lives behind, particularly later in life, exploring themes of change and regret.
Play Right Prize jury member Jenn Taylor took note of Popielarz’s nuanced writing. “Honk If You’re Lonely is the story of a man at a crossroads in his life. After a chance meeting at a small-town motel, he begins an unexpected journey with an uncertain end,” says Taylor. “This beautifully self-contained narrative explores questions of genuine connection and vulnerability in two lives constrained by expectations.”
For Popielarz, entering the Play Right Prize competition is a great way to get eyes on his work, as he receives valuable dramaturgical feedback. Winning the cash prize also allows students like Popielarz to learn without financial strain, kickstart projects and begin building a name in the industry.
“I feel very honoured to be recognized for a piece of work that has been so close to my heart for the past two years,” he says. “I am interested in having the show fully produced in the next few years. I think a local theatre company would be a good option, as there are often many great actors in their 40s and 50s in the community who could really have a great time with it.”
English student Levi Mason is the second-place winner with his play, God is a Black Hole. In this script, three childhood friends meet at the edge of the apocalypse, confronting their choices and regrets as they seek validation from their found family. Levi says capturing the bleakness of the story, which was at first one of his biggest obstacles, ended up becoming something that he found joy in exploring.
“How could I make something about existentialism, nihilism and the end of the world and make it something that people actually want to read and watch? Despite the heaviness of the themes in this play, I actually find it quite joyful in a lot of ways,” says Mason. “It might be a play about the end of the world and trying to accept that nothing matters and dealing with religious trauma, but it’s also a play about friendship and healing and playing at the park.”
"God is a Black Hole muses on youth and friendship with great imagery that reveals both the small and astronomical aspects of growing up queer,” says Play Right Prize juror Woolley.
Drama (performance) student Maddie McKee took third place in the Play Right Prize competition for her play, Create. Described as an absurdist horror that follows a pregnant woman struggling to find inspiration to give birth, McKee says she began writing the play in her second year during a playwriting class.
“Create is very personal to me and is a representation of how easily we can limit ourselves through our own self-doubt. Creating art is so vulnerable and intimidating, and the character’s journey reflects the complicated feelings artists have towards their work,” says McKee.
“A surreal journey through the act of becoming a mother, Create is a complex story birthed from a unique metaphor,” says Taylor. “Through the relationship between an artist and her muse, the audience comes to understand some of the anxiety, pressure and the need to be perfect that expectant mothers experience.”
For McKee, winning the Play Right Prize reminded her of the importance of her voice, prompting her to continue writing plays.
“Paid opportunities are crucial for emerging artists! It validates our art and proves that students deserve to be paid for their work. This is why the Play Right Prize is so important: it proves to students that we can be paid for our work, even as emerging artists, even before we finish our degrees.”
Learn more about the Play Right Prize winners: https://stories.ulethbridge.ca/2025-play-right-prize-winners/