Rokeach Value Survey

One of my friends is graduating with his MBA in business management this year. In class this week his professor was talking about the Rokeach Value Survey. My friend asked me if there was any relation of these values to Buddhism.

The wikipedia definition (which is legitimate) for RVS is as follows:

The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) is a classification system of values. Developed by social psychologist Milton Rokeach, the system consists of two sets of values, 18 individual value items in each. One set is called terminal values the other instrumental values.^[1]

RVS is based on a 1968 volume (Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values)^[2] which presented the philosophical basis for the association of fundamental values with beliefs and attitudes. His value system was instrumentalised into the Rokeach Value Survey in his 1973 book The Nature of Human Values.^[1]

Terminal Values refer to desirable end-states of existence. These are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. These values vary among different groups of people in different cultures.
The terminal values in RVS are:

1. True Friendship
2. Mature Love
3. Self-Respect
4. Happiness
5. Inner Harmony
6. Equality
7. Freedom
8. Pleasure
9. Social Recognition
10. Wisdom
11. Salvation
12. Family Security
13. National Security
14. A Sense of Accomplishment
15. A World of Beauty
16. A World at Peace
17. A Comfortable Life
18. An Exciting Life

Instrumental Values refer to preferable modes of behavior. These are preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values.

The Instrumental Values are:

1. Cheerfulness
2. Ambition
3. Love
4. Cleanliness
5. Self-Control
6. Capability
7. Courage
8. Politeness
9. Honesty
10. Imagination
11. Independence
12. Intellect
13. Broad-Mindedness
14. Logic
15. Obedience
16. Helpfulness
17. Responsibility
18. Forgiveness

The task for participants in the survey is to arrange the 18 terminal values, followed by the 18 instrumental values, into an order "of importance to YOU, as guiding principles in YOUR life"

We began a back and forth over the differences between RVS and the 6 perfections. And how would I organize the 6 perfections, if I had to prioritize. It was a very interesting conversation to think about values and how it relates to business and management. 

The most important is always wisdom. The 6 perfections operates like a circle, instead of linear. So what makes them 'perfections' is that each of the attributes (giving, morality, patience, effort, concentration, wisdom) MUST involve and invoke wisdom. The ultimate wisdom is karma/ pure non-duality of things. So doing all 5 perfections with wisdom in mind eventually leads to a direct perception of the 6th: wisdom in the form of a direct perception and actually visually seeing how everything has pure non duality. 


#6 wisdom is what you want ultimately. The other 5 perfections of supported and lead up to wisdom.

In buddhism there is no separation btw what I 'want' and how I 'act.' So to practice the 6 perfections it is implied that you want 1)giving/wealth 2) morality/ethical associates 3) patience/ understanding 4) effort/hard workers 5) concentration/focused surroundings and 6) wisdom.

Btw these are abbreviated the actual six that I want and therefore must do are..

1. mindful giving
-giving with awareness of karma and emptiness

2. morality
-keeping vows of not harming
-keeping vows of working for good of all
-keeping vows of secret word or Tantra (if you have them)

3. Patience: art of controlling anger

4. Joyful Effort - undertaking something w/ purpose and strong intentions

5. Concentration
-meditation practice
-some practice throughout day

6. Wisdom - direct perception of emptiness! Yay!

#6 is ultimately what you want out of life. It's one thing to 'talk' about wisdom and it's entirely different to actually see the world in the highest context. Imagine being able to actually see the inner workings of the world that we only see the surface of 100% of the time.

The direct perception of emptiness usually takes 20 minutes to 1 hr and happens when mind finally breaks down the mental images of world (including sound, taste, touch). The gross body functions almost stop, breath is barely a whisper. You can't hear anything or see any images or taste anything. The mind goes into a pure state of the highest bliss that is beyond the body. It is a brief taste of heaven or buddhamind/Christ consciousness.

You come down off this direct perception of emptiness and things return to normal. Although you're back to living your life, for the next 24-48 hrs you can actually see things in normal reality that you normally wouldn't. You can hear ppl's thoughts, you can see people's underlying minds very clearly. That's a residual side effect and
temporary. There are many other residual side effects that have been described by the millions who have had direct perception of emptiness.

Eventually that fades and things return to 'normal.' One is not a Buddha (yet). Still a human, but have been forever altered. And now there is no turning back. One will get enlightened within a few lifetimes or even within that very same lifetime.

THAT is the ultimate goal to get out of life. Everything is lost. Every joke, every trivia item, even the body is lost. But the mind stream carries on with this unstoppable seed from seeing emptiness directly which elevates me to another level.

They say after that happens -if I go on into future lives- every birth and outcome will be pleasant. I'll be surrounded by wisdom beings, teachers, and all the material resources I need. There is no 'want' any more and I become entirely focused on getting enlightened to help others.

I did a month long deep meditation retreat last summer. While I didn't have a direct perception of emptiness I can attest to the mind going to unbelievably blissful states after a few weeks of meditation. I was getting so high that I was weeping with joy. Everything was unbearably beautiful and blissful. The best sex I've ever had seemed like nothing in comparison to this feeling I had toward the end of the retreat. I was not a body. I could clearly see that I was something much bigger than a sack of skin with sea water sloshing around on the inside. I
was so much bigger than this ridiculous body, so much more blissful. And I had this feeling for days, unlike an orgasm which last a few seconds. So I can only imagine what direct perception of emptiness bliss must feel like.

I could ramble about this subject. But I am very clear what I want: #6. I can have friends, get jobs, hear the latest news, and I enjoy all of that.  But there is no doubt that I want out of this up-and-down, chaotic, frustrating existence. And the only way to do that is with wisdom.

"A Course In Miracles" and Buddhism

In Buddhism we get very technical and specific about how to move the winds and channels in the body to achieve certain results. The past year I've been reading these quantum physics books, and A Course In Miracle, as well as Gary Rennard's The Disappearance of the Universe.  In reading these texts I find that they were perfectly describing the results that Buddhism says comes at a certain state. Exactly the same reporting from masters who have 'gone to that place' of enlightenment. 

A Course in Miracles approaches it slightly differently with the words of Christ. It's all about forgiveness on a pure non dualistic level (which is very Buddhist in some ways). It is forgiving the illusion. Forgiving the difficult boss who I created and is teaching me a lesson, forgiving this trouble, and that issue. Not condescending forgiveness which is poisonous. But true forgiveness and realizing we are all brothers of Christ and children of God. What is here isn't real and therefore is just an illusion. All there is, is God. 

And this isn't a God that created the world. Course states that karma created the world and that's that. God is formless, shapeless and sounds a lot like a codeword for dharmakaya or some sort of essence. And this God/emptiness is the only constant and therefore nothing else is real, so it must be forgiven. Or as one quantum physicists would say: it's the void that's full. The universe is empty. 

Forgive the mistaken belief that I am separated from God, b/c in fact I am not and never have been. This karma and constant reincarnation is a trick of the mind (Buddhist totally believe in this). And reincarnation was in the Bible for most of its history until Catholic Church took it out hundreds of years later. And so this cyclic thing is happening b/c of my own guilt, the constant shifts in my life are little guilt trips that trigger separation and division to appear on all levels. 

I separated from God (Big Bang) and set off a chain of events that occurred and arose the universe. In separating all time and space was created at once. My mind organizes it into a linear fashion to make sense of the universe. It is my guilt of separation and fear (God's gonna get me) that keeps me cycling around. It's what runs this world of the 20,000 illusions, shifting relationships, and separation. Fear from this guilt is what creates up and down feelings, something pleasant that must always change. So the big forgiveness lesson is with myself. I am not guilty. I am innocent. When the voices comes, when the illness comes, when mishaps come that trigger that voice of doubt/guilt which is my ego, I remember that I am innocent. 

God is...

And everything else IS NOT. So I forgive that which IS NOT, b/c it's not real. 

They say my guilt plays itself out with sickness and every dilemma. Anything that troubles or disturbs my peace is coming from that guilt/fear from the initial separation. And all of eternity is waiting. Eternity is right here waiting, for me to strip away my 'illusory guilt' which causes cancers and death, and all forms of separation. This, of course, isn't happening on a conscious level. The mind is massive and sets into motion events that will happen in this life based on that guilt. And my purpose here is to forgive. Forgive and remember: I am innocent. 

I find this works REALLY well with Buddhist studies. This is a Jesus I like and completely know. Not the condemning one, but one who is saying "I am Christ. And so are you." Then what could worry me in a long-term way if I am Christ? Would Christ care about sexual orientation, what nation I come from, what I eat if I'm talking about pure non-dualistic love? All that stuff is dualistic, set to confuse and separate, intended on perpetually re-enacting the initial separation that set everything into motion. The world is filled with outrage, scandal, war, and separation. And it must be forgiven on the purest level.

Supplementary book "The Disappearance of the Universe" is very powerful and goes through Course in Miracles at a more digestible level. The Course is very thick and big and takes a year or so to work through it. I have been feeling lighter. 

When I see scandal I forgive it. Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman: forgive it. Republicans wanting to cut taxes for rich and end programs for the poor? Forgive, forgive forgive. Truly forgive and realize that I will still vote, voice my opinion, but there isn't condemnation or rage. I am aware of the illusion and can't get enraged at it mirroring back my guilt. But when I forgive it, this illusion is released. Instead of getting sick 100 times, maybe I can get sick only 98 times and forgive it, remind myself of innocence and be released from the last 2?

At the very least, it makes reading the news and talking to people a lot easier. Anger is a call for love, so I give love. Love is a call for love so I give love. Everything negative is coming from a place of fear and guilt. So there is nothing to do but release it with forgiveness and then embrace it as Christ/Buddhamind/zero-pt field physics. God is formless, tasteless, colorless. All form comes out of duality so when I get to the level of ultimate forgiveness that is the 'disappearance of the universe' or 'clear light direct perception of emptiness' in Buddhism. The universe dissolves away b/c all duality has been released and with that there is only one thing: God. 

God is.

American Saints

Hagiography ( /ˌhæɡiˈɒɡrəfi/) is the study of saints.

From the Greek (h)ağios (ἅγιος, "holy" or "saint") and graphēin (γράφειν, "to write"), it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common. This latter term, in fact, follows original Greek practice, where ἁγιογραφία refers to visual images of the saints, while their written lives (βίοι or vitæ) or the study thereof are known as ἁγιολογία.

A few nights ago I was dreaming of American saints. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Marilyn Monroe, and other faces were interacting in a surreal landscape of white infinity stages and cyberspace. Some of the saints had full bodies, some were just heads, others were voices. And they were all talking with each other and my friends. Some of the headless bodies looked famous but I couldn't recognize them without their face. They had the body archetypes of fame: women with astonishing curves and chiseled sun-tanned men.  James Dean might have been there in torso form, and Elizabeth Taylor's purple eyes floated in outer space. The decapitated bodies strutted around and moved like celebrities. 

I am dancing with a headless celebrity. Torso-to-torso. I want to ask for her who she was.

Who are you?!? The suspense is killing me!!

But I don't ask. I am afraid she will offended that I don't recognize her. We continue dancing and I pretend to be starstruck. 

Is that Judy Garland's voice?

Aren't Liz's eyes so pretty and bright against the white?

When I woke up my mind was exhausted. I felt like I had been watching a 9-hr Warhol movie with no plot, just stagnant glamour and artifice. 

I sat down to meditate and entire stories and sections of conversation started popping up.  Some of the dialogue was quite good but I've meditated long enough to know that I can't be drawn in by clever dialogue in my head or I would never sit on a cushion again. I pushed the voices into the darkness for an hour. I wondered if they would come back afterward but couldn't be concerned about appearing/disappearing voices and images. 


We were all watching Whitney Houston's funeral and commenting on it via Facebook. When I said something poignant, other people 'liked' it. Some times our discussion would overlap and I would 'liking' someone's commenting while arguing with another. 


I imagined Whitney arriving at a party, shaken and paranoid. Is it the drugs or is someone really following her? The bouncer is excited to see her but Whitney just wants to get inside and away from whomever or whatever is coming up on the elevator. 


When paranoid Whitney gets inside, everyone is dressed like 1980s Whitney, with pink and fluorescent lace tied around frizzy orange hair. This doesn't go over well with her. She freaks out. But she doesn't run. She stays. We sing her songs. She has no place else to go except the echo chamber. 


These chaotic images and thoughts flooded my mind the next day. What does all of it mean? Is this a new play? 


I'll sit with the images, the mirage hagiography. Maybe it will grow organically or perhaps it will disappear back into thin air the more I scrutinize it. New ideas are so tenuous and delicate. Better to let them grown in my dreams. 

The Man Who Saved the World

On September 25th 1983, the world was a few second away from a nuclear holocaust. President Reagan's tough talk had convinced the "soft-brained" hardliners at the KGB that an attack was imminent. As US military began extensive war exercises, the Soviet Union went into a high alert. And then a terrible accident happened. A simple glitch in the computer, made the light bouncing off clouds over the USSR look like incoming missiles on Soviet radar. Computer error happens every once and a while but the alarm went off and sounded the call for a counterattack.

Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov was at the computers that night. He was the officer at the forefront of potential airplane and missile threats before they entered into Soviet airspace. Working from the Soviet radar center, Serpukhov-15, Petrov was the commanding officer in charge. When the alarm sounded it was his call.

Petrov dismissed the initial warning as too bizarre since it only showed one missile coming in. Then the warning light flashed again and again and began showing multiple incoming American ICBM missiles. The USSR computer system counterattack called for an immediate launch of ICBMs on all major US cities. The computer began gearing up for a counterstrike. This Soviet counterstrike would have launched a REAL American attack, which would have triggered a response form NATO, the Soviet bloc, Turkey, and most of the world. Within a period of a few hours the world's major cities would have been experiencing nuclear horror. The estimated death toll would be in the hundreds of millions. The additional survivors would have suffered dozens of generations of the most horrific lives on a scorched, ruined planet.

Imagine Lt. Col Petrov sitting at his desk at that time, which was around the middle of the night for most of the USSR. The alarms deafening roar and lights flashing, people running around, waiting for his orders. All those years of preparation to launch and execute orders. After forty years of talk, the Doomsday had finally arrived.

Petrov's had an impulse. He didn't believe what he saw, what his eyes and ears in the sky were reporting.  So he sat and waited. Although the USSR was atheist, I imagine he would have had some prayer running through his head at that time. It might have been a prayer to Lenin, the founders of the country, his computer or the radar system. He might have even been muttering a few words toward God. But when staring at the end of Western civilization from his desk, I imagine he would have been in dialogue with something or someone, seeking advice greater than his awareness or the computer's call for an attack.

Petrov waited a few seconds, which soon became a few minutes and then several minutes. The Soviet missile sat in their silos. There was nothing to do but wait and give up. Petrov was not going to launch the missiles. After a while, the alarms went dead and lights stopped flashing. The incoming US missiles on the radar screen merely disappeared back into blackness.

It was the biggest computer glitch in modern history. Petrov had quite literally saved the world. But he had also disobeyed orders. Being in a bureaucracy can be tough. I can picture his superiors saying something to the effect of:

Yes, you did save mankind...


 But you didn't follow the manual!

Petrov's was investigated, critiqued, and held under suspicion for being disloyal. Eventually the whole 'saving the world' thing began to weigh on the conscious of even the hardest KGB lifer. Petrov would not be punished but he wouldn't be rewarded either.

As far as bureaucracy goes, his career was finished. He had not filed out the proper paperwork for this particular incident.

Later on, when people realized the severity of what almost happened, Soviet officials downplayed the error and Petrov's contribution. It was all under control, just a tiny glitch. To this day, Soviet officials -out of embarrassment- dismiss Petrov. If they heralded him for what he did, then it would only highlight the gaping errors of a system that resulted in multiple nuclear catastrophes on land (Chernobyl) and in sea (with several nuclear submarines nearing meltdown at sea).

Petrov retired with his little pension and home. His wife passed away and he continued to live on a modest government settlement. Over 20 years later, the Association of World Citizens in San Francisco gave Petrov a little trophy and $1,000 prize for what he did on that day in 1983.

There is no statue marking his life or monument for Petrov's deed. The retired officer underplays his actions in interviews of the years. Petrov continues to claim that he was just 'doing his job.' But he wasn't. If he was just doing his job, then he would have triggered the counterstrike. If Petrov was just doing his job, the world would be a vastly different place.

To imagine that there are people like this in the world every day is astonishing. Retired generals who had an impulse of trust, nuclear plant engineers who took the extra effort one day to notice a crack or leak, or just a bus driver who had an instinctive reaction to hit the brakes when a blur passes across his view turns out to be a kid running across the street. These impulses come from something deeper than the conscious mind. They are triggered by emotions greater than seeking a promotion or getting home as early as possible. There are people out there who are saving the world every day. Petrov's case is just a reminder that I have no idea how much love and trust it takes to keep this world going.

Although not nearly as dramatic as Petrov's case, I have no idea what I am doing in my small actions that is saving the world. Most people will never get the chance to be at the forefront of nuclear war or running into burning buildings to save a trapped resident. But what about the teachers who instructed Petrov? What about his parents who instilled in him the slightest impulse of compassion and patience that would ripen decades later into a most extraordinary occurrence? Were they not saving the world as well by extending love and trust into the mind of a little boy who would refuse his duty to start a nuclear war?

The idea of saving the world sounds so big. But what if salvation was something very small, like kindness to a stranger who will go on to do something quite unexpected. Could it not be that my family and friends -without my knowledge- are saving the world through writing a poem that will inspire action or create a website that will trigger social revolutions? In my actions every day am I not making that very same choice: atonement through love or attack through fear. I have to make that choice. In my little actions I pray that I am impulsively choosing the salvation of the world. May the whispered words of Angels carefully direct my small instincts, urges, and feelings toward that one goal: saving the world.

Petrov and millions of others like him remind me what is at stake every day in what I say, think, or do. I am going to bed now to wake up early and work in the city parks in the morning. Volunteer work in helping to plant new trees and brush. They're building a new park in the East Village that will touch the lives of  thousands of residents long after I have gone. Then from that I will be at a shelter, teaching computer skills to unemployed adults. If I can keep my ultimate goal in mind, then this will be another day that where the salvation will come.

GET WHAT YOU WANT LIST: APRIL 2012

APRIL LIST OF CONTESTS AND COMPETITIONS FOR PLAYWRIGHTS (and other writers)


1. 
Theatre Project Group in New York
Deadline: open

Theatre Project Group

The Theatre Project is seeking full-length play submissions to produce in Manhattan. Have a script you would like to submit? Email your submissions to Development@TheTheatreProject.org.

2.
InterAct Theatre 20/20 Commissions
Deadline: April 20^th (1st pt. of application)
 InterAct Theatre

InterAct Theatre Company is pleased to announce that the fifth round of submissions for its 20/20 New Play Commissions will have a deadline of Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

Long established as one of the country’s most devoted producers of provocative new plays, InterAct seeks to use the 20/20 Commissions to fund the most adventurous, complex, and dramatically interesting plays of tomorrow. Commissions should embrace and explore the wide range of stories that unfold when the larger forces of our world impact the individual. Twelve commissions and grants have already been awarded to plays ranging in style from hard-hitting drama to absurdist surrealism.

For this round of commissions we want to focus on our hometown. Plays that speak strongly to or about Philadelphia will be given extra consideration, as will locally grown writers. However, submissions are NOT LIMITED to Philly and Philadelphians. Passion is the most important part of your proposal. Also keep in mind that two plays recently submitted as both a sample play and a development grant - IN A DAUGHTER'S EYES by A. Zell Williams and MICROCRISIS by Mike Lew - ended up receiving productions on our main stage. So there is additional value to submitting a proposal! 

The application consists of three parts, which must be submitted simultaneously and received by midnight on April 20, 2012:

Statement of Interest:  Please provide a description of the proposed project, including why the issues and themes of the project will be significant to society over the next twenty years, and what your goals would be should yoube granted the opportunity to work with InterAct on the project's development. For Development Award applicants, you may additionally discuss the status of the current work and its development history. Statements of interest should not exceed 2 pages. We prefer proposals that describe a specific interrogation of a particular idea, rather than a vague exploration of a theme. The clearer the story the better. We will not be reading any submissions prior to May 1, so use the time to think through the specificities of your proposal.

Up-to-Date Playwriting CV:  Be sure to include the development history, if any, of the proposed work.
One copy of a previously completed full-length script:  Submitted scripts need not have received previous productions for submission. If possible, please submit a script that fits within InterAct’s central mission. If you do not feel that you have a script suitable to our mission, you may send whatever script you feel best exemplifies the quality and style of your writing.

Please note:

The postmark deadline for completed fifth cycle applications is Midnight EST May 1, 2012, and InterAct will notify all playwrights of its decision via email by September 17, 2012.
    All parts of the application should be submitted as PDFs sent to 2012commissions@interacttheatre.org. Please label the PDFs clearly following this format:

        - Jean Genet Statement
        - Jean Genet CV
        - Jean Genet The Maids (Sample)
        - Jean Genet The Balcony (DA Submission)

    Only full-length plays are eligible for commission or development. Musicals and bills of related one-act plays will not be considered. Collaborations are welcome.
    For all 20/20 New Play Commissions, InterAct reserves the right of first production.
    There is no fee to apply.

Applications should be emailed to 2012commissions@interacttheatre.org.



3.       
Purple RoseTheatre
 Deadline: open-ended
The Purple Rose is dedicated to the development and production of new plays and emerging playwrights. We receive hundreds of synopses and inquiries each season, and our staff reviews each submission.

If a synopsis submission shows promise for possible production, a full script will be requested. Each requested script is read by at least two of our readers, so a waiting period of seven to nine months for a response is not uncommon.

At this time, we are accepting synopsis submissions only. Please do not send full scripts. Please note: the Purple Rose does will not accept, discuss or evaluate screenplays!
 FOR Paper Submissions
Please include:
 * a one-page synopsis of the script
* a character breakdown
* a 15 page dialogue sample
* a self-addressed, stamped envelope

Send your synopsis submission to:

The Purple Rose Theatre Company
ATTN: Script Submissions
137 Park Street
Chelsea, MI 48118


4.
EMOS (Earth Matters on Stage)™ Ecodrama Playwrights Festival ~ 2012
Earth Matters on Stage
Deadline: July 1^st
We are looking for new plays that do one or more of the following:

* Put an ecological issue or environmental event/crisis at the center of the dramatic action or theme of the play.
* Expose and illuminate issues of environmental justice.
* Explore the relationship between sustainability, community and cultural diversity.
* Interpret “community” to include our ecological community, and/or give voice or “character” to the land, or elements of the land.
* Theatrically explore the connection between people and place, human and non-human, and/or between culture and nature.
* Grow out of the playwright’s personal relationship to the land and the ecology of a specific place.
* Theatrically examine the reciprocal relationship between human, animal and plant communities.
* Offer an imagined world view that illuminates our ecological condition or reflects on the ecological crisis from a unique cultural or philosophical perspective.
* Critique or satirizes patterns of exploitation, consumption, or other ingrained values that are ecologically unsustainable.
* Are written specifically to be performed in an unorthodox venue such as a natural or environmental setting, and for which that setting is a not merely a backdrop, but an integral part of the intention of the play.

Submission Guidelines

We are looking for new full-length plays that are written primarily in English (no ten-minute plays please; one-act plays are okay if 30+ minutes in length). Submitted plays should address the thematic guidelines as listed above.

1. All submissions should include a cover page with: the play’s title, the author’s name and contact information.
2. Two blind copies of the FIRST 30 PAGES OF THE SCRIPT ONLY. Please do not put the author’s name on the script, only on the title page.
3. A synopsis of the play and cast requirements.

Submissions must be received by July 1, 2012 to:

EMOS Festival/Theresa May, Artistic Director

207 Villard Hall, Theatre Arts

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403
Deadline: July 1, 2011

Early submission encouraged. / No electronic submissions please.

Evaluation Process

After reading the first 30 pages of all submitted plays, we will evaluate the submissions to reduce the size of the pool. We will then request two full paper copies be sent to us by Sept. 15, 2011. Winners will be selected from this smaller pool.

Questions? See our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you still have a question, email: ecodrama@uoregon.edu.


5.  
Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residency
Deadline: April 30^th
 Stella Adler Studio: http://www.stellaadler.com/cultural-center/playwrights-division/
 The Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City is currently accepting applications for the 2012-2013 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence.

Only playwrights in their early careers, who have not yet had professional productions other than those using the showcase code are encouraged to apply. Also, applicants must not be enrolled in any playwriting program during the residency period. This is a collaborative residency that is mutually beneficial to the mission of Stella Adler Studio and the Playwright. Resident playwrights are encouraged to attend regularly Undergraduate and Conservatory students’ and Lab Theatre’s performances and cultural events at the Studio, and in so doing contribute to the artistic and cultural life of the Stella Adler Studio. Residencies typically begin in September and culminate in a showcase production of a new play in June. Resident playwrights receive a $1000 stipend and have access to the Studio’s space, members of the Clurman Lab Theatre Company, and student actors for readings and workshops.

Completed applications must include a required application form, a full-length, polished but unpublished play (A full-length play is one that constitutes a full evening of theater; a 90-minute one act play is acceptable); a statement of objectives of no more than a page discussing how you would benefit from a collaborative residency with the Stella Adler Studio; and a brief biography emphasizing your history as a playwright. Playwrights must read and agree to the Letter of Agreement on the Stella Adler website before applying. By applying for this residency, playwrights confirm that they have read and agree to the Letter of Agreement. (see web site for Letter of Agreement.)

Completed applications must be received by April 30, 2012.

Send complete applications to:
Peter Nickowitz, Playwrights Division
 The Stella Adler Studio
31 West 27th Street
New York, New York 10001
 Additional information on the Stella Adler Studio and the Harold Clurman Playwrights Division can be found on their website.


6.  
Rockefeller Foundation: Bellagio Grant (yes, playwrights are included)
Deadline: May 1st
Bellagio Arts and Letters Grant
 The Bellagio Residency program offers scholars, artists, thought leaders, policymakers and practitioners a serene setting conducive to focused, goal-oriented work, and the unparalleled opportunity to establish new connections with fellow residents, across a stimulating array of disciplines and geographies. The Bellagio Center community generates new knowledge to solve some of the most complex problems facing our world and creates art that inspires reflection, understanding, and imagination.
 The Center sponsors three kinds of residencies—for scholars, creative artists and practitioners. Creative Artist Residencies last four weeks. We are especially interested in applicants whose work connects in some way with the Rockefeller Foundation’s issue areas, and we also select each cohort for diversity to ensure that interdisciplinary and international connections remain an integral part of the Bellagio experience. In addition, the Center offers collaborative residencies for two to four people working on the same project.
 Collegial interaction with other residents is an essential dimension of the Bellagio experience. Meals and informal presentations of residents' work afford an opportunity for dynamic discussion and engagement within and across disciplines. During special dinners, residents often interact with participants in international conferences hosted in other buildings on the Center's grounds. 

 7.
Provincetown Residencies
Deadline: email them
The Provincetown Community Compact is accepting applications for residencies in two dune shacks in the Cape Cod National Seashore (Provincetown, MA USA). These primitive dwellings in a magnificent setting provide one to three week stays, one with a $500 fellowship for a visual artist, and two funded writers' weeks. For details go to: www.thecompact.org

8.
Undiscovered Voices Scholarship
 Undiscovered Voices: http://www.writer.org/page.aspx?pid=641
Deadline: July 1^st
 Undiscovered Voices Fellowship: Call for Applications The Writer’s Center seeks promising writers earning less than $25,000 annually to apply for our Undiscovered Voices Fellowship.  This fellowship program will provide complimentary writing workshops to the selected applicant for a period of one year, but not to exceed 8 workshops in that year. We expect the selected fellow will use the year to make progress toward a completed manuscript of publishable work. The Writer’s Center believes writers of all backgrounds and experiences should have an opportunity to devote time and energy toward the perfection of their craft. The selected fellow will be able to attend writing workshops offered by The Writer’s Center free of charge.  In addition, the fellow will give a reading from his or her work at the close of the fellowship period (June 2013) and will be invited to speak with local high school students on the craft of writing.
 To apply, candidates should submit
a)       a cover letter signed by the candidate that contains the statement: “I understand and confirm I meet all eligibility requirements of the Undiscovered Voices Fellowship.” The cover letter should include information on the impact this fellowship would have on the candidate.
b)      contact information for two references who can speak to the candidate’s creative work and promise
c)       a work sample in a single genre:
8 pages of poetry, no more than one poem per page
10 pages of fiction, double-spaced, no more than 1 work or excerpt
10 pages of nonfiction (essay, memoir, etc), double-spaced, no more than 1 work or excerpt
OR
15 pages of a script or screenplay
These items should be sent in hard copy to The Writer’s Center, Attn: Undiscovered Voices Fellowship, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD 20815.  The deadline is July 1, 2012.
  
9.
The John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award
 Deadline: April 15^th
 What: A competition for new full-length plays
Entry Deadline: April 15, 2012
Winners Announcement: November, 2012
 This award will be administered by a panel of judges named by the NETC Executive Board. Two cash prizes may be awarded: First Prize of $1000, and Second Prize of $500. A staged reading of the award-winning scripts, or of selected scenes from those scripts, may be given at the annual NETC convention in November or on another occasion. Submissions must be new full-length plays. Musicals will not be considered.  For more information about how to submit, visit http://www.netconline.org/

10.
Don & Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
 Deadline: May 1st
Screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing fictional work for film or television are eligible for this fellowship. Entry scripts must be the original work of one writer, or the collaborative work of two writers, and must be written originally in English. Adaptations and translated scripts are not eligible. Up to five $30,000 fellowships are awarded each year to promising new screenwriters. From the program’s inception in 1986 through 2010, over $3 million have been awarded to 126 writers.

The online application must be completed and script uploaded by 11:59 p.m. on May 2. All entrants will receive notification of their status by e-mail sent no later than August 1 of each year. Quarterfinalist letters are e-mailed by August 1;fellowship recipients are announced in October.  For application materials and information, visithttp://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/index.html
   
11.
Playwrights Realm Writing Fellows
 Deadline: April 30
 Playwrights Realm offers an annual writer’s fellowship for emerging playwrights. All forms of theatre scripts are accepted from plays from a rough draft to a production-ready state through a process of monthly review and revision in a challenging, motivating environment. Fellows also get valuable input from their talented co-fellows and established theater professionals in monthly meetings.  The experience is designed to widen an artist’s network of resources and establish a foothold in New York theater. Finalists for the program will be interviewed in the spring and final selections will be announced in the summer.
 Writing Fellows Receive $2,000 Award, internal reading, final reading for public audience, prime real estate on the Playwrights Realm couch, use of the Playwrights Realm office for printing, writing, meetings, etc. And an occasional hug.
 Go to website for application forms: http://www.playwrightsrealm.org/programs/writing-fellows/apply
 To Apply, send the following materials to writingfellows@playwrightsrealm.org
 1.•Completed application form. Download the application form at playwrightsrealm.org
2.•Theatrical résumé listing all academic credentials and professional productions.
3.•Full draft of play meeting the program criteria that you wish to develop as a Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow. SEE FORMATTING GUIDELINES BELOW.
4.•Recommendation from a teacher or theater professional is suggested, but not required; a list of references to call is also acceptable. 
 The script must be submitted in PDF format with your name and the play title on a cover page and then only the play title on the pages of the script.  DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME ANYWHERE IN THE PDF EXCEPT THE TITLE PAGE.
 All applications must be submitted electronically before April 30, 2011, 11:59PM EST.

 12.
SOHO Rep Writers/Directors Lab Submissions for 2012-2013

DEADLINE: MAY 13^th

They are about to start accepting applications for the 2012/13 Writer/Director Lab. A full program description and application instructions are available for download on our website. Applications are usually due around May 13, 2012. Check website for application as it just opened up April 1^st. Application should be on website this upcoming week.

13.
Lebannon Community Theatre Contest (hey, why not?!?)
 Lebanon Theatre
Deadline: April 30^th

Aspiring playwrights of all ages and experience are invited to submit scripts for LCT's 12th annual play writing contest.

Plays will be judged on content, dialogue, ingenuity, use of theme, and ability to be staged. Plays with special effects, lighting or elaborate sets can not be produced. Previous years' winning plays came from throughout Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic area, and from across the United States and Canada. The authors will maintain all literary rights to their own material. All winning plays will be presented on the LCT stage in the summer.
For further information call: Mary Lou Kelsey at (717) 274-0787
or send an e-mail message to pwc@lct.cc

LCT's Play Writing Contest Committee and the LCT Artistic Board will judge the entries. The winners will be notified by letter near the end of June, 2010. Each winner will receive:

a) a $100 cash prize; and
b) one season ticket for LCT's 2011 season for local winners; and
c) each of the winning plays will be performed on the LCT stage; and
d) each playwright may direct and cast their own play if they wish. Playwright directors will
be assisted by committee members; and
e) a DVD of the production of the winning plays.

All plays submitted should center on a common theme, idea or concept.
This year's theme is "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

All plays submitted must be the original work of the author and must comply with guidelines of length and appropriateness for community theatre audiences. Plays not on theme or not written for this contest will not be judged.

Play's should be at least 10 minutes long, but must not exceed 20 minutes of production time.

Plays should have no more than three scenes using limited sets, props and costumes. Only simple on-off or fade lighting will be considered. The cast of characters must be at least two, but should not exceed eight.

There is no limit to the number of plays each person can submit.

Please submit two copies of your play. Submissions should be typed and double-spaced on one side only. Both copies should be unbound and stapled on the top left corner. Do not use any covers. Use a simple font such as Times New Roman or Courier.

All plays must be submitted by April 30, 2011 and must include on the title page a short paragraph stating how your play makes use of the theme.

Mail your plays to:

L.C.T
P.O Box 592
Lebanon, Pa 17042

14.
North Park Playwright Festival (short plays)
web site
Deadline: June 30^th
Short new plays (no more that 15 minutes, less is fine) that are easily staged and have casts with no more than four people. Our theater is very small and we normally use a minimal set concept in this festival. We have to be able to change sets in just a few minutes as we do six to seven plays each evening of the festival. We don't have space for large casts.

A. We request new work. A play that has had workshops or one or two previous productions is OK, but we are not interested in work that has been produced in numerous other places. Our goal in building the theater was to have a place to produce brand new work and let playwrights have a chance to see their work done for the first time.

B. We seek complete plays rather than excerpts from a larger work.

C. Work will be chosen by the directors we have in the festival. It is not a "contest" and we are not really judging plays in the formal sense. The directors choose the plays we will produce, within the production budget guidelines we give them.

D. Most subject matter is OK. We don't mind controversial issues, etc., but we don't do nudity.

E. We ask that all submissions be sent to us via snail mail at the theater. Address is: North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe, 2031 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92104, Attn Summer Golden, Artistic Director. We have too much trouble with differing email, word processing, and computer platform issues to take them via email. Additionally, our selection process requires the directors read all plays submitted and the cost of printing all the plays we receive each year is prohibitive. Please insure submissions have a title page with complete contact information, a character summary, and are in proper script form. There is no charge to enter.

F. Submissions must be postmarked by June 30, 2011.

G. Send only one script. Multiple submissions do not increase chances of production.

General information:

We are trying to support new work and involve actors, playwrights, and directors of all experience levels. We have had a wide variety of artists involved from very experienced to first time directors and actors to an 8 year old playwright (very short, well received play). We feel having a wide range of experience involved helps the new people learn from the more experienced.

 
15.
Queens Theatre in the Park
web site
Deadline: Open
Queens Theatre in the Park has two New Play Development Programs. At this time, we are only accepting submissions, which fit squarely into the parameters of either of the two following programs:

1. IMMIGRANT VOICES PROJECT
The Immigrant Voices Project is a year-round program that develops new plays reflecting the diverse demographics of New York City for play reading series, workshops and full productions. For IVP, we are interested in plays on any theme by "minority" writers, and plays on "immigrant" themes by non-minority writers.

2. PLAYS A MOTHER WOULD LOVE
Plays A Mother Would Love is a year-round program that seeks new, mainstream comedies, musicals and thrillers with small casts for play reading series, workshops and full productions. For this Series, we are interested in "warm, accessible" comedies or dramas on family themes, featuring older characters.

Submission procedure:

* No unsolicited scripts.
* Email a letter of inquiry, synopsis, cast breakdown, resume and production history to urbinati@aol.com.
* Include a statement, which indicates for which of the two New Play Development Programs you think your play is suited.
* No children's show or one acts, please.
* Production considerations: prefers cast limit of 8
* Response: To letter of inquiry: 3 months
* To requested scripts: 6 months


The Immigrant Voices Project is supported by the Jerome Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and The New York Times Company Foundation, Fund for Midsize Theatres, a project of A.R.T./New York.

Free programming is supported by Travelers Foundation

16.
Good Ear Review (monologues for literary journal)
web site
Deadline: Open

The Good Ear Review - a dramatist's literary journal - is a website dedicated to publishing stand-alone monologues that share a moment in time with the reader (and eventually, the audience). We accept comedy, drama, and all the complexities in between. We are committed to posting original and quality writing from both established writers and emerging playwrights.

Before submitting your work, we strongly encourage you to visit www.TheGoodEarReview.com to read posted monologues so that you may get a sense of the layout and the work that we publish. Submission guidelines are located athttp://thegoodearreview.com/submission-guidelines/.
 Further questions can be directed to info@thegoodearreview.com.

There is no fee for submissions.
   
17.
FRANKLIN FURNACE
 Deadline: April 2^nd (postmarked by midnight)
 Each year Franklin Furnace awards grants to emerging artists, allowing them to produce major works in New York. Grants range between $2,000 and $10,000 based on the peer review panel allocation of funding received by Franklin Furnace. Artists from all areas of the world are encouraged to apply, however, artists supported by funding from Jerome Foundation must live in the five boroughs of New York. Full-time students are ineligible. Franklin Furnace has no curator; each year a new panel of artists reviews all proposals. We believe this peer panel system allows all kinds of artists from all over the world an equal shot at presenting their work. Every year the panel changes, as do the definitions of "emerging artist," "performance art" and "variable media art." So if at first you don't succeed, please try again. Since its inception in 1985 FRANKLIN FURNACE FUND has boosted the careers of such emerging artists as Tanya Barfield, Patty Chang, Papo Colo, Brody Condon, Karen Finley, John Fleck, Kate Gilmore, Murray Hill, Holly Hughes, Mouchette, Pope.L, Pamela Sneed, Jack Waters, Cathy Weis, and Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga.
Deadline: April 2, 2012 (postmark date)
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
This year there is an online application. The Microsoft Excel form is still available but please only use it if the online form gives you difficulty. The online application may be found at this address: http://franklinfurnace.org/artists/franklin_furnace_fund/ffapplication/. There’s a link on that page to register an account. Your information will be saved so that it may be completed in multiple sessions before you submit it. If you can’t use the online form, then download the Excel Application and email it to proposals@franklinfurnace.org after it has been completed. Write "Proposal 12-13" in the subject line.
CHECK SITE FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS http://franklinfurnace.org/artists/franklin_furnace_fund/how_to_apply.php
Also if you have any problems with the online application form, please let Eben Shapiro know ateben@franklinfurnace.org.
MAILING INSTRUCTIONS
Due to space limitations, please try to submit your application materials in one 9” x 12” or smaller envelope.
Send your application to:
2012-2013 Proposals
Franklin Furnace Archive Inc.
80 Arts – The James E. Davis Arts Building
80 Hanson Place #301
Brooklyn, NY 11217-1506
You may deliver your application in person by leaving it at the lobby desk at 80 Hanson Place, Brooklyn from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday. If you prefer to give it to us directly at our office please call first to make sure that someone will be available to receive it.
  
18.
Original Works Publishing
 Deadline: ongoing
Original Works Publishing is a new publishing wing seeking plays. One acts, full lengths, and ten-minute. The play needs to have been produced in some form before sending in.
http://www.originalworksonline.com/submissions2.htm


19.
subtropic

Deadline: April 15th
Subtropics seeks to publish the best literary fiction, essays, and poetry being written today, both by established and emerging authors. We will consider works of fiction of any length, from short shorts to novellas (up to 15,000 words) and self-contained novel excerpts. We give the same latitude to essays. We appreciate work in translation and, from time to time, republish important and compelling stories, essays, and poems that have lapsed out of print.
Submissions are accepted from September 15 to April 15.
Snail Mail
Poetry: Direct to Ms. Sidney Wade. (Simultaneous submissions are not accepted.)
Nonfiction: Direct to Mark Mitchell. (Simultaneous submissions are accepted.)
Fiction: Direct to David Leavitt. (Simultaneous submissions are accepted.)
Submit one story, one essay, or up to four poems. Include a short cover letter with your contact information, including your email address. Please include your contact information on the submission as well. We respond exclusively by e-mail. Manuscripts cannot be returned under any circumstances. There is no fee for snail mail submissions.
Subtropics
P.O. Box 112075
4008 Turlington Hall
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-2075
Electronic Submissions
We now accept electronic submissions, via Submittable® (formerly Submishmash). Click the link below to submit your work electronically. Each electronic submission requires a $3 fee, payable by credit card. Put up to four poems in one document. Accepted file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
Submit to Subtropics
Some Thoughts from the Editors
°Please read an issue of the magazine before you send us your work in order to get a feel for the kind of writing we publish. You’ll see that we don’t publish science fiction, fantasy, other genre fiction, or anything with talking animals.
° We ask that you submit only one story at a time, and wait until you have heard from us before sending more. Once you have received a reply from us, please wait at least one month before sending another submission.
° Please send no more than five poems in any one batch.
° We try to respond as quickly as possible to submissions, and for this reason are not able to write personal replies.
° A preponderance of the stories coming our way are written in first-person present tense; we are starting to grow weary of this perspective. Please keep this in mind.
° We are skeptical of the second person, though willing to be persuaded.
° More thoughts to come as they occur to us.
For stories and essays, Subtropics pays a flat fee of $1,000 ($500 for a short short) for North American first serial rights. Poets are paid $100 per poem. Subtropics pays upon acceptance for prose; for poetry, we pay after the publication of the issue preceding the one in which the author’s work will appear.