Congratulations to the winner of the 2023-2024 Joining Sword & Pen Competition!

Maggie Smith and her play
Calvaria
A play for feral girls.

Starting in 2005, Joining Sword & Pen (“JS&P”) has had nine (9) playwrights win a full production and cash prize.

The winner will first take their script through the Fighting Words development program, before they receive a full production by Babes With Blades Theatre Co (“BWBTC”).

The playwright will also receive the Margaret W. Martin Award, which carries a $1,000 cash prize sponsored by BWBTC’s longtime benefactor, David Woolley.

About the play

When her family’s bull is found decapitated in the middle of a farm field, Edie Hruska makes it her mission to find the culprit. While on her search, she comes across a group of young girls claiming to communicate with gods, begging Edie to become their newest acolyte. While acclimating to their lifestyle, Edie finds herself face-to-face with the girls’ true intentions, and they are much more sinister than just a dead bull.

To find out more about the play, check out the JS&P Live Winner Announcement!

About the playwright

Maggie Smith (she/her) is a playwright, performer, and comedian based in Chicago, Illinois. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Maggie moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago, where she received a BA in Theatre, while minoring in English and Shakespeare Studies. At Loyola, Maggie led two projects, Rats and Saint Louise, Pray for Us, the first being a devised parody musical and the second a staged reading of her two-act play. Upon graduating Loyola, she was accepted into the Second City’s Conservatory Training Program, where she completed her training in September, 2023. As a writer, Maggie challenges herself and her audiences to process difficult topics through comedic lenses. She takes from her own life experiences to create a casual representation of the queer experience.  In order to depict an experience that she is familiar with, she prefers to write characters in stories where their identities are not the driving force of the piece. Because of this, she finds herself called to place queer characters at the forefront of comedies. After all, that’s what her life is.

The (below) JS&P image titled, “Cave Treasure” and created by Morgan Manasa, was the inspiration behind “CALVARIA”

On the left, a femme-identifying person has wandered into a cavern. We see them from the back so cannot discern any other identifying characteristics including age, identity, or ethnicity. The cavern seems to have a crack in the ceiling, letting in golden yellow sunlight. In the far edge of the cavern, coming out of the shadows is a Mysterious Figure. The Figure is wearing a sleeveless white shift-dress. On their head is a cow skull with antlers. The arms of the figure are olive toned and raised above their head to hold the skull by the horns, so the skull is blocking their face. To the left of the Mysterious Figure are 4 long swords, leaning against the wall of the cavern. There are rocks randomly strewn around the floor of the cavern between the mysterious figure and the femme-identifying figure.

Click to learn more about our Joining Sword & Pen playwriting competition.