Nadia Hopkins Wins 2026 Relentless Award For Her Play Humane Traps

Playwright Nadia Hopkins has won the 2026 Relentless Award from the American Playwriting Foundation for her debut full-length work, Humane Traps, as reported by playbill.com. The honor carries a $50,000 cash prize, recognized as the largest annual award for unproduced work in American theatre.

Playwright Nadia Hopkins Claims the 2026 Relentless Award

Hopkins, a 24-year-old New York City-based playwright, performer, and Quaker middle school teacher, secured the honor as the 10th recipient in the history of the American Playwriting Foundation. Playbill.com reported that the award honors fearless, honest storytelling in memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hopkins will be recognized at a ceremony scheduled for November 16 alongside three finalists: Regan Moro for Nazi Mind, william o’neal ii for Gottesfehler, and Matt Thekkethala for Vulturine, who each received $2,000.

According to americantheatre.org, Humane Traps explores the unexpected parallels between household mouse infestations and human mortality. Hopkins explained in an interview that the premise arose while working at a Quaker camp infested with mice every summer. This inevitability—that we just accept that mice are going to tear through our lives—felt similar to the way that death is inevitable, she told americantheatre.org. The script follows characters Julie, Rick, and a young visitor named Charlie as they confront an end-of-life dynamic.

Judges Praise the Anonymous Script and Lyrical Style

The American Playwriting Foundation judges reviewed all submissions anonymously, stripping away writers’ names and personal backgrounds. Founding Artistic Director David Bar Katz noted that the unveiling brought a surprising realization about the author’s identity. It turns out this play, which wrestles with death with an intimacy only someone who’s battled it for years could know—and yet is hilarious—was written by a 24 year-old woman, Katz told playbill.com.

Judge Branden Jacobs-Jenkins praised the work in the official press release, comparing Hopkins’s stylistic execution to mid-century American dramatists. Reminiscent of Albee, Durang, and Shepard, this writer can turn a metaphor or a stage image over and over in surprising and delightful and unnerving ways, Jacobs-Jenkins said. The judging panel also featured Thomas Bradshaw, Lynn Nottage, Brontez Purnell, Lucy Thurber, and past winners Dave Harris, Harrison David Rivers, and Max Yu.

Expanding the Relentless Award Legacy

Hopkins joins a distinguished roster of women playwrights who have previously won the Relentless Award, including Sarah DeLappe for The Wolves, Claire Barron for Dance Nation, and Aleshea Harris for Is God Is. Playbill.com noted that 80 percent of the award’s semifinalists across its history have been women.

Hopkins’s connection to the prize traces back to her high school years in Boston, where she read Sarah DeLappe’s winning play with a playwriting class. Playbill.com reported that Hopkins later recalled how the Relentless Award catalyzed The Wolves on its trajectory toward becoming widely produced. Aside from her winning script, Hopkins has developed other recent projects, including a play titled Henry and a solo show called Fuck dada, according to playbill.com.

Ceremony and Public Presentation Details

The American Playwriting Foundation will officially honor Hopkins and the finalists at an award ceremony on November 16. Playbill.com confirmed that a public staging or production presentation for Humane Traps has not yet been announced.