The School of Performing Arts is proud to announce Alaina Tennant as the winner of the 2025 Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition for her original full-length play, “Now We Are A Hundred.”
A native of Akron, Ohio, Tennant is currently pursuing a BFA in playwriting at Ohio University. Her emerging body of work has already gained national recognition, including honors from the Thespian Excellence Awards and features in prestigious collections like Smith & Kraus’ 2025 Best Men’s Stage Monologues.
Her winning play, “Now We Are A Hundred,” is a poetic and emotionally rich historical drama set in post-WWII England. The story imagines a fictional reckoning between Christopher Robin Milne and his father, A.A. Milne — the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. Through haunting dialogue and complex character dynamics, the play explores the emotional weight of literary fame, memory, and the search for personal identity amidst inherited legacy.
As part of her award, Tennant will receive a produced reading of her play during WSU’s fall theatre season, Sept. 25-27. Returning to campus for this special event is WSU alumna and award-winning actress Jane Gabbert, who will both mentor the playwright and direct the reading.
The Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition honors the legacy of Bela Kiralyfalvi — beloved professor, director and founding figure of WSU’s theatre program — by uplifting the voices of undergraduate playwrights nationwide.
The School of Performing Arts invites you to join in celebrating this exciting new voice in American theatre and to mark your calendars for a moving evening of storytelling this fall.
