NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AGES 13 AND OLDER. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  1. Eligibility: The AmericanTheatreWing.org Play That Changed My Life Essay Contest (“Contest”) is open to legal residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are at least 13 years of age as of the date of entry. Employees of American Theatre Wing, Inc. (“Sponsor”) and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising or promotional agents, and members of the immediate families (parent, child, or sibling) or households of any such employees, are not eligible to enter.
  1. Entry Period: The Contest entry period begins at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (“E.T.”) on November 2, 2009 and ends at 11:59 p.m. E.T. on November 29, 2009 (the “Entry Period”).
  1. How to Enter: To enter, visit AmericanTheatreWing.org (the “Website”) during the Entry Period and follow the entry instructions. Entrants will be required to submit via the Website an essay of not more than 350 words describing the play they saw that had the greatest impact on their life and their perception of theatre. All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. E.T. on November 29, 2009 to be eligible. Sponsor’s computer will be the official time clock for the Contest. Entries will not be acknowledged or returned. In the event of a dispute as to the ownership of an entry, the authorized account holder of the email address used to submit an entry will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. The potential winner may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder. Entry materials will not be returned. There is a limit of one entry per person and per e-mail address.
  1. Essay Guidelines: All submitted essays must be in English and no longer than 350 words in total. If the essay is longer than 350 words, only the first 350 words will be judged. Essays must comply with the following guidelines: (a) the essay (including the copyright in the essay) must be owned by the entrant; (b) the essay must not previously have been distributed publicly or won any award; © the essay must not contain any material that would violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including without limitation copyrights, trademarks or rights of privacy or publicity, or that is defamatory, threatening, indecent, obscene or offensive, or that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to any applicable laws or regulations, or which requires a license from any third party; and (d) the essay must not contain any material that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, deems inappropriate for public viewing. In the event of a violation of these guidelines, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to take such action as it deems appropriate with respect to the essay in question, if any, including without limitation amending and/or altering the essay to make the essay compliant or disqualifying and/or not posting the essay on the Website.
  1. Selection of Winners: The potential winners will be determined in a two-phase selection process. All winners are subject to verification. Selection by Judges: One (1) potential Grand Prize winner, one (1) potential Second Prize winner and two (2) potential Third Prize winner will be selected by judges designated by Sponsor (the “Judges”), on or about December 11, 2009, from among all eligible entries received. The Judges will score each entrant’s essay based on the following criteria, weighted equally: originality; creativity; coherence; and passion for the theatre. In the event of a tie, the tied entrant with the higher “passion for the theatre” score, as determined by the Judges, will be selected as the winner. The Judges’ decisions are final and binding in all respects. Public Selection: In addition to the potential Third Prize winner that will be selected by the Judges, three (3) potential Third Prize winners will be selected based on voting by members of the public. All essays submitted in compliance with these Official Rules by an eligible entrant will be posted at the Website and will be available for viewing through the remainder of the Entry Period. Essays will be posted on a rolling basis as they are received, so the earlier in the Entry Period you submit your essay, the longer the period of time that the essay will be viewable by the public. Throughout the Public Judging Period, visitors to the site will have the opportunity to rate the posted essays. Voters will be instructed to use the judging criteria specified above. Each voter will be permitted to rate each essay only once. The three (3) essays that receive the highest average scores in the public judging will be selected as potential Third Prize winners. In the event of a tie, the tied entrant with the higher “passion for the theatre” score, as determined by the public voting, will be selected as the winner.
  1. Winner Verification and Notification: The potential winners will be notified by phone and/or e-mail, in Sponsor’s discretion, on or about December 11, 2009. Sponsor may in its discretion announce the name(s) of one or more potential winners on the website or in other forms of communication, provided that no potential winner shall be certified as a winner until the potential winner has executed and returned all required documents, as described in this Section 6. If a potential winner is unreachable by phone and/or e-mail during a period of forty-eight (48) consecutive hours, the potential winner may be disqualified. Each potential winner (or parent/legal guardian if the potential winner is a minor in her/his state of residence) will be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Confidentiality Agreement, Release of Liability and, if legally permissible, a Publicity Release within seven (7) days of attempted delivery of same. Noncompliance within this time period or return of any notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and an alternate may be selected.
  1. Prizes: Grand Prize: The one (1) Grand Prize consists of seven theatre books from Applause Publishing selected by Sponsor, including a copy of “The American Theatre Wing presents The Play That Changed My Life,” autographed by a selection of authors whose essays appear in the book. Second Prize: The one (1) Second Prize consists of four theatre books from Applause Publishing selected by Sponsor, including a copy of “The American Theatre Wing presents The Play That Changed My Life.” Third Prizes: Each of the four (4) Third Prizes consists of a a copy of “The American Theatre Wing presents The Play That Changed My Life.” General Prize Terms and Conditions: No substitution, cash redemption or transfer of right to receive any prize will be allowed, except at sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute an alternate prize. The total approximate retail value of all prizes is $350. Exact value depends on market conditions at time of prize fulfillment. Any taxes on the prize are the sole responsibility of the winner. An IRS form 1099 will be issued if required by law. Prizes consist only of items expressly specified in these rules. Any costs or expenses associated with the acceptance or use of any prize are the responsibility of the winner.
  1. General Rules: Entry constitutes an irrevocable grant of permission to Sponsor and its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional partners and agents, and those they may designate from time to time, to use each entrant’s name, likeness, and city and state of residence, and the essay submitted by the entrant, including without limitation modifying, altering, excerpting or amending the essay, for purposes of trade, publicity or promotion and any other purpose, in all media and formats whether now known or later developed, throughout the world in perpetuity, without any additional notice or compensation (except where prohibited by law). Without limitation of the foregoing, by entering the Contest, each entrant agrees that the Sponsor is permitted to display her/his submitted essay, name and biographical information online at the Website for public viewing and comment. Entrants may be required to execute such releases, assignments of rights and other documentation as Sponsor requires with respect to the entrant’s submitted essay. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and/or to cancel, modify or suspend this Contest should entrant fraud or misconduct or other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor corrupt the administration, integrity, security or proper operation of the Contest. In the event of termination of the Contest, a notice will be posted online. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest, or in the announcement of the prize. All entrants release Sponsor and its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional partners and agents, and all others associated with the development and execution of this Contest, from any and all claims and liabilities arising from or in connection with participation in this Contest and/or the use of the entrant’s submitted essay as permitted hereunder, including without limitation claims for injury, loss or damage of any kind resulting from participation in this Contest or acceptance or use of any prize. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, damaged, corrupted, mutilated, misdirected, misdelivered, undelivered, blocked or delayed entries or other communications, or for technical or human errors, delays or failures of any kind in connection with the submission, transmission, processing, storage or judging of entries, including without limitation any malfunctions or failures of computer hardware, computer software, networks or telephone equipment, any data loss or corruption, or any technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof. Caution: Any attempt by a participant to deliberately damage any Web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest is a violation of criminal and/or civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such participant to the fullest extent of the law. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. By participating in the Contest, each entrant certifies that the essay submitted by the entrant is owned by the entrant, has not been previously published or won any award, and does not contain any material that would violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including without limitation copyrights, trademarks or rights of privacy or publicity. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York. All disputes arising out of or connected with this Contest will be resolved individually, and without resort to class action, exclusively by a state or federal court located in New York, New York.
  1. Names of Winners: For the names of the winners, visit AmericanTheatreWing.org after December 11, 2009.
  1. Sponsor: The sponsor of this contest is the American Theatre Wing, Inc., New York, NY.