Deadline: October 1, 2025
Website: https://millayarts.submittable.com/submit
Located on the historic Steepletop estate of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, this residency offers playwrights private studios, shared dinners, and immersive creative space. Sessions are fully subsidized, and financial aid is available for those with demonstrated need.
Applications are reviewed anonymously by a peer jury, prioritizing innovation and depth of practice. For playwrights working on scripts that engage poetry, identity, or landscape, Millay provides a uniquely resonant environment.
Playwrights First Award
Deadline: October 1, 2025
Website: https://www.playwrights-first.com/
Founded in 1993, this award honors emerging playwrights showing extraordinary promise. The winner receives $1,000 and a potential New York City reading facilitated by Playwrights First.
The competition focuses exclusively on unproduced, unpublished scripts, making it a valuable first milestone for emerging writers. The reading component provides crucial opportunities for industry networking and dramaturgical refinement.
Judson Memorial Call for Artists
Deadline: October 4, 2025
Website: https://www.judson.org/calendar/anniversary-flag-show-call-for-artists-2025
In commemoration of the 55th Anniversary of The People's Flag Show (1970), Judson Memorial Church will be hosting an exhibition of flag-related works with performances and events from Nov 9-15, 2025.
👉 All interested artists are invited to submit one artwork that creatively interrogates the American flag as a symbol of "liberty and justice for all."
2026 National Musical Theater Conference
Deadline: October 8, 2025
Website: https://theoneill.submittable.com/submit
Contact and Demographic Information: Your name, email address, telephone number, physical address, and optional demographic information will be requested.
30-Page Script Sample (PDF): This must be the first 30 pages of your book. You'll need to include a full track list with every song in your musical—even numbers that you are not submitting as demos or fall outside of the script sample. Please also include a character breakdown that lists vocal and/or instrumental requirements, doubling schemes, and any other necessary identifying traits. Your character breakdown, track list, and any other relevant introductory front matter—setting, notes, etc—will not count against the 30-page limit. Please do not forget to include page numbers.
Five Demo Tracks (MP3): You must include the track number and song title in the name of each file. These must be MP3 files. You are welcome to include tracks that fall outside your 30-page script sample, but please upload them in show order. You may submit fewer than five demos if you wish. We also provide space for you to credit the artists in your demos if applicable.
Developmental Goals (150-500 words): This should detail your goals for the future development of the piece, with special attention to what you hope to accomplish at NMTC. We encourage you to be as specific as possible, and include every component of your piece: book, music, and lyrics.
Developmental History (150-500 words): If applicable, you will be asked to provide a developmental history of your play that includes any prior readings, staged readings, or workshops.
Synopsis (150-500 words): This should be a brief summary of your piece.
Biographical Statements (150-500 words): Please focus on your background as writers and/or theater makers.
Cast Size: Please list the cast size for your piece and any additional notes about casting. Please note that this year, the maximum cast size for NMTC is 12 total actors per musical. We will not accept or consider pieces that require 13 or more actors.
Additional Information: If you are adapting a work that is not in the public domain, you will be asked to upload proof of your permission to adapt this material.
Administrative Fee: The administrative fee for the 2026 National Music Theater Conference is $15. This fee helps offset the costs associated with the organization and administration of NMTC: the submission platform, application processing, materials review, and more. If this fee poses a barrier to you, please fill out this form to request a fee waiver before you begin your application.
Eligibility Requirements
You must be 18 years of age or older and have the right to work within the United States.
You must be the sole author or authors of the piece you are submitting to NMTC, and the exclusive owner of all rights to the musical. You may submit an original or adapted work, provided that the rights to any material not in the public domain have been granted in writing and a copy of the release is submitted with your application.
Your piece must not have had a professional production, or be licensed or optioned to have a professional production, prior to July 31, 2026. If you have any questions about this, please visit our website FAQs for more information. If your question is not answered there, please reach out to the O'Neill literary office at litoffice@theoneill.org.
If your piece has previously received—or is scheduled to receive—a developmental workshop, reading, or staged reading prior to July 31, 2026, you must disclose that information in your NMTC application. If your piece receives a workshop, reading, staged reading, or is optioned after submitting your application, please inform the literary office via email at litoffice@theoneill.org as soon as possible. Failure to do so could impact your application's standing.
Cast size: This year, the maximum cast size for NMTC is 12 total actors per musical. We cannot accept or consider musicals that require 13 or more actors. We wish to be transparent that this is a new requirement due to space limitations on the O'Neill campus. Please see the FAQs on our website for additional information.
NMTC has no specific requirements regarding the form or content of your piece. We support the development of all styles and genres of musical theater featuring original music, including song cycles, operas, and experimental works. Jukebox and catalog musicals are ineligible for consideration.
The Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival
Deadline: October 15, 2025
Website: https://semo.edu/colleges-departments/arts-media/conservatory/lanford-wilson
The Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival develops and champions vibrant new work that primarily features characters between the ages of 15 and 30.
The Festival works to provide significant opportunities for college-aged actors and to incubate new American plays for both conservatory and professional stages.
The Festival accepts full-length plays and short play submissions each year from playwrights nationwide, and selects five full-length plays and ten short plays to develop at the week-long event in the beautiful River Campus at Southeast Missouri State University.
The GPTC New Play Festival
Deadline: October 15, 2025
Website: https://www.gptcplays.com/how-to-apply-2/
This conference provides a sanctuary for playwrights to create away from the pressure of the press, industry insiders, and representatives. It is a critical incubator in the Midwest that serves the nation. There are so few opportunities like this left (you can count them on one hand). The GPTC allows for new work to be developed to act as a pipeline for our American stages.
Each year, the Festival helps to develop a group of new plays that are selected from a pool of around 1000 submissions. During the Festival, local and national playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers and Omaha community members, share a week of stories, workshops, readings, meals, performances and celebrations. All public festival events are free to attend.
This year’s Festival will take place May 24th – May 30th, 2026. The Festival takes place in Omaha, Nebraska. Playwrights who are accepted to the festival are required to attend the full week of the festival. The application process is anonymous. None of the readers who review and select the plays will know who wrote them. There is a $10 application fee. The fee helps to pay a part of the reader’s stipends. Selected playwrights are provided with travel, hotel, most meals, local transportation, and a $750 stipend. Accepted plays will be assigned a local director and cast. They will also be assigned a dramaturg and designer from our national team.
Plays may be one-acts or full-length, but no shorter than 30 pages. Plays may not have had a professional production.
Playwrights may send only one play per year. Plays that were sent to us in previous years may be resubmitted. No musicals or plays for young audiences are accepted. Playwrights who are accepted to the Festival agree to give full support to their fellow playwrights throughout the week. Ten plays and playwrights will be selected for the 2026 New Play Festival.
The Edward Albee Foundation Residency 2026
Deadline: October 13, 2025
Website: https://www.albeefoundation.org/guidelines--submitting.html
The Edward F. Albee Foundation maintains the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center (better known as "The Barn") in Montauk, Long Island, New York, as a residence for writers and visual artists of all media. Due to extensive, site-wide renovations, we are proud to be completely ADA-accessible and open our doors to all creative people. Located approximately two miles from the center of Montauk and the Atlantic Ocean, "The Barn" rests in a secluded knoll which offers privacy and a peaceful atmosphere. The Foundation expects all those accepted for residence to work seriously and to conduct themselves in such a manner as to aid fellow residents in their endeavors. Writers and visual artists are offered individual en-suite bedrooms and separate working studios. Residents are responsible for their food, travel, and other expenses. The environment is simple and communal. Residents are expected to do their share in maintaining the condition of "The Barn" as well as its peaceful environment.
APPLICANTS must prepare:
• Visual Arts: 6-12 images and/or 3 media files
• Plays/Screenplays: A full manuscript (one act plays count as a full script)
• Poetry: Up to 12 poems
• Fiction: 1 short story or 2 chapters from a novel
• Non-fiction / Memoir / Journalism: 2 essays/articles or 2 chapters from a book
Please note: writers who write in a foreign language should apply with English translations of their work.
ALL APPLICANTS must also include:
• An up to date resumé
• Email addresses of 2 professionals familiar with you and your work (your recommenders will be contacted for letters by us)
• An artist’s statement explaining your current need for a residency, as well as the details of the proposed project while in residence
THEATER LATTE DA'S NEXT GENERATION COMMISSION
Deadline: October 15
Website: https://www.latteda.org/next-generation-commission
A $20,000 commission to support the creation and development of a new musical theatre project by a creative team that includes women artists and/or artists of color.
Theater Latté Da’s NEXT Generation Commission is designed to support the early, generative stages of creation. Applications are welcomed from creative teams as well as individual artists. Creative teams must be made of at least 50% women artists or artists of color to be eligible. Applicants may pitch a specific idea for a new musical or play with music as part of their application, but a pre-existing idea is not required. Artists will be selected based primarily
on their extant body of work.
While we will accept and consider musical projects already in process, our preference is to support the creation of a NEW piece with artists interested in working in collaboration with our company and community.
In addition to $20,000 (to be shared among the creative team), each project will receive creative and developmental support over an 18-month period, including two developmental workshops totaling 50 hours.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
To apply, Please submit the following materials to Associate Artistic Director/Director of New Work, Elissa Adams at submissions@latteda.org by
October 15, 2025:
Bios of creative team members
Artistic Statement (500 - 1000 words) addressing who you are as an artist, how you work or work together as a team, what kinds of stories you like to tell
3 – 5 work samples (For composers and lyricists: Each sample should be one complete song. MP3 format is encouraged. For book writers/librettists: Each sample should be a 10-page excerpt from a script or book of a musical)
Timeline:
Application Deadline—October 15, 2025
Commission Announcement—February 15, 2026
Introductory Meeting with Theater Latte Da and Story Discussion—April/May, 2026
First Draft Deadline—October, 2026
Developmental Workshops- Dates TBD in collaboration with the artist(s)
The Richard Rogers Award for 2026
Deadline: October 31, 2025
Website: https://www.artsandletters.org/rodgers-award
The Richard Rodgers Awards were created and endowed in 1978 by composer and member Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) for the development of new works of musical theater. These awards support readings and productions of musicals by emerging composers and writers at nonprofit theaters in New York City. The winners are selected by a jury of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Previous recipients include Jonathan Larson for Rent; Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley for Violet; Anaïs Mitchell for Hadestown; Jason Kim, Helen Park, Max Vernon, and Woodshed Collective for KPOP; and Will Aronson and Hue Park for Maybe Happy Ending.
American Theatre Company Playwriting Competition
Deadline: October 31, 2025
Website: http://www.atcbrussels.com/playwriting-competition.html
Based in Brussels, this biannual competition seeks original English-language plays between 25–45 minutes. Applicants must live in Belgium or have resided there within the past three years.
The prize is the staging of the winning play in 2026 or 2027, offering playwrights a direct path to production. Scripts are judged anonymously to ensure equity, and ATC’s focus on developing intimate, actor-driven pieces makes this especially rewarding for emerging writers.
Premiere Play Festival2026
Deadline: November 1, 2025
Website: https://premierestagesatkean.com/play-festival/guidelines/
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting emerging and regional playwrights by developing and producing new plays. Since 2005, the Premiere Play Festival has offered playwrights the opportunity to develop their work in an encouraging, focused environment through discussions, rehearsals, readings, workshops, and Equity productions.
Through the Premiere Play Festival, Premiere Stages has developed many plays that have gone on to have successful productions in New York and at regional theatres throughout the country. We strive to facilitate relationships between writers and theatre professionals who we think will respond to their work, in hopes that plays developed at Premiere will go on to subsequent productions. We offer Play Festival winners the option to retain the coveted “World Premiere” brand on their plays. Additionally, Premiere’s productions are consistently reviewed, scouted by major publishing houses, and honored by the American Theatre Critics Association.
Travis Bogard Artist-in-Residence Fellowships at Tao House
Deadline: November 1, 2025
Website: https://eugeneoneill.org/fellows/
Located at the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in Danville, CA, this residency gives playwrights access to Tao House’s archives and O’Neill’s personal documents while providing space for uninterrupted creative work.
For writers exploring themes of American identity, history, or theatrical lineage, this program offers both a retreat and direct inspiration from O’Neill’s legacy. The setting itself fosters reflection on narrative scale, artistic ambition, and craft.
Newport New Works Summer 2026 Musical Theatre Festival
Deadline: November 2, 2025
Website: https://newportnewworks.org/apply
For Summer 2026, up to three unproduced works will be selected from a worldwide pool of submissions, for a two-week-long, artist-driven workshop residency by the sea— in beautiful and creatively inspiring Newport, Rhode Island. Artists in Residence are provided housing, transportation, most meals and a stipend. Workshops are staffed with industry-leading Broadway level professionals.
The process is hypercollaborative and each team will work with top-notch directors, producers, dramaturgs, musicians, and actors for an intensive 64-hour rehearsal period. Our goal is to elevate every participating show by bolstering and matchmaking each work with the customized artistic resources the work needs to get to the next level. The festival culminates in two public, script-in-hand, workshop presentations.
Artists are welcome and encouraged to revise, rework, and rewrite as much as possible while in residence with us. Risk-taking is encouraged. Artists are also welcome to attend rehearsals and presentations of their peers' work as we aim to build a strong community of fellow writers, artists, songwriters, and theater-makers, lasting long after the festival! Evening bonfires, time at the beach & on the water, divine culinary delights, and industry expert conversations are also an integral part of the Newport NewWorks experience.
Please note: We require that all works submitted remain without professional production throughout their participation in the festival. At Newport NewWorks, if we select your work, it means we deeply believe in it and are committed to actively supporting your piece, including: 1) Facilitating development guidance and support for your piece in the months leading up to the festival to make sure it is as ready as possible to maximize your time at the festival 2) Helping to find a life for your piece beyond the festival. To achieve these goals, we have found in some situations that additional collaborators for the creative team may be helpful and beneficial to the project. Is this something you would be open to considering? (*Please note we do not always find this necessary, and saying no does not disqualify you from selection. Please be open and authentic about your comfort level with this.) Please confirm all members of the creative team are available to attend the festival IN RESIDENCE in Newport, RI for the ENTIRETY of Aug 2 - 16, 2026.
Cinestory TV Retreat and Fellowship
Deadline: November 30, 2025
Website: https://foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/
The CineStory Foundation believes in helping writers find their voice. We’re entering a world in which the ways to tell stories are limitless. Those stories always begin with a blank page. Our goal with the Television Retreat is to educate writers about the unique world of TV storytelling, from the collaborative nature of writing for networks or streaming channels to the independent realm of creating and shooting series for the web.
The CineStory Television Retreat takes place yearly over five days in the beautiful mountains of Idyllwild, California. Attendees receive three one-on-one, one and a half hour sessions with CineStory mentors. During these sessions, mentors will give attendees feedback on improving the craft of the script(s) they submitted in advance. Writers also experience what it’s like to sit in a professional writers room run by an experienced mentor.
When not meeting in one-on-one sessions or participating in mock writers rooms, attendees participate in mentor-led panel discussions and group writing exercises. The discussions educate writers about various aspects of the craft and business of TV writing to help writers improve their craft as well as better understand TV writers’ various roles in the entertainment industry. The writing exercises are designed to help writers with everything from writing visually, generating new ideas, and pitching like a pro. In addition, mentors and writers will gather for meals, drinks, games, and other special events.
The Grand Prize for the competition is the CineStory TV Fellowship, which includes a $3,000 cash prize and a 12-month educational mentorship program during which the TV Fellow works with 2 Hollywood professionals hand-picked to educate the Fellow about the craft and business of TV writing so the Fellow better understands the various roles TV writers play in the entertainment industry. The TV Fellow also receives free tuition and housing for the retreat and supplemental mentorship with the team at Script Pipeline.
An integral part of the TV Fellowship is becoming part of the CineStory community. Consequently, the winner of the TV Fellowship must attend the Television Retreat in order to receive the cash award and to benefit from all other aspects of the Fellowship.
To earn the opportunity to attend the TV Retreat, writers must submit an original pilot episode teleplay in one of the TV divisions of the TV Retreat & Fellowship Contest. The division winners and finalists are invited to attend the retreat for an additional fee. Any remaining spots are offered to category semifinalists and quarterfinalists.
ROLLING DEADLINES
Native Voices at the Autry — Script Submissions
Deadline: Rolling
Website: https://theautry.org/
Dedicated to Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations playwrights, this program accepts full-length stage scripts year-round for production consideration in Los Angeles.
Selected works undergo dramaturgical development, staged readings, and sometimes full-scale productions. It’s a cornerstone platform for Native voices in contemporary theatre.
Dramatists Guild Foundation Emergency Grants
Deadline: Rolling
Website: https://dgf.org/grants/
These need-based grants provide up to $500 to dramatists facing financial hardship due to unexpected crises. Funds typically cover essential living expenses like housing, utilities, and groceries rather than project-specific costs.
Applications are prioritized based on urgency and severity, making this an invaluable resource during challenging times.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants
Deadline: Rolling
Website: https://foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/
Offering $500–$3,000 on a rapid turnaround, these grants support artists facing time-sensitive project opportunities or emergencies. The program welcomes applications from playwrights presenting work in the U.S. or abroad.
For productions, workshops, or festivals requiring sudden travel or materials, this grant provides the flexibility to act quickly on emerging opportunities.
JOBS
Mellon Assistant Professor in Cinema and Media Arts
Vanderbilt University: College of Arts and Science: Humanities: Cinema and Media Arts
Location: Nashville, TN
Deadline: Oct 20, 2025
Description: The department of Cinema & Media Arts at Vanderbilt University seeks a scholar of global media histories at the rank of Mellon Assistant Professor, non-tenure track, beginning August 2026 (3-year appointment, 2-2 load). We welcome a range of humanistic approaches to the study of film and media with a particular emphasis on scholars whose work addresses transnationality, decoloniality, migration, and/or diaspora.
Link: https://apply.interfolio.com/174284
