Recent Graduate Emma K. Cleary Wins Fusion Theater’s Playwriting Contest

May ’23 graduate Emma K. Cleary is one of seven winners of Fusion Theater’s 17th annual contest seeking new works: The Seven for her short play One & Only. The script was written as an assignment in the U of A course THTR 4063 Playwriting, taught by Lauren Ferebee and Brendan Beseth, and appeared in the U of A’s student-led playwriting program The Playground’s night of staged readings in April.  

Cleary graduated in spring 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing and a minor in theater. Recently, she worked on staff for Issue 7 of the university’s undergraduate literary journal, The Diamond Line.

Cleary’s love of sci-fi comes through in the script, combining humor, Black Mirror-esque twists, and the (multi)-universal question: how would you spend your last five minutes with the love of your life?

Based in Albuquerque, The Seven is a worldwide contest for new short works, with the winners receiving a fully staged world premiere of their scripts at the professional Fusion Theater. The theme of this year’s contest was “The Elephant In The Room,” and received submissions from 40 states and nine countries. The festival runs June 8-11 at the New Mexico theater. Cleary is her pseudonym. 

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.