_The department of dramatic art announced Tuesday that the script for senior Ben Boecker’s one-act musical, “Spellbound!”, won the Sam Selden Prize for Playwriting.
Undergraduate students submit unproduced, student-written one-acts and full-length plays to the contest for a cash prize and the option to have a public reading of their work.
The contest is held annually by UNC’s department of dramatic art.
Boecker’s script was his senior thesis project. A reading of the piece was performed April 2 in a workshop setting, rather than as a full production.
In addition to writing the dialogue for the show, Boecker also composed the music and wrote the accompanying lyrics.
“Spellbound!” is the first play he has written. Its plot centers on a witch and her search for the perfect man.
Staff writer Britton Alexander spoke with Boecker about receiving this year’s prize, the inspiration behind the script, and his plans for the future._
DAILY TAR HEEL: Why did you decide to submit your script for the Selden Prize?
BEN BOECKER: It was recommended to me by my adviser that I apply. It looked like a good opportunity and I had done so much of the work that it really would have been silly not to.
I have seen some of the plays that have won before and I have been really impressed, so to think of myself as potentially being in that group of plays was definitely alluring.
