The answer is not . . . One play is a pretty slim return for the year you will have invested in this competition, let alone the money. And that's why the best result you should wish for is finding a playwright instead of a play. In today's theatre, the most interesting playwrights develop out of a long-term relationship with a theatre that not only likes their work, but produces it. For this symbiotic relationship to flourish, the size of your theatre is only modestly important.
Commitment matters more than bulk.
Their major work grows out of those first ventures into the art and craft. Playwrights tend to be loyal beasts. Like sea turtles and salmon, treat them with modest consideration and they'll nearly always come back to where their professional careers began. And the odds are good that if you allow them to grow with your theatre, they'll return the favor if their work strikes a national chord. So here's the ultimate question your readers should have constantly dangling over those piles of scripts .