A Southern Christmas, a romantic comedy by Guillermo Reyes, was selected as the winner of the Third Annual National Hispanic Playwriting Contest, hosted by Arizona Theatre Company and Centro Cultural Mexicano de Phoenix.

A Southern Christmas takes place in Southern Chile around Christmastime, 1970, and depicts a young Chilean boy who lives in the South with his Aunt while his mother works in the United States. As a slew of interesting characters carol into their lives, Christmas approaches, and each character gets a present--whether they deserve it or not.

Reyes a native Chilean, is best known for his monologue play, Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown, which won two L.A. Ovation Awards conitnues to run off-Broadway. Reyes spent 1992-96 as literary manager at Los Angeles Bilingual Foundation for the Arts, where he adapted, translated and directed Chumbale. Chilean Holiday was developed at South Coast Rep and premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville in the 1996 Humana Festival. Reyes' The Seductions of Johnny Diego was included in Mark Taper Forum's 1997 New Plays Festival.

For information about the annual National Hispanic Playwrighting Contest, call (520) 884-8210 or (602) 256-6899.

--By Blair Glaser