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LISTEN: Inaugural CCM Radio Play Contest

CCM Radio Theatre

Cincinnati Public Radio and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) have named UC alumnus Cedric Rose winner of the inaugural CCM Radio Theatre playwright competition. The top three winners will receive a cash prize for their work, and along with the honorary mention winner, have their play produced by CCM for broadcast on 91.7 WVXU-FM.

The four winning plays written by current or past University of Cincinnati students will air at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 28, preempting our regular presentation of radio drama, LA Theatre Works. This special can be heard on air at 91.7 WVXU, 88.5 WMUB, online at wvxu.org, on the WVXU mobile app or by asking your smart speaker to 'Play WVXU.'

For a complete rundown of the winning plays and details about the playwrights, please visit the CCM website: CCM Radio Theatre

Learn more about the winning plays and playwrights below:

1st Place: Ketchup by Cedric Rose ($2500)

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Buskers at the Banks experience the intersections of race, privilege, and music in this intimate portrait of a promising musician. Written by Cedric Rose, who graduated with a BA in English Composition and Literature at UC’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

"Ketchup" by Cedric Rose

2nd Place: All On The Table by Alena Flick ($750)

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The lines between role-playing and authentic desire become blurred in this take on table-top role-playing games and podcasting with a local flavor — Dungeons and Dragons meets Chekhov meets goetta. Alena Flick is a Cincinnati-born writer who recently completed her MA in fiction writing at UC’s College of Arts and Sciences (MA, ’21); she currently works as an adjunct professor with UC’s English Composition program.

All On The Table by Alena Flick

3rd Place: Unfortunate Mechanism by Toni Judnitch ($500)

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A young woman copes with her role, however unintentional, in another person’s death. The play explores ghosts, therapists and personal accountability in Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery. Toni Judnitch graduated from UC’s College of Arts and Sciences in August 2021 with a PhD in fiction. Her fiction writing has appeared or is forthcoming in AGNI, Sycamore Review, Nashville Review, Ninth Letter, and Third Coast.  She received Bellingham Review’s 2019 Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction, New South’s 2018 Prose Prize, and a story of hers was selected for reprinting in New Stories from the Midwest.

Unfortunate Mechanism by Toni Judnitch

Honorable Mention: To Those of You Listening Back Home by Kayla Temshiv

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How do narrow-minded parents exert control over their progressive (and occasionally transgressive) children? Get Out meets Blair Witch Project  in this meditation on LGBTQ+ rights and parenting. Kayla Temshiv is a genderqueer actor-writer living in Cincinnati, Ohio, who graduated from UC with their BFA in Acting and a Deaf Studies Certificate in 2021. She is passionate about work reflective of young people today and how the current state of the world impacts people's struggles, pursuits, and complicated feelings.

To Those of You Listening Back Home by Kayla Temshiv
<br/><br/><br/><br/><b><i>To Those of You Listening Back Home</i> by Kayla Temshiv</b><br/><br/>

“Cincinnati Public Radio is excited to partner with the talented students at CCM and Brant Russell, Artistic Director of the CCM Playwrights Workshop to bring fresh, original radio dramas to our listeners," said Jenell Walton, Vice President of Content at Cincinnati Public Radio, home to 91.7 WVXU, 88.5 WMUB and 90.9 WGUC. "We get so much support from the community, and this is one way we’re giving back and supporting the arts in Greater Cincinnati. The contest will hopefully inspire the winners to pursue their passion for creative writing.”

CCM Acting Professor Brant Russell, playwright and director, said, "It was exciting to open this contest up to as many UC students, past and present, as we could. We recognize that some people face life or financial obstacles and maybe couldn't earn a college degree but still have a passion for playwriting. This contest gives them the opportunity to have their original play produced for radio and possibly a way for them to realize their dream of becoming a playwright.”

The committee that evaluated the submissions included: Brant Russell, CCM Acting Professor and Artistic Director of the CCM Playwrights Workshop; Jenell Walton, Vice President of Content at Cincinnati Public Radio; Liz Carman, Marketing and Communications Manager at Know Theatre; Brian Isaac Phillips, Artistic Director at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; Lynn Meyers, Artistic Director at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati; Daunielle Rasmussen, Director of Artistic Engagement at Playhouse in the Park; Derek Snow, Founder of Missing Front Plate Productions; Gabriella DiVincenzo, Artistic Coordinator at Cincinnati Artists’ Theatre; Carol Brammer, Artistic Director at Liberty Exhibition Hall; Julia Greer, Co-Artistic Director at The Hearth NYC; Emma Miller, Co-Artistic Director at The Hearth NYC; Adam Tran, actor; and Lisa Ampleman, writer, Managing Editor of The Cincinnati Review. Learn more about the CCM Radio Theatre playwriting competition.