DAVID KING PRIZE
A $3,000 cash prize awarded by a jury for the development or production of a new comedic work.
Funding requests are open to BC playwrights and can be for one of the following:
- To provide writing time to a playwright to create a draft of a new comedy.
Based on a submitted outline or partial draft of a new comedy. - Production support for a BC premiere production of a comedy by an indie company.
Based on a submitted script and production outline submission. - A multi-day workshop of a new comedy by a BC playwright.
Prize will provide funds for artists and space.
AWARD:
David King Prize
AMOUNT:
$3,000
Proposal Deadline:
Jan 5, 2024
Award Announcement:
Mid-March 2024
Send Submissions to:
davidkingprize@touchstonetheatre.com
PAST RECIPIENTS
2024 – David Johnston, Tuxedos
2023 – Melody Anderson, Home
2022 – Pippa Mackie, Hurricane Mona
About the award:
David King was a playwright, screenwriter, and songwriter known for his wit and ‘joie de vivre’. In January 2021, David died after a decade long battle with prostate cancer. This prize, awarded annually to assist in the development or production of a new comedic play, was established in his honour.
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
1. Please tell us about your experience and aspirations for creating comedy. Are you a playwright, performer, comedian, other? Tell us about yourself. (300 words max)
2. Please briefly summarize/outline the play you are proposing. Are you including a full or partial draft of the work in progress? Has this play had other development? If so, please describe. (300 words max)
3. Please describe your proposal and timeline. (300 words max)
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- Are you applying for subsistence for writing time to complete a draft?
- Funds to hire actors, or a director and/or dramaturge to do a workshop of your play?
- Financial support for a planned production? If so, what are those plans?
- A combination of the above?
EVALUATION CRITERIA
A jury will assess the proposals using the following criteria:
- 50% Artistic merit
- 25% Community impact
- 25% Feasibility of project
Please note the selected applicant will receive the $3000.00 prize funding in their name. It will be considered income to the applicant.
ABOUT DAVID KING
Playwright, actor, screenwriter, singer-songwriter. Born 1949 in Winnipeg, David King moved to British Columbia in 1979 where he would remain until his passing at his home in Grantham’s Landing in 2021. His plays Garage Sale directed by Larry Lillo (1984) and starring Morris Panych and Life Skills directed by John Cooper (1986), featuring Canadian theatrical icon Nicola Cavendish, received a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Best Original Play. Over twenty-five of his plays have received premiere productions on Canadian stages including the Manitoba Theatre Workshop, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Vancouver Playhouse, Touchstone Theatre, Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre, and the National Arts Centre. In 1975, he won a Genie for his film For Gentlemen Only and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for his comedy Harmony Cats.
David was indeed a King in capturing humanity, idiosyncrasy, and community in surprisingly poetic and insightful ways. His plays remind us to give our loved ones, associates, and even the stranger sitting beside you in the theatre the benefit of the doubt; we’re all trying our best – even when our best is doing things horribly, often hilariously, wrong.
To Support the Prize
If you’d like to contribute to The David King Prize, go to touchstonetheatre.com/donate and state: “For The David King Prize” in the note. A tax receipt will be sent to you.
Thank you for contributing, for honouring David King’s memory, and for supporting new comedy.
DAVID KING PRIZE DONORS
Fran Gebhard
John Cooper & Esther Chetner
Off the Page
Susanna Bell-Irving Gray
Jan Van’t Hof & Harriet Hunter
Marcus Youssef
Greg Klassen
Debra Wiens
Jay Brazeau
Renee Ethans
Suzanne Ristic
In Memory of Indomitable Claire
DAVID KING PRIZE DONORS
Anthony Pare & Dawn Allen
Virginia King & John Penman
Rory Runnells
Judy Cook
Susan Tessler
Leslee Silverman
Holly Mackie
Lynn Stoffman
Barbara Lobb
Lauren MacDiarmid
Peter Hill
Maureen & Hugh Taggart
