The Dogwood Fine Arts Festival’s second annual Emerging Playwright Awards returns to the Beckwith Theatre this weekend.

Over the last several weeks, members of the theater company and the festival have read through scripts from young playwrights across Michigan and Northern Indiana, narrowing it down to three finalists. Judges and audiences alike will decide the victor of the contest, with over $2,000 worth of prize money up for grabs.

Readings of the finalists scripts begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, with Elisabeth Frankel’s “A German Party,” presented by actors with Beckwith. Readings continue at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Graham Techler’s “Moxie,” concluding at 2:30 p.m. with Gregory Strasser’s “Atlanta.” The readings are free and open to the public, with the audience ratings of the play helping to determine the winner.

The winning script will receive another reading during the Dogwood Festival, on Monday, May 11.

Closing out this year’s finalists is Graham Techler.

 

About ‘Moxie’

Around this time last spring, local theater lovers were left in stitches following a script reading of University of Michigan student Graham Techler’s “Nantucket Sleighride.”

The story of a New England crime caper gone horribly awry proved to be popular with judges as well, propelling Techler to the top as Dogwood’s first-ever Emerging Playwright Award winner.

While still rife with the same unrestrained sense of humor, the playwright’s latest work, “Moxie,” deals with a subject matter that hits much closer to home for the 20-year-old artist — college students and their relationships with their professors.

“I think this play is a bit more grounded, and personally informed,” Techler said.

Despite the change in tone, the play managed to once again impress the judges with playwright competition, as Techler and his work will again be returning to Beckwith on Saturday as one of the finalists of this year’s competition.

“Moxie” tells the story of a legendary yet reclusive literature professor, Joens Hjort, who is jokingly invited by a group of Bates College students to hang out with them for a weekend at one of their vacation homes before his official retirement party. The joke quickly backfires on students though, as their elderly professor decides to “cut loose” much harder than they expected. As Hjort begins to share his perspectives and philosophies based on his life, tensions start to flare amongst the others in the resort as their preconceived notions about their teacher shatter.

“Slowly, he begins to tear down all their illusions and ideals, and it becomes flaming disaster pretty quickly,” Techler said.

The theater student came up with the idea of the story while thinking about his own relationships with his professors, and what it would be like if the men and women teaching the next generation were a little more “real” with their charges, he said.

In comparison to “Nantucket Sleighride” the humor in this script feels a little more natural, given the fact that he is of a similar age to most of its characters, Techler said. While having a similar number of characters, it’s also longer than his other work as well, with the middle act coming in at 60 pages in length, he said.

Techler’s, whose previously winning script is scheduled for production by Beckwith later this year, said he elated when he was told his submission this year had propelled him back to the final three of the competition.

“I loved being there last year, and I would have loved to be there again,” he said. “It was a big honor to be invited to come back.”

He once again plans to make the trip to Dowagiac on Saturday, and is excited to see another one of his work’s come to life. Despite winning the competition last year, he still sees it primarily a learning experience, he said.

“If it goes to me, I’ll be thrilled,” he said. “It goes to one of [the other finalists], I’ll also be thrilled.”