I almost never have any cross-over between this website and my theater-focused website NYCPlaywrights. But today I do.
The theme of "Black Woman Genius" is perfect for this blog, which critiques race pseudoscience, a set of beliefs which invariably hold that women are less intelligent than men (because misogyny and racism go hand in hand) and that Black people are less intelligent than everyone else, but especially White men.
And then there's the fact that Charlie Kirk was a named member of the Intellectual Dark Web, another primary focus of this blog.
I don't expect that many of the people who read this blog are playwrights - I tend to be a bit of a unicorn compared to people I know - those interested in politics are not interested in art and the art people are not interested in politics. But I never lose hope that there are other unicorns out there.
NYCPlaywrights seeks monologues.
THE DEADLINE IS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM.
The theme is "Black Woman Genius."
In November 2024, NYCPlaywrights began the "Resisting Fascism" project. The winning piece was a monologue, THE 92% by Bryan-Keyth Wilson that highlighted the fact that 92% of Black American women voters did not vote for Trump - and their intelligence and wisdom are increasingly clear.
The murder of Charlie Kirk was horrific, but that does not erase the fact that he said hateful things like this:
The theme is "Black Woman Genius."
In November 2024, NYCPlaywrights began the "Resisting Fascism" project. The winning piece was a monologue, THE 92% by Bryan-Keyth Wilson that highlighted the fact that 92% of Black American women voters did not vote for Trump - and their intelligence and wisdom are increasingly clear.
The murder of Charlie Kirk was horrific, but that does not erase the fact that he said hateful things like this:
“If we would have said three weeks ago [...] that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they're comin' out and they're saying it for us! They're comin' out and they're saying, "I'm only here because of affirmative action.
Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
Kirk dropped out of community college to become a full-time political pundit, while the Black women he attacked graduated from Harvard and Princeton and Yale.
And so this call for submissions seeks monologues on the theme of Black Woman Genius.
SEMI-FINALIST SCRIPTS
NYCPlaywrights will select as semi-finalists as many of the scripts that we like and which meet the submission guidelines.
The semi-finalists will be listed on this blog and an excerpt from each monologue (if permission is granted by the playwright) will be displayed in a blog post, one per day, along with any website links or other contact information the author wishes to share.
NYCPlaywrights will select as semi-finalists as many of the scripts that we like and which meet the submission guidelines.
The semi-finalists will be listed on this blog and an excerpt from each monologue (if permission is granted by the playwright) will be displayed in a blog post, one per day, along with any website links or other contact information the author wishes to share.
The semi-finalist script selections will be announced Sunday, January 4, 2026.
THE WINNING MONOLOGUE
The winning monologue will be selected from the semi-finalist monologues. The winning monologue will be recorded with an actor and an excerpt of the recording will be posted on NYCPlaywrights.org and on the NYCPlaywrights YouTube channel (if permission is granted by the playwright) along with author and actor contact information, biographies, etc.
The author of the winning monologue will receive an award of $100.
The award-winner will be announced Sunday, January 18, 2026. Excerpts from the semi-finalist scripts will begin posting that day one monologue per day, and the winning monologue will be posted after all the semi-finalist monologues have been posted.
The winning monologue will be selected from the semi-finalist monologues. The winning monologue will be recorded with an actor and an excerpt of the recording will be posted on NYCPlaywrights.org and on the NYCPlaywrights YouTube channel (if permission is granted by the playwright) along with author and actor contact information, biographies, etc.
The author of the winning monologue will receive an award of $100.
The award-winner will be announced Sunday, January 18, 2026. Excerpts from the semi-finalist scripts will begin posting that day one monologue per day, and the winning monologue will be posted after all the semi-finalist monologues have been posted.
💡 THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 💡
Failure to follow guidelines will result in your script being rejected.
As always, there is no fee for submissions.
As always, there is no fee for submissions.
- The deadline is November 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.
- All rights will remain with the playwright.
- Monologues must be no more than two pages long, using standard 12-point text size and line-spacing.
- Send only one monologue script per author to genius@nycplaywrights.org.
- The monologue script must be submitted by the author of the script, no agents or others may submit.
- The monologue script submission should be sent by email, with the script itself as a file attached to the email.
- The file format of the monologue script should be .pdf because it will retain your original script formatting.
- Make sure you have your name and your email address on the script.
- Plays can be submitted by anybody, from anywhere in the world but must be primarily in English (a few non-English phrases are acceptable, but the phrases must include English translations in production notes or stage directions.)
- A play that has had a production is acceptable.
- A play that has been published is not acceptable.
- There will be no money awarded for selected scripts except for the winning monologue.
- NYCPlaywrights' decisions are final.
- Any questions email info@nycplaywrights.org
***
Thank you for sending your monologue to the NYCPlaywrights “BLACK WOMAN GENIUS” project.
The semi-finalist script selections will be announced Sunday, January 4, 2026.
The award-winner will be announced Sunday, January 18, 2026.
Nancy at NYCPlaywrights
***
If you don't receive the automatic response, email us at info@nycplaywrights.org to check if we received your script.
Please note:
- The monologues must be dramatic - we love facts, but the monologue must not simply be a lecture on some aspect of history or current events. A dramatic monologue should have an emotional impact and often will tell a story. We'd like to see creativity and invention.
- The call for submissions is open to any person, anywhere in the world.
- Although the theme is Black Woman Genius, the character speaking in the monologue does not necessarily have to be a Black woman.
- Although this is a serious subject, you do not have to be grim. We welcome humor and playfulness, and we are just as interested in hopeful monologues, and anticipating a brighter future as much as we are in the injustices of the past and present.
DATE RECAP
- November 30, 2025 - submission deadline
- January 4, 2026 - semi-finalists announced
- January 18, 2026 - the winning monologue will be announced and then each day an excerpt from one of the semi-finalist monologues will be posted.
Some genius prompts:
- Ida B. Wells, investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement.
- Aretha Franklin, voted Rolling Stone's greatest singer of all time - "a work of genius" (#2 is Whitney Houston)
- Valerie Brown, the first Black woman animated character on American television, resident genius of the 1970s cartoon "Josie and the Pussycats"
- Alena Analeigh Wicker, in 2021, became the youngest person to intern for NASA
- Simone Biles, athletic genius
- Wanda Sykes, stand-up comedian, actor and writer
- Angela Davis, philosopher and political activist
- Dr. Ayda Mensah, character performed by Noma Dumezweni, the brilliant team leader and "favorite human" of Murderbot, from the sci-fi books and AppleTV+ series.
- Lorraine Hansberry, the young, gifted and Black playwright
- Kamala Harris, America’s first woman, Black and South Asian vice president, became the Democratic presidential candidate half-way through the 2024 campaign when Biden bowed out. She drew record-breaking crowds during her campaign and accurately predicted that Trump would use the US military against US citizens.
