In the press release announcing winners, Reddick commented, "...I began writing Cold War Choir Practice in graduate school in the fall of 2022. Months earlier, Putin had invaded Ukraine, headlines were popping up asking if we were in a new Cold War, and childhood memories of my time in a chorus dedicated to world peace came flooding back. Writing this play became an attempt to capture a very particular kind of coming of age: the moment when you learn the world is not a safe place for you. It’s a realization you make once and then spend the rest of your life unpacking. This play is part of that unpacking.”