Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 Playwriting Competition
The Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 Playwriting Award was established by friends and classmates of the late Ms. Seven to support an annual playwriting competition open to all Vassar juniors and seniors. After Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 died of leukemia in 1997 at the age of 50, her classmates, with the help of Professor Emeritus of Drama James Steerman, honored her memory by establishing a fund to support this yearly award. Although Seven was a psychology major at Vassar, she was immersed in theater. During her college years, Seven spent her summers performing in stock productions and touring as a dancer with Ann Corio’s This Was Burlesque. After graduating, she continued to dance and act, and also began to embrace her true creative lifelong passion: writing plays. To this day, Ms Seven’s classmates are dedicated to her legacy.
The awards began in 1999, making this the 25th anniversary opportunity to Vassar College students from any discipline. Past recipients of this award went to English, Math, Science and Drama students who showed extraordinary writing skills. The author of the winning play receives a $1,000 award, a certificate, a staged reading, and a catered reception for friends and family from The Drama Department.
Recipients
2024. Angelina Papa ’24 for her play “Goodnight Computer” and Foster Schrader ’25 for his play “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”.
2023. Solomon Hess ’24 for his play “The Game”.
2022. Gabriella Kimbrough ’23 for her play “True Crime” and Louis Blachman ’23 for his play “Four Seasons Total Landscaping”.
2021. Lily Bradfield ’22 for her play “Blackboard”. Directed by Estefania Fadul ’10.
2020. Jacob Liss ’20 for “Mr Maurice, His Cats, And An Impossible Tower: A Reality As Dream” and Lindsay Irwin ’21 for “A Tale of Broken Boundaries”
2019. Yael Haskel ’19 for “Trivial Pursuit”
2018. Imani Russel ’18 for “Audra McDonald and Marsha P. Johnson Deliver a Message About the End of the World”
2017. Alexa Jordan ’17 for "Fine"
2016. Juliany Taveras ’16 for “Anatomy of Light”
2015. Rebecca Jannou ’16 for “INDIGO”
2014. Kevin Ritter ’15 for “Lawn Play” and Nick Pearl ’14 for “Also Starring Ellen Burstyn”
2013. Erin Gallagher ’13 for “American Soldier”. Honorable mention presented to Tatiana Collet-Apraxine ’13 for “Planet of Ashes and Snow”
2011. Isabella Batts ’12 for “The Inheritance of Nightdreams”
2010. Julianna Gonzalez ’11 for “El Mundo del Bolero”
2009. Kartik Naram ’10 for “Straw Men & The Remainders One Act Plays”
2008. Carly Flint ’10 for “Draining Still & Waterlines”
2007. Marissa Skudlarek ’08 for “The Rose of Youth”
2006. Ensemble: Rigel Byrum-Ridge ’07, Li Cornfeld ’07, Erica Fox ’07, Tyler Penfield ’07 David Rosenbaum ’07 for “Live Feed”
2005. Jason Platt ’06 for “Entering in Verdant Skin”
2004. Christopher Johnson ’05 for “Ol’ Head Country Wisdom & the Ibeiji’s Tale”
2003. Megan Melanson Cooke ’03 for “Over Here”
2002. Sharyn Rothstein ’03 for “The Three O’Clock”
2001. Sri Gordon ’01 for “Faust(s)”
2000. Rob Grace ’00 for “Paper Hearts and Suffern”
1999. Trevor Oswalt ’99 for “Young Boys Under Hot, Hot Lights”