Walking Shadow

You walk down the street drinking

your $7 cold press juice

on your way to make art.

Planning out the time to let

verses unfold like interlacing sidewalks.

You walk against the tide of frail and elderly:

a faceless other, a brown body in foreign lands.

Reaching the corner there is a trash can

with two gravid women waiting for the light. 

You toss the empty cup of juice.

It does not clang or bang against the can.

The cup makes the usual soft cut of styrofoam

against plastic bag lining. 

One of the women jumps and screams.

Startle reflex makes her snatch her bag

closer to her chest as a shield.

Her companion looks confused about

the momentary commotion,

until you see her come into awakening

about the brown body moving down the street.

The startled woman quickly looks away

as the friend continues to piece together 

the scene they will pretend never happened.

You continue toward your destination,

sure to avoid eye contact

and hoping not to startle old white ladies,

you walk slower and softer until

you are at a standstill.

Until you are a statue.

This is your art for the day:

to exist against their screams,

their startles and clutched purses.

When you arrive in poetry class,

the teacher asks you to read something

and you recite a page about Baltimore

and what it means to be seen as animals

huns, mongrels, assassins, Zulus.

Afterward there is a vacuum that's filled by

a stuttering student: he is nervous that 

the conversation might become political.

That would make him uncomfortable.

You watch as his words tumble

out of his twisted mouth. 

The room recoils back into the mute.

The teacher waits for any other opinion

but the room is voting with their silence:

they want to move on.

The poem read after your's is funny and light

it settles into the void nicely.

The students laugh and breathe again. 

You smile and fold up your paper. ​

In Case We Ever Try to Normalize 2020...

 In case we ever try to normalize this...

I  was walking through the CVS and half the supplies are locked up behind plastic barriers. When I get home and open up a purchase, I find that someone has swiped a huge glob from the pain cream. I ask the store manager what's happening and he says ppl are poor and stealing. That's why half the products are locked away. Ppl run in to steal an aspirin or a vitamin.

In case we ever try to normalize this...

there's a long delay on getting my father's death certificate. The county is so backlogged with death and misery that they can't process the paperwork fast enough. The mismanaged plague has overwhelmed the death bureaucracy.

In case we ever try to normalize this...

More Americans were killed in 9 months at home than in all of WW 2. More Americans were killed b/c of a lie than in almost all the wars combined. 400,000 is a severe undercount. 

In case we ever try to normalize this...

The food bank lines wrapped around the block and extended for half a mile...in April 2020. 10 months later and the line extends twice as far...as is guarded by police cops to stop fights from breaking out.  

In case we ever try to normalize this...

If we acted responsibly the death toll was predicted to have been around 77,000. Half a million people have died. 400,000 ppl would still be here if we cared. 

Funeral Wreath

I thought I heard my mom talking outside this morning

but it was two birds at the front door.

Perched on porch banister.

Eyeing my father’s funeral wreath. 

Maybe they wanted to nest in the fake flowers 

or pay homage.

Equalizing

Many running thoughts this morning. I'm taking a Buddhist course right now and for the past 3 months online. We were talking about equanimity and death. The depth and simplicity of equanimity hit deep inside yesterday. I remember when my grandmother was in the hospital and I sat in the waiting room. Maybe 2011, 2012?

Hospital Waiting room....An older woman and daughter listened to a doctor explain the medical situation of a loved one. The patient was in a deep coma from a stroke. The older woman was the ex-wife of the patient. Gleaning the pieces of their story together from the conversation...the patient left her in a mid-life crisis moment. The patient dumped her, the daughter, all the accumulated ties. He ran off with his secretary (yes, very cliche). He bought a sports car and started lifting weights. And then he had a massive stroke and was trapped in his body. The secretary left him, the sports car was parked at home. All the gym buddies and supplements and new clothes that went along with the mid life crisis were gone. He lived at the "Peak of Existence" and now he was a prisoner in hell...in the blink of an eye, the sudden loosening of a blood clot, Now the muscle-clad man was trapped in a garbage bag of human filth and tubes. 

When he needed help, the ex-wife was called. The one he hurt, the one he betrayed, the one he threw away. The ex-wife and daughter were there. They stood there accepting the call, talking with the doctor, retelling the story of betrayal. And now they were deciding on his fate...and there was not a HINT of animosity. There was not a trace of anger (or they hid it very well). This was a sudden emergency and it was like they were a family again. 

It would be logical in a worldly way to think 'fuck that guy. Leave. Call the secretary and let her decide...let the sports car decide...let all his gym friends and his club friends decide.' They stood there and it became very clear that they were still...a family. There was something so viscerally potent in just their presence. It was like the mother and daughter standing there deciding to be bigger than the past, bigger than they way they might have felt. 

 Over a decade later I have forgotten a lot of things but this story remains. Even in recalling it, I can see the mixture of emotions flashing across the wife and daughter's face...like a slot machine with different feelings whirling past the screen before settling on...love? Equanimity? 

Death is an equalizer. Birth is an equalizer. Sickness is an equalizer. Dying is an equalizer. 

And yet we spend most of the time between death, birth, sickness, dying, and pain thinking about our differences. The rare few moments when we're not plagued by obvious dullness or pain or anxiety or neurosis or just common everyday worry is spent distancing myself from everyone who will experience these things in the same way. 

Equanimity

 Here and now

despite all our differences

we ended up on the same page.

Right here in the present. 

And before this,

 we all started from the same place

poor, rich, royalty, celebrity didn't impact.

And after this we all end up in the same place.

politics, philosophy, persuasion, perspective

Isn't it funny that we always end up in here. 

Now.

Dad Story on Religion

 I went to my first Buddhist teaching in fall of 2005. Rebecca invited me and the subject matter was on the life of Je Tsongkapa. I had never heard of this person but monk Geshe Michael Roach was writing a giant beautiful book about the famed Tibetan lineage founder and decided to teach a class. And there were snacks...so yay! While listening to the explanation of either the 3 Jewels or the greater way, I was sitting next to a woman who I will call "Karen." Karen was rolling her eyes and sighing. At the break, Karen struck up a conversation with me about why I was here? I was just checking it out. Karen said she had been checking out these events for 10 yrs but was still deciding what she should do...and then she looked at me in a weird way. You know when you get spooked sometimes and you can't explain it? Well that's what happened. I immediately felt a deep chill and something inside me said 'lady, you've been checking this out for 10 yrs?!? You're going to die.' I could feel the presence of death...which is unusual for someone in their mid 20s who doesn't think about mortality or fate or spirituality. 

A month later I went home for the holidays. My dad took me to a pizza shop. He asked me what I was going to do with my life? I was thinking of an answer and I looked down at his hands and I noticed...his fingertips were black. Charcoal black. Lack of circulation...bad insulin...who can say? But I had never seen that before. Black fingertips were tapping the table. And I felt that deep chill again. Death is here. At the pizza parlor. I blurted out 'I think I'm going to become a buddhist.' I had never said that before and it was meant half-jokingly b/c my dad was a staunch atheist. I wanted to get a rise out of him. Instead he laughed. 'Good idea.' He told me to go to his office. Our food came. 

Now that I had said something aloud...how would you even go about becoming a Buddhist? Well from the Je Tsongkapa class, I remember the advice that a student should check out all other possible religions and use these there parameters to judge: a) authentic sources b) strong ultimate goals c) realistic and applicable steps to achieve the goals d) and examples of ppl who have achieved the goals, preferably in your era. Lord Buddha stories are nice but that's 2500 years ago. Is anyone actually achieving 'the thing' now? I went to my Dad's office where he kept most of his business papers and files and there were all these books about the major religions. This is the office of an atheist?!? Well, there you go. So during the holidays I committed to speed reading through every religion and then the main denominations of Christianity. 

Financial News Newspaper called to offer me a reporter job!!  Full time. Before the holidays I went in for an interview and didn't take it seriously so I was real loose, cracking jokes, making observations. I didn't know how to respond to the job offer. 'Wow this is great...can I have some time to think about it?' The editor was taken aback but agreed. I stayed in Miami past the New Year, reading philosophy books in my dad's office and the Financial News called again to check in with me. I needed the money, but also something else was pulling me to stay. I delayed an answer. Dad's fingers were still black and there were these questions. Another week and the same thing...black fingers, rent is due, all these questions. 

Finally I had to go back to NYC to temp so I could pay my rent. I was working a graveyard shift as a law firm temp. Double overtime pay plus quiet time to read: YES!! I got off work at around 9AM. I wept while finishing the last page of Thorton Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" on an empty morning train heading against the flow of rush hour traffic. When I got back to Brooklyn one of Dad's students called to express his condolences? Condolences over what? I didn't know what she was talking about. I called home and discovered that he had a stroke...his first in a series of devastating strokes. 

Financial News called to hint that they had to move on to another candidate. Fine. Who cares!?? Bye!  I paid my rent for the next month and hopped on a plane to Miami a few days alter. This was the early part of 2006. Dad couldn't breathe and had trouble walking a few steps. There was that chill again. I didn't know what to do so I remembered one meditation from the Je Tsongkapa class: an analytical meditation to figure out a problem where you trace all your steps back to when something started. I sat on my bed, weeping, and trying to meditate on answering the problem of Dad's lack of breath. My mind was raging but a word popped in about blood. He had a blood condition...what was it? Jumping off the cushion I ran to him and asked 'what's that blood disease you have?' He waved me to his pill bottles so I grabbed all of them and rushed to the computer. I was trying to find the blood disease and finally I came across an online listing of a medication in which he had ALL the side effects. If you have all the side effects of a drug that's a misdiagnosis which means you probably don't have this disease or not in the way originally thought. I dragged Dad to a hospital and told the ER doctor my hypothesis: the medication was poisoning him. Well, you know how much doctors LOVE being told a diagnosis from a civilian! He scoffed. Another doctor came and saw him and I repeated the assertion: it's the medication. Scoff. Finally another attendant couldn't figure out what was wrong with him so they did some tests and decided...'we're going to take you off this medication.'

Dad's condition improved after he stopped taking the medication.  My sister -who is an actual doctor- asked me how I deduced it was the medicine. I was about to tell her about Je Tsongkapa and Karen and Buddhism and researching religions and meditations...and I just stopped. Like my Dad, my sister is a devout atheist. Any talk of religion sets her OFF! I just told her that I thought through the problem.

In Memoriam for Stanley Dale Squire

On Tuesday evening, January 19, 2021, my father, my light, my hero passed away. Stanley Dale Squire. When people said he should give up, he continued to fight and give and laugh. Dad's kindness extended to countless friends and family. He helped them and they helped him. His students called him 'Dad' and they showed their appreciation by continuing to visit and encourage him later on in life. Dad loved reading, writing, listening to Bob Marley and driving while a book- on-tape played. As a child I sat through many long car rides listening to "The Great Gatsby" or Saul Bellow's "Herzog" or "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" as Dad chewed on a mint toothpick. He taught me so much. We will always love him and miss him.  Thank you, Dad. Thank you for the light. 

My father taught me and my sister to always pursue the truth, take time to think for ourselves, and to go our own way. He learned this lesson himself at a young age. My grandfather was a foreman at a kosher food factory in Miami. That's why my father grew up eating matzo ball soup, challah, kugel, potato latkes, corned beef, rugelach, and the whole thing. That's what my grandfather would bring home  and that's why I grew up eating the all of that. Anyway, my grandfather got my dad a summer job at the kosher factory and he quickly ran into trouble with the owners. The problem was during lunch...he would read. And not a newspaper. He would read a book! Novels, biographies, science book. Apparently if you're a factory worker who reads you are highly suspicious. Maybe you'll try to organize a union...maybe you'll start a revolution. The owners repeatedly asked why he wasn't joking and horsing around during lunch...didn't he want to join in on the fun? My Dad told me that was the first time he realized 'the threat' of education. It worried people. To some ppl, a black person with a book was like a black person with a gun. Troublemaker and up to no good. 

Well I didn't believe my Dad. Besides, if it was true that was in the past. People aren't like that any more. My Dad shrugged his shoulders like 'okay, you'll see.'  I decided to test it out. One day, at a summer job (and in mixed company) I just brought in a book and started reading during my break. A white manager came up to me and asked if I was all right? Yes. I smiled and went back to my book. Then he followed up...what are you reading? I told him. It wasn't a romance novel or James Bond (which I loved to read btw). It happened to be actual piece of literature with IDEAS!! AAAHHH ideas!! The manager continued to eye me suspiciously for the rest of the day. He frowned, furrowed his brow. This went on for a few days and then I switched it up. I didn't bring a book in one day and I joined in the horseplay. There was a sigh of relief. I wasn't a troublemaker any more. 

I went back to dad. " Okay. You were right.' The book test...similar to the old days when a woman would try to read in public and get interrupted by men. If your employer is not comfortable with you reading, they're not comfortable with you thinking. If they're not comfortable with you thinking...they don't want you to grow. If they have a problem with you being contemplative, complex, serious, introspective...quit that job. You do not need to be around ppl like that...white or black.

On the evening of his passing we turned off the tv. I put on some Bob Marley and Ray Charles music on my iPad and we stood around my Dad's bed. It was me and my mom. We held his hand and head. Grateful to be at home in his own bed, we did to not have to listen to beeping monitors and ppl rushing around. When I was a kid I didn't understand what a luxury it was to pass away at home. My grandfathers on both sides of my family transitioned in their sleep when I was very young so as a child I just thought that was the way most ppl left this reality. I soon found out they were the exception to the rule. As I grew up I started seeing death as this cold, antiseptic, industrial fluorescent light series of tests where people poked and prodded you with tubes and needles until the body just gave out. 

2016 Inauguration Eve

 2016 Inauguration Eve: we were let out of work early b/c no one had any energy to think about story ideas. I came home and immediately fell asleep.I wanted to sleep for the next 4 years but I ended up waking at around 8pm. I knew I needed to workout before the gym closed. I needed to exhaust myself into slumber. Otherwise, I would be up all night. So I crammed some greasy fast food in my mouth and proceeded to have the worst workout of my life. Yes, it was self-destructive of me to sabotage my workout by eating fast food but...fuck it. I was living the last scenes of SIDEWAYS where Paul Giamatti is chugging rare wine out of a big Gulp cup. My entire mood was 'fuck it.' Weighed down by depression and grease I trudged through a few hours at the gym in the hopes that I would be so tired that I could pass out for a few hours. 

On the gym tv screens, white moderates on CNN were trying to rationalize doom: maybe Trump wouldn't be that bad. He would 'grow into the presidency.' I laughed so hard that I coughed up a french fry...and then I re-ate the greasy regurgitated string. Grow into the presidency? A 70-yr-old rapist and con artist who cheated cancer kids out of money, who ripped off veterans with Trump University, who has been sued thousands of times, who is a notorious pathological liar was going to be given an unGodly amount of power...and THEN he was going to grow up?!? That was the logic of white moderates: give the devil what he wants and maybe he'll become an angel. FUCK IT. 

I went home and got maybe 2 or 3 hrs of sleep. I woke up the day of Inauguration...still in the 'fuck it' phase. I went to the bakery for morning cupcakes. Not muffins. Cupcakes!! For some reason I wanted to obliterate myself with cupcakes and -for some divine reason- this bakery didn't make cupcakes. I was like 'what do you mean you don't make cupcakes. I'm trying to kill myself with cupcakes.' The baker said I could buy an entire cake and eat it. I considered it b/c 'fuck it.' But then I thought that might be a bit too much, even for me. Solo cake eating is a commitment. It's death by one flavor and I wanted to spread my poison across a palette of different sweets. I walked out with 2 brick-hard, flat, ugly chocolate cookies and ate them in the streets of WeHo. I ate up all the ugliness and hardness. I brushed the sticky crumbs off my shirt and wondered if I should throw up? That might kill a few hours. I made a list of things I could do that day.

Possible 2016 Inauguration plans: 

-throw up

-nap

I went back home and laid in bed staring at the ceiling. A friend called. She said I should take my mind off the Inauguration and go somewhere where there's no tv. How about a Korean sauna? I had never been to a Korean sauna. In fact, I had never been to a sauna or spa in my life. Sure, why not? Fuck it. I drove to K-town and selected one spa at random. The morning crowd was old Korean women. I selected an expensive massage and had an old man beat the shit out of me for an hour, scrub the grease off my skin, and dump scalding hot buckets of water on my private parts. Yes...this is perfect vibe for this day. I wandered up to the cafeteria level but the food area was still closed. Korean soap operas were on the tv screen and old women slept next to giant wooden logs in the lobby. I moseyed over to the different hot rooms. There was scalding hot clay oven room, the scorching salt room, a tepid room covered in gold and finally an Arctic freezer room. I hopped between the different realms of hell. No one interrupted me. I did this for maybe an hour...maybe longer. I lost track of time. 

The cafeteria opened. I ate rice cakes and kimchi from a paper plate while watching Korean soap operas. I tried to guess what people were crying about. I started to feel better. I came home and slept. The next day I was ready to get back into the fight...in whatever capacity I could. I gave myself 48 hours to lick my wounds and feel sorry for myself. Now it was time to get back into the fray. 

We Crave Empathy Entertainment

We crave empathy. That's why the most satisfying superhero movies have great villains, and the best villains drop knowledge that we know is true about how messed up the world is for the disenfranchised. They're not only speaking our thoughts but they're getting us to sympathize with someone that society (aka the storyteller) has labeled as 'the bad guy.' But deep down inside we know that every bad guy -fictional or reality- has a story. And deep down inside we want to hear it, understand it, relate to it, b/c we know that beneath all the horror is humanity. 

Our emotional need for empathy entertainment is why one-dimensional villains are such a letdown. We feel like the storyteller didn't do their part in telling the whole story. And we want the WHOLE story.*

*THE HITLER EXCEPTION: there are exceptions. If someone is based off a true person who cause unfathomable destruction, then we don't necessarily want the storyteller to delve into some flashback Freudian BS about how 'they just needed a hug.' Before anyone says 'so are you saying we should have a biopic focusing on Hitler's troubled childhood? No! But even in the iconic "Hitler in the Bunker" movie DOWNFALL we see a screaming maniac at the end of his sanity who has caused so much harm, and the storytellers add in these touches of humanity without excusing his crimes. When the actor is screaming in the bunker you feel his impotence, how ridiculous, cruel, and monstrous he is...and then his hands start shaking. The actor, of course, made that choice. It was a moment. The director cuts to outside the office in the middle of Hitler's screaming and you see the faces in the bunker...and they're trapped. Bombs are falling outside and their leader is losing their minds. They know they're going to die and die a miserable death in which they will be hated for all of time. And in the faces of the women...it suddenly hits them: the terror of a nation's complete downfall into madness and genocide. 

I don't want to see a movie about these alt-right coup leaders and their alcoholic dads, how they were picked on in school, and never kissed a girl. But I do want to see that moment when the full horror of their error becomes clear to them. When they understand how far they have carried this lie and how their names will go down in history. It's a human moment that doesn't excuse their crimes, but shows a character realizing 'oh my god, what have I done?'  

I have had those terrifying moments when I discovered a lie within my own life, trusted the wrong person, or bought into a belief system that was complete bullshit and thought 'oh my god...oh my god!! I fucked up.'  Showing these moments are necessary so that future generations can know the road to perdition. When the epiphany of fatal sin hits you and realize that one decisive action has destroyed your name, your family's name, any good you have done in the world, the nation you claimed to love, and the family you were trying to save. Audience will nod and see themselves in that moment...and maybe they'll remember that when someone tries to warp their mind with lies and hatred.

2020 Work

 3 tv episodes (one cancelled due to pandemic, 2 being shot right now)

1 musical (postponed in previews due to pandemic)

1 musical drama (workshop moved to zoom and production moved back)

1 movie (sold on zoom pitch)

4 short plays (#WhileWeBreathe, Miami New Drama's 7 Deadly Sins series, New Dramatists Audio plays, La Jolla Playhouse audio musical series)

2 pilots (one tweaked and one written from scratch)

Mahamudra: Six Flavors

 

Six Wrong Views and Their Antidotes

1. Wrong view: Things stay the same for a while.
Antidote: Things are constantly changing every second.
2. Wrong view: I own this; I control its fate.
Antidote: Absolutely nothing in the present moment is in my control.
3. Wrong view: I am at the mercy of things randomly happening to me.
Antidote: One past deed caused both the object, and myself who perceives it at that moment.
4. Wrong view: Things are exactly how I see them, and no other way.
Antidote: I am imposing judgments on things; they could be different.
5. Wrong view: Things are coming from their own side completely.
Antidote: Things come half from their own side, and half from my
perceptions.
6. Wrong view: There is some part of the object that comes from its own side.
Antidote: It is all only my projection.

Random Midnight Thoughts

Rich ugly. 

- I never got ripped jeans. I didn't get them when I was a kid and I still don't get them now. It's a thing. Ppl spend good money for brokenness.

-Why spend money to be ugly? We live in an age where white rich ppl use their money to make things ugly and tedious. Did Andy Warhol start this trend? Is it funk? Is it punk? Is it skunk? It feels like it's infected the brain of left wing rich ppl in urban areas.

-I read contemporary literature penned by MFA artists and the characters are mostly small and sad. The stories are filled inarticulate ellipses and dashes to fake realness. Characters fumble to express mundane high school memories or drunk moms living in suburban sadness. But these writers grew up going to boarding schools before moving on to the Ivy Leagues. Once again, why try to be ugly and small and inarticulate and tedious? The world is naturally that way.

-why are we obsessed with ugliness? Is it pop art? You know what ppl in other countries think when they see exposed brick apt? 'OMG, someone didn't finish the job. This is appalling.' Yet we value it as authentic. We value the ugliness so much that exposed brick is now seen as a sign of affluence. 

-Once again, why are you trying to be ugly? There are so many ppl naturally living ugly? If you want realness go live in the projects and let those families live in your penthouses. Let roaches crawl on top of you and mice dash through your cupboard. You wouldn't like that b/c that's too real ugly. Vermin and rodents are living ugliness that you can't control.  

- it's not only rich white ppl. The thug life trend is an equal opportunity movement of bagginess and mumbling. 

- I know I sound like an old man. But I've been an old man since I was in pre-school. I never understood Cabbage Patch kids. They were so ugly and ppl would fight over them. I never understood aspiring to tattoo 'thug life' on your belly. Tupac was such a brilliant artists, but I never understood the ugliness he would unleash in some of his songs...the misogyny and homophobia and rancid rage made no sense when he was so brilliant. 

- Post Malone came on the screen last night and felt so sad. Here is the rich white guy with all this disgusting tattoos on his face, greasy hair, and producing garbage music. And I listened to him for a few minutes and thought 'this man is so unhappy and rich and ugly. And he wanted this.' He worked HARD to make himself unhygienic and gross. Is it a deflecting mechanism? Why try so hard? 

- is it b/c beauty is effeminate, feminine, un-manly? Is it b/c delicateness and intricacy and care is queer? Must Western masculinity make things ugly to proudly assert to the world 'no homo.' Is it b/c modern masculinity must defecate on the world to assert its supremacy? Is there a cost to denying your own beauty?

A Year Without Sugar

 365 days w/o processed sugar. I started off trying to do a month. Then two months. Then the virus swooped in and I thought it would be interesting to abstain from sugar until the 'rona ended..which would probably around April or May 2020, right? LOLOLOL. Sugar weakens my immune system and -in the middle of the global virus pandemic- I was trying to boost my body. That meant taking doses of Vitamins C, D, Zinc, NAC, Glutathione, wearing masks, staying at home, and no processed sugar. 

As a child I would wake up every morning with the sniffling, coughing, sneezing. I thought it was just my morning allergies. It wasn't. It was sugar.  When I ate bread, pasta, fruit, or processed sugar in the evening I would wake up the following morning with sniffles or trouble breathing. And since I usually had some combination of carbs, processed sugar and/or dessert at night I would wake up feeling the same. I thought the condition required some anti-histamines. Some ppl suggested that I control my body's reaction by adding allergy medication on top of it so that I continue to eat sugar...which would surely lead to diabetes and then require more medication to control insulin. Diabetes leads to heart disease which then requires more medication and so on and so forth. It's like starting a fire in a house and trying to control the blaze by moving the furniture, building a moat around it problem, changing the direction of the AC...while continually throwing wood at the flames. But what if I just stopped throwing wood at the fire...or rather what if I threw less wood? Look, I'm not trying to be a health nut or have a perfect diet, so what if I just threw less sugar at the fire in my body? Well shocking news: the fire dies down. The sniffles, coughing, all the associated problems go away. Skin clears up, head clears up, more focus, muscles fill in.

After a year I am thinking 'what's next?' This virus isn't going away any time soon. At the same time, I don't know about committing to NEVER EVER having white sugar again. That may be a bit too crazy. For now, I can continue to abstain. But I should try removing more fuel for my ailments. So for the month of January I'm going to try...no bread. 

Bread: biscuits, dumplings, croissants, sandwiches, ciabatta and -sure why not- add in crackers. This shouldn't be as hard as processed sugar b/c I don't eat bread every day. But i love LOVE LOVE it. Or I think I do. I've bought into the story that bread is delicious and therefore my reward. So I'm going to try to find a reward in something else...for one month. Just 30 days. And then see what happens.

GET WHAT YOU WANT: January 2021

1. THE DRAMA LEAGUE  NEW YORK DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS

DEADLINE: January 3rd

WEBSITE: dramaleague.org/programs/directors-project/fellowships/Fall-Directing-Fellowship

Founded in 1984, The New York Directing Fellowships bring extraordinary early-career stage directors into an extended program of creative advancement, industry-focused development, professional assistantships, and an opportunity to present their work to the field as part of the Off-Off-Broadway festival DirectorFest, the nation's preeminent festival highlighting rising directorial talent.  The Fellowships nurture artistry, open doors, and usher in a maturation of skills and talent, preparing a director to work professionally at the highest levels the field can offer.

NOTE: These Fellowships are currently slated to begin in May 2021, with periodic events over the course of the following twelve months until April 2022.  Due to the ongoing complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dates and components of this Fellowship may be delayed, altered, changed, or removed to protect the health of the Fellow and the ability of the American Theatre as it returns to live performances.  Applicants are asked to be flexible, should these changes have to occur.

 

COMPONENTS

 

PROFESSIONALS WEEK: Professionals Week is an intensive immersion in the professional theater. Fellows will attend performances, participate in seminars and workshops with prominent industry professionals, and participate in discussions designed to prepare directors for the demands and expectations of the field.

 

DIRECTING INTENSIVE: Fellows will participate in the Directing Intensive, an extended directing workshop under the guidance of a mentor director, and experienced professionals.  The Intensive will also include pre-production activities and workshops leading to DirectorFest.

DIRECTORFEST: The New York Directing Fellows stage one-act productions as part of DirectorFest, The Drama League's annual festival dedicated to the art of professional directing in the United States.  The festival takes place in New York City for an audience that includes artistic directors, producers, interested industry professionals, and others. DirectorFest is the culmination of a two-week rehearsal process, and utilizes professional casting directors, designers, and production personnel. Post-production, the directors meet with theater professionals for an in-depth discussion of their work. 

 

SCHOLARSHIP PRIZE: The scholarship prize amount will be determined in April.  For the 2020 cycle, the scholarship prize amount was $7,500 for the 14 active weeks of the fellowship, paid in installments. The amount of the scholarship prize will be disclosed prior to acceptance. Taxes will be deducted from the scholarship prize in accordance as determined by federal, state and local law.

 

Housing and Round-Trip transportation is provided for the following activities:

• Professionals Week (for Directors living more than 25 miles outside of New York City)

• Directing Intensive (from New York City to location)

• DirectorFest and Related Activities (for Directors living more than 25 miles outside of New York City)

2. URBANITE THEATRE

DEADLINE: January 4th

WEBSITE: www.urbanitetheatre.com/modernworksrules

Seeking work from emerging and established female-identifying playwrights. Playwrights must be available to attend all festival rehearsals and talkbacks virtually: Rehearsals will take place via zoom March 30 - April 6. Performance talkbacks will take place April 13-18, 2021.

Festival Awards for Three Finalists:

Festival Grand Prize Winner: $3000

Second and Third place Finalists: $500 each

Submission Rules and Requirements:

Interested playwrights are encouraged to read Urbanite’s mission statement and familiarize themselves with our production history.  Urbanite Theatre will only consider submissions that meet the following criteria:

Submissions must be from female-identifying playwrights. Playwrights must reside in the United States.  Plays must be unproduced and unpublished with limited development. No musicals or translations. Full-length plays only (at least 60 minutes) Plays must require five performers or fewer. Quality, female-identifying roles must be well-represented. Plays must include a contact page and character breakdown. One submission per playwright, per festival. Any plays that do not follow these requirements will be dismissed.

Playwrights must be available to attend festival virtually, including rehearsals (Rehearsals: March 30 - April 6)

Finalists will be selected by panel of readers and notified by Urbanite Theatre on February 15, 2021.  All participants (including actors, directors, stage managers and designers) will be compensated. Plays that have been previously submitted to Urbanite Theatre or the Modern Works Festival are not eligible to be submitted again. Each finalist will receive the following: a paid, professional director and cast, a table read, 12 rehearsal hours, a recorded staged reading with a total of three performances, and facilitated post-show talkbacks.  Each finalist play will be assigned a play development mentor to work with before, and during the festival.

Playwrights are required to participate in the rehearsal process and attend the readings and talkbacks for their play (all virtual).  

Winner of festival will receive a $3000 prize. The two remaining finalists will each receive an award of $500.

Submissions will be capped after the first 300 eligible scripts are received.

Winner will be chosen by a group of panelists in conjunction with an audience vote and will be announced February 19, 2021.

3. CIRCLE OF CONFUSION WRITERS DISCOVERY FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: January 5th

WEBSITE: http://www.circleofconfusion.com/fellowship/?fbclid=IwAR2QAVJ3xBCa2juNjBhulL_TzH-yGNZ6eVxWskPiTULCz0f53-iw1azd1no

 

Circle of Confusion will establish an ongoing fellowship program to nurture and assist in accelerating the diversity of voices in our industry. Circle of Confusion’s core mission has always been discovery, and we have been fortunate enough to have identified and promoted many talented writers, directors, actors and creators from all walks of life. It is based on this tradition and fundamental strength of the company that Circle of Confusion is launching the program. The excitement of film and television has always been the joy that great storytelling brings to audiences around the globe. By promoting voices that have been historically excluded, the Fellowship will enrich both the professional lives of the Fellows and the dynamic quality of the entertainment industry.

THE FELLOWSHIP

Circle of Confusion will provide an immersive introductory experience to the world of professional screen and television writing to a diverse group of aspiring writers who have not yet been employed or represented by the industry. The Fellows will each be given a $10,000 stipend by way of a first look deal with Circle of Confusion Television Studios. Twice per year, the program will select six to eight writers for a six-month fellowship which closely replicates the writer-manager dynamic. Each Fellow will be assigned a mentor who will educate and guide them by way of script development, career advice, and support. While the Fellowship cannot guarantee the sale of the pilot or specific employment, by the end of each Fellowship session, each Fellow will have developed a submission-ready television pilot, been afforded multiple opportunities for industry networking, and generally equipped with the essential tools for their success as writers in the entertainment industry. The Fellowship is open to applicants of all ethnicities, races, cultural backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, and ages.

MENTORSHIP

Our mentors will include Circle of Confusion literary managers and other senior industry professionals, offering general business advice and script development within the duration of the Fellowship. In the first four months, each Fellow will develop an original pilot script with their dedicated mentor. The pilot scripts will be reviewed by the Fellowship’s Advisory Board (composed of established members of the film and television community with an expertise in content evaluation) and then submitted to relevant industry professionals, with the explicit goal of using the last two months of the Fellowship to arrange general one-on-one Zoom meetings with producers and executives. Throughout the entire Fellowship session, the mentor will be available to guide the Fellow through each step, assisting the Fellow in their development of writing and storytelling skills, pitching skills and navigating the meeting process.

PROGRAMMING

The Fellowship program will begin in March of 2021 and include informational panels, speakers and workshops with industry professionals. Additionally, Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in several practice/mock-general meetings in preparation for their final professional meetings.

 

Applicant Qualifications:

• Have never worked or held representation in the entertainment industry as a writer

• Must have two storytelling samples, with at least one being a pilot script draft to further develop alongside a mentor during the Fellowship

Application Materials:

• Fellowship application

• Personal statement

• Brief questionnaire

• Two samples of narrative storytelling (The development sample must be a pilot script. Other writing samples may include but are not limited to pilot scripts, feature screenplays, short stories, personal essays, produced short form content, slam poetry, plays, audio-drama scripts, etc.)

 

For questions & more information, send email to: fellowship@circleofconfusion.com

4. TYA TOURING PRODUCTION COMMISSION

DEADLINE: January 5th

WEBSITE: paramountaurora.com/tya-touring-production-commission-submission/

Thanks to the support of the NEA’s Arts Work Grant Program, we are proud to announce the commission of a new play with music for young audiences that will tour greater-Aurora area schools. We will spend the winter and spring of 2021 developing the piece with a workshop reading with the hopes to tour the piece during the 2020-2021 school year.

For our inaugural commission, submissions for this award are open only to writers of color.

Commissions: One proposal will be awarded with a commission of $3,000

TO APPLY, A PLAYWRIGHT MUST DIGITALLY SUBMIT:

A one-page play proposal for a new or in progress, 45-60 minute, unwritten theatre for young audiences play with music

A one-page resume

A 3-5 page sample scene

One of your finished plays, for reference only

A completed submission application form

All materials can be submitted to: school@paramountarts.com

with the subject line: TYA Commission Submission

PROPOSALS FOR NEW PLAYS MUST:

Center the story around global majority people (non-white), particularly interested in stories that center around Mexican-American stories (44% of Aurora’s population)

Utilize four performers or fewer

Explain the use of singular, flexible or representational scenic elements understanding this play will be toured to schools with various kinds of performance spaces

Demonstrate how the use of music will play a role in your script

Demonstrate how audience members will be engaged in the storytelling (this could be audience participation of some kind, perhaps they assist in creating an environment, or contribute to the music making)

ELIGIBILITY RULES:

Playwrights will need to complete the submission form

Submissions may only be from playwrights of color

Playwrights must reside in the United States

One submission per playwright

Submissions must be emailed by 11:59PM CST on January 5, 2021

Commission contracts will be offered in February of 2021, and will be announced upon signing.

Questions? Email us at school@paramountarts.com

5. NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MUSICAL THEATRE

DEADLINE: January 8th

WEBSITE: https://namt.org/newmusicals/festival-submissions/

Last year, the 32nd Festival of New Musicals was the first year all writers can submit an application to be considered for the Festival free-of-charge. In keeping with previous years, submissions to the Festival will require an endorsement from an industry professional, but there will be no cost associated with on-time submissions regardless of who is endorsing the piece. 

The eight shows selected each year to be presented at the NAMT Festival are given the full support of NAMT to ensure a quality presentation and experience for everyone involved. NAMT takes on full responsibility for producing the Festival, including financial and administrative components.

We expect writers to be hands-on throughout the entire process, from casting through sound check and the presentations. Being part of the NAMT Festival as a writer is a time-consuming, intensive process, and writers who participate need to be able to commit fully and enthusiastically. Writers are required to be at rehearsals (starting about 10 days out) and at all related events happening around rehearsals and the Festival so they can maximize their experience and exposure. Each writer will be given an honorarium in appreciation of their talent and time and to help cover any related personal expenses. Writers will neither pay fees to NAMT, nor does NAMT take any percentage of future royalties. After the Festival, each writer will become a NAMT Festival Alumni Writer, joining a group of over 400 past Festival writers, and will receive invitations to future Alumni events like roundtables and conferences. The writers will also continue to receive assistance from the NAMT office whenever possible to help further develop their musicals and their careers.

Please go to website for instructions - a bit complex.

6. SESAME STREET WORKSHOP

DEADLINE: January 10th

WEBSITE: https://sesamewritersroom.org/

Sesame Workshop Writers’ Room is a writing fellowship from the creators of Sesame Street. And we’re looking for YOU! Fresh new writing talent from underrepresented racial backgrounds. Emerging storytellers who are selected to join the Writers’ Room will receive hands-on writing experience guided by Sesame Street veterans and other media industry leaders. Each participant will develop and write a pilot script for their own original kids concept. Past fellows have gone on to develop their own original content with Sesame Workshop, as well as write for Sesame Street and various programs at Nickelodeon, Disney, DreamWorks, and more!

-Up to 8 writers from underrepresented racial backgrounds will be selected

-Includes eight, three-hour sessions on creating original children's content

-Learn from industry writers, producers, agents and executives

-Complete at least one original script during the program

-Up to two participants will have the opportunity to receive creative development deals and further mentorship

Eligibility Checklist

-Participants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

-Participants must be 21+ years old

-Must come from an underrepresented racial group

-No extensive media writing experience, such as having written more than six episodes for a network or cable scripted/narrative series

-Participants must be able to attend all eight weekly sessions which will be held from May to July. 

7. LEAH RYAN’S FUND FOR EMERGING WRITERS

DEADLINE January 11th

WEBSITE:  http://leahryansfeww.com

All women, trans women, and non-binary playwrights who consider themselves emerging (as distinct from fledgling or mid-career playwrights) are eligible to apply for the 2021 Leah Ryan’s FEWW Prize. Playwrights from all over the world are encouraged to apply, but the play must be written in English. Eligibility does not require that a submitted work adhere to the traditional three-act structure. One-acts, two-acts (even four-, five-, six- acts), monologues, adaptations, and any other wild (or deceptively tame) format will be considered with equal seriousness. The only absolute requirement is that the submitted text be a completed full-length work for theater.

The fee to apply is $10, which assists in covering our Submittable expenses. The winner will be chosen by readers selected by the board members of Leah Ryan’s FEWW.  They will receive a cash prize of $2,500, a workshop at the Vassar Powerhouse Theater, and a reading of the play in New York City.

Finalists will be contacted in mid-March and will have one week within which to submit 

their full play.

8. MCKNIGHT FELLOWSHIPS IN PLAYWRITING

DEADLINE: Jan 14th

WEBSITE: https://pwcenter.org/programs/mcknight-fellowships-in-playwriting

The McKnight Foundation, a family foundation based in Minnesota, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. The McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting recognizes and supports mid-career playwrights living and working in Minnesota who demonstrate a sustained body of work, commitment, and artistic excellence. The fellowship, which runs July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022, includes: a $25,000 stipend, an additional $2,500 to support a play development workshop and other professional expenses, and $1,400 in travel funds. Applicants must reside in and have the legal right to work in the U.S. during the fellowship term. Applicants must have been continuous residents of Minnesota since January 14, 2020, and must maintain residency in Minnesota during the fellowship year. Applicants must have a minimum of one work fully produced by a professional theater at the time of application. Recipients of 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 McKnight Artist Fellowships in any discipline are not eligible. Full-time students are not eligible. Staff and board members of the McKnight Foundation and the Playwrights' Center and their immediate family members are not eligible. Fellowship recipients may not receive any other Playwrights' Center fellowships, grants, or Core Writer program benefits during the grant year. If a recipient is a Core Writer, the Core term will be extended by one year. Applicants may only apply for one McKnight Artist Fellowship each year in any discipline.

Each application will contain the following pieces:

-Application Form (including contact details, eligibility, and demographic information)

-Playwriting Resume: Please note clearly which productions listed on your resume (if any) meet the criteria for being "fully produced by a professional theater." Professional productions are defined as productions for which the author and primary artists (actors, directors, and creative collaborators) were reasonably compensated and that received at least three public performances each. Ten-minute or one-act plays and university, college, secondary school, amateur, and Equity showcase/waiver productions are not considered full professional productions. Productions that open after January 14, 2021 do not count.

-Artistic Statement: Use this statement to describe your artistic goals and vision as a theater maker. This is also an opportunity to provide context for the play you submitted and discuss how it fits into your larger body of work and how you envision your work developing.

-Full-length play script: A full-length play generally runs at least one hour. All script submissions must be written only by the applicant—no cowritten submissions will be accepted. Scripts for musicals may be submitted by the book writer only. If you have previously received a McKnight Artist Fellowship, this script must have been completed after that fellowship year.

-References: Please list two individuals who are familiar with your work as a playwright and who we may contact during the evaluation process.

Questions may be addressed to Artistic Programs Manager Julia Brown at juliab@pwcenter.org.

9. THE BLACK LIST & GOOGLE ASSISTANT STORYTELLING FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: January 15th

WEBSITE:

www.blcklst.com/partnerships/opportunities/90#:~:text=The%20Black%20List%20is%20pleased,that%20highlights%20contemporary%20stories%20and

The Black List is pleased to partner with Google Assistant to present the 2020-2021 Black List & Google Assistant Storytelling Fellowship, which will provide financial and creative support in the development and execution of a new original feature film script or pilot that highlights contemporary stories and perspectives from historically underrepresented communities. 

Up to five writers will receive $20,000 each for the purpose of supporting those writers for six months as they work to draft their new feature screenplays and/or teleplays. During the course of those six months, the Black List and Google Assistant will also pair each fellowship recipient with a screenwriting mentor. 

Pitches should be contemporary in nature and avoid violence and/or illegal activity as the premise of the story. Completed scripts can include the natural helpfulness of technology in everyday life, but shouldn’t be focused around technology or from a dystopian view. At the end of the Fellowship, each recipient would provide Google with a copy of their new draft along with a report addressing how the grant has been used to advance their work. 

THE SELECTION PROCESS 

Opt-ins will be open until midnight on Friday, January 15, 2021. On Monday, January 18, 2021, up to 15 writers will be invited, based on the strength of their scripts as determined by the Black List, to submit a one-page personal statement and professional resume. Those materials will be due on Friday, January 22, 2020. From those submissions, up to five (5) writers will be selected by the Black List and Google Assistant to receive the 2020-2021 Storytelling Fellowship. 

10. THE NEUKOM INSTITUTE LITERARY ARTS AWARD FOR PLAYWRITING

DEADLINE: January 15th

WEBSITE: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/neukominstitutelitawards/how-to-enter/

The arts have always had strong creative connections to the sciences, including computational science. Acting as a gadfly for the good, provocateur and satirist when the sciences overreach, but also far-seeing prophets of scientific potential. The arts are among the areas that computational sciences has transformed, not only through its impact on modes of production of artwork, but also as a formative influence on its themes and motivations, notably in the fields of speculative fiction as well as the dramatic arts. To that end, the Neukom Institute is proud to announce three prizes for creative work in the arts.

Submission Requirements:

Full-length plays and other full length works for theater addressing the question “What does it mean to be a human in a computerized world?”

Submissions must include

1. An anonymized (blinded) copy of the piece

2. Playwright resume/bio

3. Production history of the piece

4. 1 page statement of purpose that answers the following questions:

• A. How does your piece address the theme of exploring humanity in our computerized, digital world?

• B. What are your goals for this piece in its current form?

• C. The winning piece will receive two readings: one at VoxFest at Dartmouth College in July 2021, and the second at Northern Stage in White River Junction, VT, during the 2021/2022 season. How would you use this two-part development process to achieve these goals?

Questions? Email Emma Orme at vox@voxtheater.org

Playwrights can submit using this form.

Honorarium

Each award comes with an honorarium of $5,000. The winner of the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting will also receive two readings: one at VoxFest at Dartmouth College in July 2021, and the second at the New Works Now Festival at Northern Stage in White River Junction, VT, during the 2021-2022 season.

 

11. BOGLIASCO FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP 

DEADLINE: January 15th

WEBSITE: http://www.bfny.org/en/apply

Bogliasco Fellowships are awarded to gifted individuals working in all the disciplines of the Arts and Humanities without regard to nationality, age, race, religion or gender.

To be eligible for the award of a Fellowship, applicants should demonstrate significant achievement in their disciplines, commensurate with their age and experience. Please note that Bogliasco Fellowships are not awarded to students currently in a degree-granting program. The Foundation gives preference to those whose applications suggest that they would be comfortable working in an intimate, international, multilingual community of scholars and artists.

Bogliasco Fellowships include full room and board, plus the use of a private studio. The cost of transportation to and from the Bogliasco Study Center is the responsibility of Fellows and their accompanying spouses/partners.

12. 2021 AUSTIN LATINX NEW PLAY FESTIVAL

DEADLINE: January 15th

WEBSITE: https://teatrovivo.org/austin-latinx-new-play-festival/

Teatro Vivo is pleased to announce the call for entries for the 2021 Austin Latinx New Play Festival (ALNPF), presented in collaboration with ScriptWorks, to be read on a digital platform May 13 to May 15, 2021. All playwrights are invited to submit original scripts that speak to the diverse Latinx experience. We are looking for plays that would resonate with our Teatro Vivo and Austin, TX audience. Plays can be monolingual or multilingual. Plays will then be blind read and scored by a diverse panel of readers. Four scripts will be selected for presentation at the festival, including one play by a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate university student, and one play for young audiences. Selected plays will be announced by February 21st, 2021.

Eligible plays must be original, full-length works with a minimum 50-minute run time and a max of 10 roles, or include a breakdown of doubling. Additionally, plays must align with the Teatro Vivo mission statement, be focused on Latinx lives, and must not have been produced before the 2021 ALNPF or already scheduled for production in 2021. Now in its ninth year, the ALNPF provides an opportunity for playwrights to hear, see, and receive feedback on their original work. The festival brings each playwright together with a dramaturg, director, and actors to bring their play to life as a staged reading in front of an audience (online this year due to COVID). Additionally, the selected works will receive a preliminary reading in March and a period of about one month for playwrights to work with dramaturgs to revise and continue to develop their play.

Playwrights of the selected pieces will collaborate with a dramaturg and directors hired by Teatro Vivo and Scriptworks. Playwrights must be available to attend the preliminary reading of their play on March 29th, 2021, and the online public readings in May (13th-15th), and participate in a facilitated talk back on zoom with the audience immediately following the public reading. The Austin Latinx New Play Festival will take place virtually this year as we continue to work around the current pandemic. Submissions can be sent to teatrovivoaustin@gmail.com

13. HELEN WURLITZER FOUNDATION RESIDENCY (TAOS, NM)

DEADLINE: January 18th

WEBSITE: https://wurlitzerfoundation.org/apply

To apply for an artist residency, submit an application form (below) along with the application fee and required work samples.

The annual deadline for applications is January 18th to be considered for a residence grant the following calendar year. Online applications must be received, and mailed applications must be postmarked, by January 18th. Grantees will be notified of their fellowship awards in June. For more info read the FAQs online.Online applications received between now and 11:59PM MST, Jan. 18 2020 will be considered for residency grants in 2021. Supplemental work samples sent via mail must be postmarked by January 21st!

14. PLAYWRIGHTS CENTER CORE WRITER PROGRAM

DEADLINE: January 21st

WEBSITE: https://pwcenter.slideroom.com/#/login/program/57618

The Core Writer Program is a three-year appointment designed to support a diverse group of playwrights who demonstrate a sustained body of work, commitment, and artistic excellence. The program is available to emerging and established writers nationally and offers significant resources intended to further a playwright's career. 

The Core Writer program gives 25-35 of the most exciting playwrights from across the country the time and tools to develop new work for the stage. All Core Writers receive play development workshops with the Center, in collaboration with prominent directors, actors, dramaturgs, and designers. All writers are paid for their workshop time. Core Writers are eligible to be included in our formal season of public readings: the PlayLabs festival and the Ruth Easton New Play Series. 

Core Writers are also promoted by the Center and provided opportunities through an extensive network of colleges and universities, cultural institutions, and producing theaters. Each term is three years; Core Writers may reapply for additional terms. 

Applicants must reside in and have the legal right to work in the U.S. It is not required for an applicant to have had professional productions in order to apply. However, please note that this program is highly competitive and is designed for committed professional playwrights who are pursuing playwriting as their primary career. Students enrolled in a full-time educational program are not eligible. The Core Writer term will be July 1, 2021-June 30, 2024.

15, NEXTFEST2021

DEADLINE: January 21st

WEBSITE: https://nextfest.ca

The Nextfest Arts Company invites interested emerging artists to submit for Nextfest 2021. Nextfest is a multi-disciplinary emerging arts festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada running June 3- 13, 2021.

The Nextfest Arts Company defines emerging artists as:

• any artist within the first ten years of their career

• an artist who is NOT represented by any organization or union (ACTRA, EQUITY, IATSE, PGC, DGC, ADC, etc.)

• an artist who is NOT represented by an agent or agency

If accepted as part of the festival, projects and scripts will be presented at one of the following three levels:

• Reading – dramaturgy and mentorship offered to playwrights, actors reading scripts for an audience, talkback after a performance

• Progress Showing – dramaturgy and mentorship offered to playwright/production, play produced with limited tech for the audience reading and talkback after the performance.

• Full Production – dramaturgy and mentorship offered to playwright/production, play produced will full tech and multiple performances

PITCH A PROJECT

This submission form is to be used for projects which would be considered for the main stages but do not use traditional theatre scripts – ie: Sketch Groups, Improv Groups, Cabarets, Comedy, Performance Art, Poetry, etc.

To submit a script please fill out this form: Theatre Mainstage – Pitch A Project Submission Form

Please provide any other related written documents in WORD DOCUMENT or PDF

FORMAT ONLY to ELLEN CHORLEY, Festival Director ellen@nextfest.ca with the subject line NEXTFEST 2021 PROJECT SUBMISSION.

This may include any documents related to your project; CVs of yourself and any other artist involved; A short bio of the lead project artist; SUBMIT A SCRIPT

16. THE MIRANDA FAMILY FOUNDATION VOCES LATINX NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

DEADLINE: February 1st

WEBSITE: www.repertorio.nyc/opportunities

The Miranda Family Foundation Voces Latinx National Playwriting Competition is to discover, develop, promote and amplify Latinx plays and playwrights. Repertorio Español is now in its 53rd season and 2nd decade of championing new works through playwriting initiatives. To that end, this competition and our theatre will prepare the way for an American Theatre that is reflective and representative of the Pan Latinx Community. An endeavor that becomes increasingly more important.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Latinx culture, history, ideals and characters must be central to the play submitted. The community must be accurately depicted and the focus of the work.

• No screenplays, one act plays, adaptations or translations will be accepted.

• New and un-produced plays preferred. Plays that have had readings or a workshop production are acceptable.

• All plays must be original and full-length (minimum running time: 75 minutes) and can be written in Spanish and/or English.

• The competition is inclusive of all playwrights who are at least 18 years of age and residents of the United States or Puerto Rico. 

17. TABLEWORK PRESS

DEADLINE: February 1st

WEBSITE: https://www.tableworkpress.org/submissions

Table Work Press publishes and advocates for promising plays. Now in our second season, we look forward to continuing our mission of championing playwrights whose work is important, pressing, and worth writing home about. Our 2020-21 open submission period for full-length plays will be held from December, 2020 until February, 2021. Selected plays will be published, and playwrights will receive a $500 stipend, a cut of profits, and their play will be shared with TWP’s network of partner organizations. Playwrights who are not selected to be published this season may be invited to partner for other opportunities.

Full-length, unpublished script

A 10-page sample from your play (Note: this sample can be from anywhere within the play, but please be sure to provide any context necessary for reading your sample within the document.) 

A one-to-two page artist statement. Artist statements give us an opportunity to learn more about you, your process, and your work, and may address the following questions:

Who are you, and how have you gotten to where you are?

Why are you choosing to submit this play, and where is it in its development?

What are your goals for your play and how can TWP help you achieve those goals?

What are your core values as a playwright?

Additionally, you’ll be asked to provide us with a short one-to-two sentence synopsis of your play. All 10-page samples will be read by a minimum of two readers, and all applicants will be notified of their status in the Spring of 2021.  

We are unable to consider musicals at this time and ask that each writer submit only one play for consideration. Please note that due to the volume of submissions, we will only consider the first play submitted by each writer in the event of multiple submissions. Please feel free to reach out to us with any updated materials, questions, or concerns at admin@tableworkpress.org.

18. NOOSPHERE ARTIST RESIDENCY

DEADLINE: February 4th

WEBSITE: http://www.noosphere-arts.nyc/residency-award

Dedicated to bringing art from elsewhere to New York, NOoSPHERE Arts’ all-volunteer team of artists & curators keeps seeking new ways to accomplish our goal: to offer the U.S. audience access to current art from other countries and to bring creative people together for artistic cross-pollination and transnational collaborations.

NOoSPHERE Arts’ current presentation platforms include Mothership NYC, a live-work space with a huge outdoor stage in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Also founded and run by NOoSPHERE Arts’ director, this community of international creatives has a complementary mission: “to support and promote artists across multiple disciplines through residencies, public shows and collaborative opportunities; build sustainable transnational artist networks; and help retain creative forces in New York City.”

In collaboration with the Mothership Crew, we are pleased to offer the annual grant program NOoSPHERE Arts Residency Award: Once a year, we provide a month-long residency free of charge to one talented artist or curator of any nationality. Selected by a committee of peers, the award winner will spend their time on board Mothership NYC developing a creative project for presentation to the NYC audience under the aegis of NOoSPHERE Arts.

Disciplines:

The residency program is open to all media, but the private workspace is most suitable for the following disciplines: visual art, painting, drawing, writing, film, theater, dance, performing arts, filmmaking, animation, new media, and curatorial.

Accommodation:

The resident stays in private living quarters in the Mothership NYC live-work community housing 5-6 artists total.

The private workspace comes with a desk, easel, bare walls to work on and WiFi. Kitchen, lounge, and bathrooms are shared.

For pictures of the space, please see www.mothership.nyc/artist-residency.

Financial Support:

The award winner receives one month’s free accommodation in private live-work space. We will also cover the reception costs and assistance with logistics for awardee’s final show. Travel costs, art supplies and living expenses are award winner’s own responsibility.

Artist Contribution:

We expect the awardee to give a slide talk about their work at Mothership’s monthly artists’ salon and to present their residency project at a public event towards the end of their month-long stay.

19. THE PLAYWRIGHTS REALM

DEADLINE: Feb. 7th

WEBSITE: https://playwrightsrealm.org/submit

The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship Program awards four early-career playwrights with nine months of resources, workshops and feedback designed to help them reach their professional and artistic goals. Over the course of the season, Fellows develop a single new play. Monthly group meetings provide a collaborative, energizing space for writers to share and refine their work. One-on-one meetings with The Realm’s artistic staff support each writer’s specific artistic process. Fellows work with a director, design consultants, and actors over the course of two readings to see their work come to life. Professional development resources are also an integral part of the program and are tailored to the individual group of Writing Fellows. Mentor opportunities, meet-and-greets, and professional seminars are designed to shed light on the business of theatre, and empower the Fellows to be active, informed participants in their own careers. The culminating event of the program is our INK’D Festival, which features a public reading of each Fellow’s play.

Writing Fellows Receive $3,000 Award, Internal reading, Public reading, Professional development activities, Access to Realm office resources, An occasional hug

What We’re Looking For

Above all, we look for dedicated early-career writers who crave a long-term, rigorous development process. We value intellectual curiosity, imagination and bravery. We love plays with evocative language, plays that contemplate big, unanswerable questions, that embrace the complexity of life, and demonstrate an understanding of the possibilities of dramatic storytelling. And of course, plays that are inherently theatrical—that could never be anything other than a play! As a playwright-centric company hoping to help create the next generation of successful playwrights, we believe it is our responsibility to ensure that the playwrights and the stories we support fully reflect the diversity of the society we live in. As such, we encourage writers and stories with unique cultural perspectives, experiences and backgrounds.

20. 2021 JEROME EMERGING ARTIST RESIDENCY

Deadline: February 15th

WEBSITE:theandersoncenter.submittable.com/submit/174353/2021-jerome-emerging-artist-residency-for-mn-nyc-artists

Application via Submittable

The Anderson Center’s Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program offers month-long residency-fellowships at Tower View to a cohort of early-career artists from Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City for concentrated, uninterrupted creative time to advance their personal artistic goals and projects.

The program aims to meet the specific needs of emerging artists while welcoming them into a supportive and inspiring residency environment that empowers them to take risks, embrace challenges, and utilize unconventional approaches to problem-solving. 

Thanks to support from the Jerome Foundation, selected emerging artists receive $625/week in honoraria, documentation support, art-making resources, facilitation of community connections, lodging & studio space, a travel stipend, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.

Located at the historic Tower View estate, a venerable research-and-development lab for the arts rooted in an expansive natural setting, the program is an ideal fit for early-career artists whose work reveals a significant potential for cultural and community impact, is technically accomplished, engages diverse communities. 

The Anderson Center’s goal is for connections participating artists make with one another, as well as connections made with other creatives and community members, to outlast the duration of their residency visit. The organization believes that the environment and resources of Tower View, along with an exchange of ideas across disciplines, can serve as a catalyst for new inspiration and innovative directions for the work emerging artists create while in residence. 

Jury review will take place in late February and early March. Applicants will be notified by March 4 at the latest as to the status of their application. A phone interview process with finalists will take place in late March following a second round of jury review. Selected artist residents, wait-list and runners-up will be notified by April 5, 2021.

Artists must be legal residents of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City to be eligible to apply. To be considered, eligible artists must submit an application through the Anderson Center’s online form via Submittable. Please contact Adam Wiltgen at 651-388-2009 x4 or adam@andersoncenter.org for any questions.