Leah Ryan Fund: The Leah
Forecasted
Leah Ryan Fund: The Leah supports emerging women, trans, and non-binary playwrights, recognizing completed full-length plays and funding a public reading and summer workshop to develop their work.
Funder: Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley
Due Dates (Anticipated): December 2026 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $5,000 cash prize plus a public reading and summer workshop at Vassar College
Summary: The Leah supports emerging women, trans, and non-binary playwrights by recognizing and developing completed full-length theatrical works.
Key Information: Submissions are capped at 400 applications, and musicals are not accepted.
Description
The Leah is an annual playwriting prize offered by the Leah Ryan Fund through the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. Established in 2010 to honor Leah Ryan’s memory, the prize encourages and supports brilliant, unrecognized women, trans, and non-binary playwrights. It seeks to perpetuate the integrity, compassion, and creativity that Ryan possessed and inspired in others.
The program recognizes completed full-length works for theater, pairing a cash prize with a public reading and summer workshop through the Powerhouse Theater Program at Vassar College. Playwrights worldwide are encouraged to apply. The award focuses on writers who consider themselves emerging, rather than fledgling or mid-career, and accepts theatrical forms beyond the traditional three-act structure.
