Get What You Want: August 2018

1.
ALAP DIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: August 1st
Website: http://LAPlaywrights.org

ALAP is offering up to 10 Fellowships to young playwrights and playwrights of color: each Fellowship consists of a full year of membership in the organization and invitations to all ALAP events. The only "requirement" in return is that each new member attend at least two ALAP events, or participate in two ALAP programs, during the course of the Fellowship year.

If you’re a young playwright, or a playwright of color, who would be interested in such a Fellowship – or if you know someone you can recommend – please contact Co-Chair Dan Berkowitz by writing DanB@LAPlaywrights.org.


2.
EST MARATHON OF ONE-ACT PLAYS
Deadline: August 1st
Website: http://www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org/marathon-of-one-act-plays/

Inspired by the format in which Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill honed their craft, EST held its first Marathon in 1977. Praised by critics and beloved by audiences, it launched an industry-wide revival of the short play form and broke new ground by putting new and established writers together on one stage.

The Marathon is a biannual event, the next marathon will be in the Spring of our 2018-2019 season.

Submissions for the 2019 Marathon of One Act Plays will be accepted from June 1, 2018 through August 1, 2018.

Non-member playwrights may submit a single script, no longer than 30 minutes, which has not been reviewed in New York.

We prefer email submissions, which can be sent to literary@estnyc.org.

Please include your name and contact information in the body of your email but send the script without identifying information.


3.
SHAKESPEARE NEW CONTEMPORARY
Deadline: August 1st
Website: http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/index

Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries is a groundbreaking, industry-changing undertaking to discover, develop, and produce a new canon of 38 plays that are inspired by and in conversation with Shakespeare’s work. It’s an opportunity for playwrights of every gender, race, and creed to partner with Shakespeare. It will produce 38 plays over the next 20 years and award the writers of the selected plays $25,000 each.we are currently accepting script submissions for the next round of the project. We’re seeking potential partners for Henry IV, Part 2; Othello; Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Cymbeline. Applications are being accepted through August 1. Titles and details for the third round of applications will be announced in the coming months.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

DUE: AUGUST 1ST 2018

-The play must be written for a cast of 10-12 actors.
-The play must be able to be performed with minimal sets.
-The play must be able to be performed with universal (shared) lighting.
-The play must be able to be performed with any and all music and sound effects created in real time, unplugged, and by members of the acting troupe.
-The play must be 2(ish) hours long.
-The play must be inspired by or in conversation with Othello; Henry IV, Part 2; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; or Cymbeline.
-The play must have not yet had a professional production and preferably would remain unproduced through July 1, 2020.
-Remove your name and any contact information from the script.  Remove any agent or representation’s name and contact information from the script.
-Include a Character Breakdown at the start of the script.  The breakdown must include age and gender and may include any other information you’d like us to know. If your play contains more than 12 characters, please be sure to include information about actor doubling.
-Title the document with the title of your play.
-Save your script as a PDF or Word document.
-Optional: You may upload any supporting materials that may be related to the play; please be sure to name each file “[Title of Play]_Additional Content”
-Playwright bio.
-Play synopsis: please provide a brief overview of the plot of your play.
-How does your play engage with Shakespeare’s work?
Optional: Play History: If your play has had any development or production history, please briefly tell us about it.


4.
92Y MUSICAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT LAB
Deadline: August 1st
Website: https://www.92y.org/soa/dance/musical-theater-development-lab.aspx

The 92Y Musical Theatre Development Lab is pleased to announce the application process for artists to participate in the second season of "The Collective”: a group of theatre artists working on creating their own projects within a supportive and challenging environment of feedback and group attention.

Please note: this year, the collective will only be focusing on TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) pieces. If you do not possess prior experience writing, directing, choreographing for TYA, that will not exclude you. You must, however, possess a strong desire to create for this specific genre and be open to constructive feedback on your material.

Our collective is looking for playwrights, lyricists, composers, and artists who highly hyphenate any of these, or work solely in one discipline. You may apply as a writing “team”. Applications accepted on a rolling basis beginning July 1st, 2018. The deadline for applying is August 1st, 2018.

Potential Collective Members will be asked to informally interview at the 92Y and those selected will be announced on prior to September 15th, 2018.

The forum provides resources, mentorship, performance opportunities, and community support to the artistic process. Geared towards theatre artists, the lab is a 6-month residency comprised of presentations every 3 weeks, discussions, lectures and master classes, life-after classes, and informal performances.

Musical Theatre Development Lab (MTDL) is a program devised, developed by Megan Doyle and Brian Feinstein for the 92Y, and is the umbrella for intersectional opportunities for artists. The Collective supports up to 10-12 emerging hybrid artists for a 6-month residency of educational and creative events.

For more information please email Brian Feinstein: bfeinstein@92Y.org
Please apply online: https://form.jotform.com/71855360954161


5.
LIT COUNCILS’ INTENSIVE FOR MALE PLAYWRIGHTS OF COLOR
Deadline: August 3rd
website: http://thetanknyc.org/series/lit_council/

In partnership with The Tank, LIT Council is a development intensive for Male Playwrights of Color. During their time with the Council (September 2018 through April 2019), writers will hone a play guided by the Bechdel Test to ensure gender equity in storytelling. The program will culminate in a reading workshop of each participant’s play, hosted at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue). In order to further promote collaboration and communication between genders, each play will be attached to a female director of color, chosen from a group of professionals and mentors, who will be active presences throughout the process.

For each session, participants will receive feedback and mentorship from 3 professional Facilitators: Beto O’Byrne (playwright-in-residence at Stella Adler; 2050 Playwriting Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop), Jerome A. Parker (MacDowell and Dramatist Guild Fellow), and Akin Salawu (Inaugural Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater; two-time Tribeca All Access Winner) are all writers of color with working experience in the industry and theatrical credits in New York City and around the country. They created LIT Council with the Tank to have a professional setting where whiteness is de-centered and the “white gaze” isn’t a deterrent or the raison d’etre for a play’s birth, voice and steps in the world. Participants will be pushed to create works where female characters are given equal weight to their male counterparts and also supported to stretch their voice in writing for, and collaborating with, women.

LIT Council seeks daring applicants of color from all levels, and ALL who identify as male, to work on a play already in progress. The chosen participants will demonstrate great appetite and aptitude for crafting uncompromised stories, while understanding the pressing need to represent “other” voices, especially those of women, fully in their work. As this is a collective, the Council looks for artists not only with experience in taking the reign of their own creative process, but also with a desire to collaborate with the other participating artists in the room. The Tank is located in New York, so applicants need to be NYC-based in order to participate in weekend meetings, readings and other program-related events.

THE FACILITATORS

Beto O’Byrne hails from East Texas and is the co-founder of Radical Evolution, a multi-ethnic, multi-disciplinary producing collective based in Brooklyn, NY. The author of 20 plays, screenplays, and original TV pilots, his works have been produced in San Antonio, Austin, Los Angeles and New York City, where was the most recent playwright-in-residence at the Stella Adler School of Acting and a 2050 Playwriting Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop. In addition, O’Byrne is an advocate for the performing arts field, having worked with organizations such as Theatre Communications Group, La Cooperativa of Latinx Theatre Artists of NYC, and the Latinx Theatre Commons. MFA, Dramatic Writing: University of Southern California. www.betoobyrne.com

Jerome A. Parker is a MacDowell and Dramatist Guild Fellow from New York City. His work has been developed through readings and productions at the Public Theater, the Old Vic, the Cherry Lane, Classical Theatre of Harlem, the National Black Theater, BAAD!, Company of Angels, American Lyric Theater, NY Stage and Film, Freedom Train Productions, Celebration Theater, On the Boards, the Musical Theater Factory, New York Musical Festival, and the Los Angeles Theater Center amongst others.

Akin Salawu is a two-time Tribeca All Access Winner with a BA from Stanford and a Screenwriting MFA from Columbia. At Stanford, Akin founded ergo student theater troupe and was awarded the Sherifa Omade Ego Prize for mounting culturally diverse theater. Akin was a member of The Public Theater’s Inaugural Emerging Writers Group and wrote Chapter 5 in the book, “The Obama Movement.” Akin also wrote 2 short plays on Ferguson for Chicago's American Theater. Akin developed his first musical The Real Whisper in Ars Nova’s Uncharted residency which premiered in the 2017 Polyphone Festival at The University of the Arts.


6.
MACRO EPISODIC LAB
Deadline: August 6th
Website: https://episodiclab.staymacro.com/

MACRO and the Black List offer writers of color the opportunity to develop and produce an original digital or television pilot script. Our mission is to discover and empower episodic storytellers with the proper creative tools, resources, and access needed to help launch their careers.
In partnership with Emmy Award-winning writer Lena Waithe and Actress/Producer/Director Eva Longoria, MACRO aims to amplify fresh voices that are rooted in authenticity, creativity and excellence. Applications will be accepted from June 6 - August 6. Up to three (3) winners will receive development support and a pilot presentation or sizzle at a budget of up to $30,000 each.
We look forward to hearing from and supporting the next generation of game changers, rule breakers, and brilliant minds that exist at the intersection of craft and culture.


7.
KNOW THEATRE’S 2018 FESTIVAL
Deadline: August 8th
Website: https://knowtheatre.org/2016-playwrights-and-artists-festival/

When we look at a piece of art each person has a different interpretation of what they see. That is the beauty of art and the challenge to our playwrights. Each year we take three works of art and ask writers to write a play as they are moved or inspired by the artwork. We blind-read the submissions, select the best and produce them. The art is exhibited, we perform the play and ask the audience for feedback. It is our annual mixed media event that draws inquisitive art and theatre lovers to KNOW.

This festival is an important part of our season. It is about inspiration and interpretation. We challenge playwrights to look at our three chosen pieces of art and see where inspiration takes them and each of the journeys are unique. After blind reading the plays we whittle those 60+ submissions down to six plays, two for each artwork. And this year we are happy to bring back the element of music to the collaboration, coordinated by Strange Fangs Song Factory (www.strangefangs.com).

Then it is you, our audience, whose turn it is to come and be a part of the process. For a playwright there is nothing better than seeing their work fleshed out onstage. And in seeing it also receive feedback about their work. Each night of the weekend we choose one artwork, perform the two plays, and hear the music inspired by it. Afterwards there is a talkback that includes the playwright, the composer, the director and actors. We also like to include our artists if possible. This makes for an exciting night of theater.

The art is exhibited, we perform the play and ask the audience for feedback. It is our annual mixed media event that draws inquisitive art and theatre lovers to KNOW. New to this year’s festival we are offering three prizes. AWARDS: $300 for Best of Festival. $200 for Artistic Merit. $100 for Audience Favorite.

In order to view the paintings you should go to the website: https://knowtheatre.org/2016-playwrights-and-artists-festival/
Native Voices at the Autry
Deadline: August 10th
Website: https://theautry.org/events/signature-programs/native-voices/annual-call-scripts

Native Voices is currently accepting submissions of full-length plays (60+ pages) by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations playwrights addressing all themes and topics.

2019 Playwrights Retreat and 25th Festival of New Plays

The Retreat and Festival bring artists to Los Angeles to work on 3–5 plays through a rigorous directorial and dramaturgical commitment for 8–10 days in May/June. The retreat culminates in public presentations of the plays at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles and La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Selected playwrights receive directorial and dramaturgical support as well as an honorarium; out-of-town artists receive roundtrip airfare plus lodging in Southern California.

Selection Process: Full-length plays (60+ pages) received by August 10, 2018 will be read and evaluated. A select number of playwrights will be invited to submit formal proposals detailing their developmental goals should their play be chosen for the short list. Scripts will then be sent to a committee of nationally recognized theatre artists for further evaluation. With their help, Native Voices selects up to five plays for the Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays. Playwrights will be notified in December 2018.

2019 Submission for Production Consideration

Do you have a full-length script that has been developed and produced that you’d like us to consider for a future Native Voices production in Los Angeles? Please follow the Checklist for All Submissions below and in the Native Voices Script Submission form check the box for 2019 General Submission for Production Consideration.

A Note About the Native Voices Distance Dramaturgy Process

Months prior to residencies at the Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays, selected playwrights participate in dramaturgical conversations with an assigned director and dramaturg. Workshops with these creative teams and a cast of professional actors commence once the playwright arrives on-site. It is important to note that these conversations and workshops are playwright driven, allowing the writer to shape his/her own developmental path. Selected playwrights should be prepared to dedicate adequate time to this process prior to arriving on-site.

Checklist for All Submissions

Please label script attachment as follows: PlayTitle_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: MyNewPlay_Doe, J.doc).

All submissions must conform to a standard play-script format (one-inch margins, #12 Times or Courier font, all pages numbered).

Include a title page with full contact information (mailing address, phone numbers, e-mail address) and a draft or revision date.

Include a character breakdown at the beginning of your script.

Provide a biography of 75–100 words. Please label attachment as follows: Bio_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: Bio_Doe, J.doc).

Provide a press ready photo of at least 300dpi.  Please label attachment as follows: Photo_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: Photo_Doe, J.doc).

Provide development history for the play. Label attachment as follows: DevHistory_PlayTitle_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: DevHistory_MyNewPlay_Doe, J.doc).

To submit, fill out our online form and upload your submission materials here: Native Voices Script Submission Form

Please do not send treatments or outlines. Previously submitted plays should only be resubmitted if the play has undergone significant dramatic changes. Previously produced plays should be submitted under the 2019 General Submission for Production Consideration. Plays that are not selected are kept on file for consideration for future opportunities. Playwrights are encouraged to make multiple submissions (up to three per event), but selection will be limited to only one play per playwright, per event.

To submit go to: http://form.jotform.co/form/33177331513852


8.
LORRAINE HANSBERRY PRIZE
Deadline: August 11th
Website: http://www.lhtsf.org/playwrights-competition

The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT) is seeking submissions for its Playwrights Competition July 9th through Friday, August 10, 2018. Plays must address a social issue(s) in a comedic way and have a hopeful ending. The script must have at least two African American women characters, one of whom is at least 40 years old. The script must have at least one scene where two females have a conversation that is not primarily about men. Three semi-finalists will be selected by a panel of theater arts professionals to include LHT’s Interim Artistic Director, Aldo Billingslea. Judging will take place in August 2018. Three semi-finalists will be announced in early September 2018. Three semi-finalists will receive a public staged reading during a weekend festival October 12-14, 2018. The winning finalist will receive $7,500 and a workshop to further develop the script to be considered for a full production in 2019.

For a detailed list of guidelines, go online to http://www.lhtsf.org/playwrights-competition


9.
YALE DRAMA SERIES
Deadline: August 15th
Website: http://dchornfoundation.org/competition-rules

The Yale Drama Series is seeking submissions for its 2019 playwriting competition. The winning play will be selected by the series' current judge, Ayad Akhtar. The winner of this annual competition will be awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of his/her manuscript by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater. The prize and publication are contingent on the playwright's agreeing to the terms of the publishing agreement.

There is no entry fee. Please follow these guidelines in preparing your manuscript:

1. This contest is restricted to plays written in the English language. Worldwide submissions are accepted.

2. Submissions must be original, unpublished full-length plays written in English. Translations, musicals, adaptations, and children's plays are not accepted. The Yale Drama Series is intended to support emerging playwrights. Playwrights may win the competition only once.

3. Playwrights may submit only one manuscript per year.

4. Plays that have been professionally produced or published are not eligible. Plays that have had a workshop, reading, or non-professional production or that have been published as an actor’s edition will be considered.

5. Plays may not be under option, commissioned, or scheduled for professional production or publication at the time of submission.

6. Plays must be typed/word-processed, page-numbered, and in professional play format.

7. The Yale Drama Series reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.

8. The Yale Drama Series reserves the right of the judge to not choose a winner for any given year of the competition and reserves the right to determine the ineligibility of a winner, in keeping with the spirit of the competition, and based upon the accomplishments of the author.

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS:

The Yale Drama Series Competition strongly urges electronic submission. By electronically submitting your script, you will receive immediate confirmation of your successful submission and the ability to check the status of your entry.

Electronic submissions for the 2019 competition must be submitted no earlier than June 1, 2018 and no later than August 15, 2018. The submission window closes at midnight EST.

If you are submitting your play electronically, please omit your name and contact information from your manuscript. The manuscript must begin with a title page that shows the play's title, a 2-3 sentence keynote description of the play, a list of characters, and a list of acts and scenes. Please enter the title of your play, your name and contact information (including address, phone number, and email address), and a brief biography where indicated in the electronic submission form.

If you would like to submit an electronic copy of your manuscript please go to: https://yup.submittable.com/submit.


10.
LOTUS LEE FOUNDATION TRAVEL GRANT
Deadline: August 27th
Website: https://www.lotus-lee.foundation/lotus-lee-travel-fellowship/

Through the Travel Fellowship, Lotus Lee Foundation hopes to stimulate an in-depth discussion on the future development of the theater and performing arts industry. The fellowship will provide its recipients an opportunity to explore the theater industry in Shanghai, China; to broaden their experience and knowledge on the cultural exchange; to deepen their insights on the future of international performing arts field. Learn more at https://www.lotus-lee.foundation/lotus-lee-travel-fellowship/

Reward:
Lotus Lee Foundation will pay for the one-week trip to Shanghai China, including
round-trip flight tickets (worth $1500)
-7 days hotel stay (worth $500)
-$200 cash reimbursement for show tickets and/or related research expense (recipes required)
-Studio visit to Lotus Lee Drama Studio
-1 year free membership on Cennarium.com (worth $100)
-Invitation to the award ceremony
-US and China media exposure


11.
BLACK BOX NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
Deadline: August 31st
Website: http://galleryplayers.com/play-submissions/

The Gallery Players in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, is seeking plays for its 22nd Annual Black Box New Play Festival to be held in January 2019. Each play selected will be given a black box production at Gallery Players and will be performed in a festival format with non-Equity actors.

DETAILS
Plays must be un-produced (i.e., plays must never have had a previous production) – readings are ok; must be the play’s world premiere

The length may be from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. No monologues. No period costume pieces.

You may submit as many plays as you wish

Pages must be numbered

A cover page with the title of the play and playwright’s contact information is required, along with a plot synopsis of the play and a character breakdown

Submit a copy of your resume

Playwrights may not direct their own work

Send TWO copies of your play(s), along with your resume, to:

The Gallery Players
Black Box New Play Festival
199 14th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215

We will only contact you if your play has been accepted into the Festival. If you want confirmation that your mailing was received by us, please include a self-addressed stamped return postcard.


12.
PIPEDREAM PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: Piping Hot New Works–In the Dark
Deadline: August 31st
Website: https://denverpipedream.com/

We are looking for short play submissions (10-15 minutes MAX).

Easy enough? Well, there's a catch. The audience will be blindfolded; therefore, your play will be read to an audience in total darkness. If your play does not take this into consideration, we will not accept your submission. Get creative, get wacky, and show us what you've got!

Guidelines
-Please provide the following contact information in the body of your email: full name, address, and email.
-The plays themselves should not contain any contact information. Any contact info should be in the body of the email—do not put your name on the script itself. Your script will not be considered if it contains your contact information.
-The subject line for your submission should read as follows: PHNW Dark Submission
-Preference will be given to scripts with fewer than five characters. All plays must be unpublished.
-The deadline for submissions is August 31 at 11:59pm MST. We will cut off submissions once we've reached 200, so the sooner the better. Late submissions will not be accepted.
-Please send scripts in PDF format to: pipedreamsubmissions@gmail.com
-All playwrights will receive two complimentary tickets to a performance of their choosing.
-You will receive an email by September 15th letting you know whether or not your script has been chosen.

**We are also always open to general submissions. If you think you have a piece that's perfect for us, please feel free to email it. Be sure to make the subject "General Submission" to ensure it doesn't get buried.**


13.
BLUE INK SUBMISSIONS (American Blues Theatre)
Deadline: August 31st
Website: https://americanblues.wufoo.com/forms/blue-ink-playwriting-contest/

Submissions will be accepted July 1, 2018 through August 31, 2018 @ 11:59pm. The winning play will be selected by Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the Ensemble. The playwright receives a monetary prize of $1,000 and a developmental workshop or staged reading at American Blues Theater in Chicago. Cash prizes are awarded for finalists, and semi-finalists too.

There is a $5 administrative fee. All proceeds of the fee are distributed for playwrights’ cash prizes.


14.
360 INCUBATOR
Deadline: August 31st
Website: https://blackpublicmedia.org/360-incubator-fund/

Black Public Media, the nation’s only nonprofit dedicated solely to media content about the black experience, has announced an open call for round three of its incubator and fund. Applications are available for 360 Incubator+, a competition that will see producing teams vie for up to $150,000 in funding for their pilot or program. The aim is to fill the need for quality works about important subjects facing the black community by working to get them into the pipeline and to market. The application deadline is August 31, 2018 at 11:59 p.m.

The Harlem-based national media arts organization, one of the members of the National Minority Consortia of public television, has been funding, developing, producing and distributing stories about the Black experience since its founding in 1979.

The 360 Incubator+ is a competition for development funds. Participants get tailored training and mentorship in proposal development, script writing, fundraising, distribution options, outreach, and more and work to complete a pilot or funding reel, a full project proposal and a robust fundraising strategy. Producers with projects currently in the preproduction phase—on areas in BPM’s current content priorities of health in black communities, environment, mass incarceration, LGBTQ issues and immigration—can compete in the current round.

The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. Those selected to participate as fellows will be announced on Friday, November 30, 2018. To apply and for additional rules and guidelines, visit https://blackpublicmedia.org/360-incubator-fund.

Those 360 Incubator+ Fellows chosen to participate in the program will need to be available for the boot camp and incubator from January 11, 2019, through January 25, 2019, in New York (with travel elsewhere during that period). Producers will then return to their home cities and work for nine weeks under mentorship to prepare for the Pitch Black pitching session, which takes place on Thursday, April 4. Winners will be announced at an awards reception on Friday, April 5.


15.
LIVING ROOM THEATRE: CULTURAL IDENTITIES
Deadline: September 7th
Website: http://www.marcusyi.com/new-play-incubator.html

Living Room Theater is seeking playwrights to develop plays on the theme “Cultural Identity” for its New Play Incubator. In the course of 3 weeks, the playwrights individually will create a 10 minute play related to cultural identity. Each group will culminate in a staged reading for the public. Actors and director will be provided for the reading. Playwrights must be able to attend all meetings. All meetings/rehearsals/readings will be held in Manhattan. Non-New York based playwrights may apply but must be able to travel to the meetings/reading. No travel stipend is provided.
DETAILS
Dates
9/23/18 from 1-4pm
9/30/19 from 1-4pm
10/7/18 from 1-4pm
Staged reading date: 10/25/18 from 6-10pm

Submission Guidelines
There is no fee to submit or to participate. Please submit a resume, a 10 minute play, and a short paragraph in the email why you would be interested in writing about the theme “Cultural Identity” to lvtnewplays@gmail.com Only selected finalists will be asked to interview the week of 09/10/18. Submission deadline is September 7, 2018.


16.
BSC'S "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AMERICAN DREAM?"
Deadline: September 1st
Website: https://bismarckstate.edu/community/humanities/theaterevents/

Bismarck State College Theatre, in collaboration with the Humanities North Dakota, as part of the HumanitiesND year-long “GameChanger Ideas Festival” is pleased to announce a call for brand new ten-minute plays exploring the question: What happened to the American dream?

Theatre has had a long history of examining the American dream: whether through Arthur Miller’s cutting critique in Death of a Salesman, August Wilson’s poetic and revelatory Pittsburgh Cycle, the modernist anxiety of Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal, Suzan-Lori Park’s “Rep and Rev” of The America Play, or Lin-Manuel Miranda’s re-envisioning of the Founding Fathers as played by actors of color in Hamilton, the theatre has always been a forum for exploring the possibilities, anxieties, limitations, and opportunities afforded to people pursuing the American dream.

“Man cannot live without hope. If it is not engendered by his own convictions and desires, it can easily be fired from without, and by the most meretricious and empty of promises.” Eleanor Roosevelt, April 1961, The Atlantic, “What Has Happened to the American Dream?”

Americans find themselves at a crossroads politically, socially, economically. Simultaneously more connected than ever before, and more estranged and dispossessed. In an era of fake news, of foreign governments attacking our social media outlets, what are our convictions and desires? What feelings do those convictions and desires engender, if not hope? Are we living without hope? Are we being fired upon by meretricious and empty promises?

The American Dream means many different things to many different people. Is the American Dream the spread of democracy across the world? Is it the Jeffersonian concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Is it the promise of upward economic and social mobility?

BSC Theatre seeks brand new ten-minute plays that engage with the question of the American Dream, construed broadly. Plays may be written in any style, set in any time, and may use as many or as few characters as the author wishes.

BSC Theatre seeks only brand new, never before produced plays, outside of readings, workshops, and/or festivals. Plays should be no more than ten pages long (exclusive of cover page/dramatis personae), following traditional playwriting format. Plays will be entered into consideration for production during BSC Theatre’s annual Short Play Festival in May 2019. If selected for performance, authors agree to provide BSC with performance rights for the duration of the Short Play Festival.

Selection of scripts for performance will be at the discretion of a coalition of academics, theatre artists, and representatives from HumanitiesND.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Danny Devlin, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Bismarck State College at Daniel.devlin@bismarckstate.edu or 701-224-5530


17.
Cullman Fellowship
Deadline: September 29th
Website: https://nypl.onlineapplicationportal.com/misc/guidelines/default.aspx

The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers supports projects that draw on the research collections at The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library). The Center looks for top-quality writing from academics as well as from creative writers and independent scholars. It aims to promote dynamic conversation about the humanities, social sciences, and scholarship at the highest level — within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows’ published work.

Candidates who need to work primarily in The New York Public Library’s other research centers — The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Science, Industry and Business Library — are not eligible for this fellowship.

In order to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest, the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers does not accept applications from New York Public Library staff members or their partners, or from people active on the Library’s Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees, or Library Council.

Please visit www.nypl.org/research-collections for detailed information about the collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

Fellows are required to work at the Cullman Center for the duration of the fellowship term and may not accept other major professional obligations during the term. Some fellows may have a few prior commitments, but must limit research trips, attendance at scholarly meetings, and speaking engagements to short periods of time. Anyone who needs to be away for more than two days must notify the Center's Director or Deputy Director. The Library will pro-rate fellowship stipends for fellows who spend too much time away from the Center.

Fellowships will not be granted to post-doctoral fellows or to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research.

Notification: March 2018
Award Period: September 4, 2018 - May 31, 2019
Stipend: $70,000