Red Shirt Rooftop Reading Festival of New Ten-Minute Plays
Deadline: June 19th
The Rooftop Reading Festival is an annual event dedicated to public readings of new ten-minute plays. Hailed by the New York Post as “Theater on high,” this dynamic festival not only presents art in a very unique setting, but helps to build strong community and bonds among the America Theater Artists who participate.
Ten playwrights will be in residence at the festival as they continue to develop their new scripts. Input and support from a professional core group of actors, directors, dramaturges, producers, and audience members will be provided.
Each playwright selected will receive a stipend, as well as meetings with Red Shirt’s Producing team to help support the future development of the playwright’s work in the Commercial Theater.
Literary agents may submit scripts as well.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions open from May 1st – June 19th
Application fee of $20 in cash or money order made out to Red Shirt Entertainment
Include the playwright’s current CV with 10 minute play
No more than three characters in the cast
Playwrights must be available to be in NYC in residence in September.
Festival Public Reading Days are September 20-22nd
Playwrights are responsible for their own housing and travel during the festival in NYC
Please mail ten-minute play with cover letter, CV and $20 application fee to:
Red Shirt Entertainment
c/o Rooftop Reading Festival
18 West 23rd St.
4th Floor
New York, NY 10010
NOTE: No drop-offs, emails or phone calls please.
2.
The Sky Cooper/Marin Theatre Company
Deadline: August 31st
New American Play Prize
Norton J. “Sky” Cooper established the New American Play Prize at Marin Theatre Company in 2007 to celebrate the work of the American playwright and to encourage the creation of bold, powerful new voices and plays for the American stage. The Sky Cooper Prize will be awarded annually to either an established or emerging playwright for an outstanding new work. The play selected as the Sky Cooper winner will receive a full production at Marin Theatre Company as part of the theatre’s annual season and will be given regional and national promotion. In addition, the playwright receives a $10,000 award, as well as travel and accommodations for the MTC rehearsal period.
GUIDELINES
Plays must be full-length in any genre: comedy, drama, etc. Musicals, translations, individual one-acts, and any play previously submitted for the Sky Cooper or David Calicchio Prizes are not eligible. Collaborations are welcome, in which case prize benefits are shared. Plays may not have received a full-scale, professional production prior to submission. Plays that have had a workshop, reading, or non-professional production are still eligible. Playwrights must be citizens of the United States. Playwrights with past production experience are especially encouraged to submit new work. Only one submission per playwright is allowed each year. If you are eligible for the David Calicchio Award you may submit the same play for both prizes.
Submission is a two-phase process.
Phase I: Submit a two-page maximum abstract of the play including title, character breakdown, brief story synopsis and playwright bio or resume. Also include 10 pages of consecutive sample dialogue. Do not send videos or CDs. Literary agents may submit full scripts of their client’s work. All abstracts and dialogue samples will be read. From these, selected manuscripts will be solicited for Phase II by October 1. Due to the high number of submissions, not every playwright will receive a response to their Phase 1 submission. Do not send a manuscript with or instead of the abstract. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be read. Due to the high number of submissions we cannot return any materials. If you would like notification that your submission was received, please send it with a SASP. Electronic submissions are accepted in Word or PDF format only and paper copies must also be sent to MTC if requested. Please NO PHONE OR EMAIL inquiries.
Phase II: All manuscripts that have been solicited after Phase I will be read. Manuscripts should be neatly typed, securely bound and have the playwright’s name, contact address and phone number clearly visible on the front page. No solicited manuscript will be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope with adequate postage.
All final selections are made by Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company.
Submissions are accepted between April 1 and August 31 (postmarked).
Address all submissions to:
The Sky Cooper/Marin Theatre Company New American Play Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
Or electronically to skycooper@marintheatre.org
3.
David Calicchio/Marin Theatre Company Emerging Playwright Prize
Deadline: August 31st
Norton J. “Sky” Cooper established the Emerging American Playwright Prize award at Marin Theatre Company in 2007 in honor of David Calicchio’s lifelong career as a playwright and in support of Marin Theatre Company’s commitment to the discovery and development of new and emerging American playwrights. The Calicchio Prize will be awarded annually to a professionally unproduced playwright for a new work that shows outstanding promise and a distinctive new voice for the American theatre. The play selected as the Calicchio Prize winner will receive 2 public staged readings at Marin Theatre Company as part of the theatre’s annual New Works Series. The playwright will receive a $2,500 award, as well as travel and accommodations for the MTC rehearsal period (25 hours).
GUIDELINES
Plays must be full-length in comedy, drama, etc. Musicals, translations, adaptations, individual one-acts and any play previously submitted for the Sky Cooper or David Calicchio Prizes are not eligible. Collaborations are welcome, in which case prize benefits are shared. Playwrights may not have received a full-scale, professional production of the submitted play, or any of their other works, prior to submission. Plays and playwrights that have had workshop, reading or non-professional productions are still eligible. Playwrights must be citizens of the United States. Only one submission per playwright is allowed each year. If you plan to also submit your play to the Sky Cooper Play Prize you may do so but it must be the same play.
Submission is a two-phase process.
Phase I: Submit a two-page maximum abstract of the play including title, character breakdown, brief story synopsis and playwright bio or resume. Also include 10 pages of consecutive sample dialogue. Literary agents may submit full scripts of their client’s work. All abstracts and dialogue samples will be read. From these, selected manuscripts will be solicited for Phase II by October 1. Due to the high number of submissions, not every playwright will receive a response to their Phase 1 submission. Do not send a manuscript with or instead of the abstract. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be read. Due to the high number of submissions we cannot return any Phase I materials. If you would like notification that your submission was received, please send it with a SASP. Electronic submissions are accepted in Word or PDF format only and paper copies must be sent to MTC if requested. Please NO PHONE OR EMAIL inquiries.
Phase II: All manuscripts that have been solicited after Phase I will be read. Manuscripts should be neatly typed, securely bound and have the playwright’s name, contact address and phone number clearly visible on the front page. No solicited manuscript will be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope with adequate postage.
All final selections are made by Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company.Submissions are accepted between April 1 and August 31 (postmarked).
Address all submissions to:
The David Calicchio/Marin Theatre Company Emerging American Playwright Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
Or electronically to davidcalicchio@marintheatre.org
4.
Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest
Deadline: October 31st
The Castillo Theatre sponsors the Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest annually. In its sevent year, the purpose of the political play contest to encourage the writing of scripts for the stage that engage the political/social/cultural questions affecting the world today and/or historical events and issues that impact on our political/cultural heritage. While Castillo recognizes that in the broadest sense, all theatre is political, the contest is seeking politically progressive plays that: look at social and/or economic problems and challenges; explore possibilities of social transformation; and, reflect the concerns and interests of communities and/or which explore the importance of community. The contest also welcomes scripts that experiment with form and seek new ways of seeing and new ways of experiencing theatrical performance. The plays submitted to the Fratti-Newman Contest may be written in any style, set in any historical time, geographic or imaginary location, contain any number of characters and be of any length. The plays must be in English and cannot be musicals or adaptations. No scripts will be considered that have previously been submitted to this contest, have received a production or won other contests. Only one script per playwright will be accepted.
The contest is judged by a team of distinguished theatre artists. The winning script(s) will receive a reading and/or a production at the Castillo Theatre in New York City during the theatre’s 2014 summer season.
All scripts should be submitted in hard copy and must be accompanied by:
A statement of the political/social/cultural questions that the script engages (scripts without a statement will not be considered);
A brief synopsis;
A character breakdown, including gender, age and ethnic requirements, if any;
A 100-word biography of the playwright;
A current email address for the playwright
Please note:
•Receipt of script will be acknowledged via email.
Scripts will not be returned.
Castillo will not give critical feedback to playwrights/contestants.
Contest winners are required to sign a letter of agreement, which will include but not be limited to granting the right for Castillo to produce one or more readings and/or a full production of the winning play.
Contest winners are responsible for travel expenses or any other expenses incurred as a result of participating in the development of the play with Castillo, or as a result of attending the reading and/or full production.
All scripts must be postmarked by October 1st
The winner(s) will be publicly announced at the Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre in New York City in May of 2014.
Send all submissions to:
Castillo Theatre
543 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Attn: Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest
Questions and inquiries should be addressed to Madelyn Chapman at 212-356-8485 or mchapman@allstars.org.
5.
31 Plays in 31 Days
Deadline: August
Coming this August we challenge any and all playwrights from near to far to write a play a day. Are you playwright enough? Prove to yourself you are and register today!
We look forward to writing with you in August!
Email questions to: rachel@31plays31days.com
6.
Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence
Deadline: June 7th
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is currently accepting applications for the 2013-2014 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence. This is a collaborative residency that is mutually beneficial to the mission of the studio and the playwright. We are seeking playwrights who:
- are in their early careers
- are unpublished
- have not yet had professional productions other than those using the showcase code
- have a vested interest in working with a community of artists
- are interested in engaging in a discussion about how the studio can support and challenge their work
While this program previously offered a production to conclude the year, the studio is interested in co-designing a residency with the playwright that will support and challenge their process. The course of the residency is not regimented, but may be described as “playwright’s choice” within the resources and capabilities of the studio. Past participants have chosen some of the following:
1) a series of readings on a play written during the course of the year
2) a series of readings on a variety of plays/pages
3) writing a new work for an ensemble of graduate level actors
4) a showcase production
The resident will engage in a discussion with the Artistic Director and other staff to explore what activities might be most helpful to their process during the year. Residencies typically begin in September and culminate 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 at the studio; and a brief biography emphasizing your history as a playwright. Playwrights must read and agree to the Letter of Agreement before applying. By applying for this residency, playwrights confirm that they have read and agree to the Letter of Agreement.
7.
Yale Drama David Charles Horn
Deadline application: August 15th
The Yale Drama Series is seeking submissions for its 2014 playwriting competition. The winning play will be selected by the series' current judge, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman. The winner of this annual competition will be awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of his/her manuscript by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Lincoln Center Theater.
There is no application form or entry fee. Please follow these guidelines in preparing your manuscript:
1. This contest is restricted to plays written in the English language. Worldwide submissions are accepted.
2. Submissions must be original, unpublished full-length plays written in English. Translations, musicals, and children's plays are not accepted. The Yale Drama Series is intended to support emerging playwrights. Playwrights may win the competition only once.
3. Playwrights may submit only one manuscript per year.
4. Plays that have been professionally produced or published are not eligible. Plays that have had a workshop, reading, or non-professional production or that have been published as an actor’s edition will be considered.
5. Plays may not be under option or scheduled for professional production or publication at the time of submission.
6. The manuscript must begin with a title page that shows the play's title and your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address (if you have one), page count and (if applicable) a list of acknowledgments; a second title page which lists the title of the play only, a 2-3 sentence keynote description of the play, a list of characters, and a list of acts and scenes.
7. Plays must be typed/word-processed, page-numbered and in standard professional play format. A brief biography may be included at the end of the manuscript, on a separate page, but is not required.
8. The Yale Drama Series reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.
9. The Yale Drama Series reserves the right of the judge to not choose a winner for any given year of the competition and reserves the right to determine the ineligibility of a winner, in keeping with the spirit of the competition, and based upon the accomplishments of the author.
Submissions for the 2014 competition must be postmarked no earlier than June 1, 2013 and no later than August 15, 2013.
Do not send the only copy of your work. Manuscripts cannot be returned after the competition. If you wish receipt of your manuscript to be acknowledged, please include a stamped, self-addressed postcard.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS:
The Yale Drama Series Competition strongly urges electronic submission. By electronically submitting your script, you will receive immediate confirmation of your successful submission and the ability to check the status of your entry.
Electronic submissions for the 2014 competition must be submitted no earlier than June 1, 2013 and no later than August 15, 2013.
8.
America-in-Play
Deadline: July 1st
AMERICA-IN-PLAY. Founded in 2005, AIP
is dedicated to the development of new American plays and performances. AIP’s mission is to immerse contemporary theatre and related artists in a neglected legacy of play and performances created between the Revolution and World War I I in order to inspire contemporary theatre making grounded in a shared cultural legacy.
AIP works with artists in three-year cycles of workshops and are now soliciting
applications for a new cohort to begin in the fall of 2013.
If you would like to know more about what we do, visit the website
at americainplay.org. I also invite you to contact me directly if you have questions:
lthomson@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
Deadline: August 1st
Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing definitive and transformative theatre spawned from the African Diaspora as well as from other world cultures. Congo Square Theatre Company seeks to establish itself as an institution of multicultural theatre.
We are interested in full-length plays, translations, adaptations, musicals and performance art. We will consider productions of previously produced plays.
We do not accept unsolicited scripts for consideration for our seasons. Plays maybe submitted through a literary agent or accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a theater professional (i.e. an artistic director or literary manager at a professional theater). If neither applies, write a letter of inquiry including a brief synopsis, cast list, relevant production history, and 10-15 pages of sample dialogue. The company may then request a complete script.
Send submissions to:
Congo Square Theatre Company
Attn: Daniel Bryant
2936 N. Southport
Chicago, IL 60657
Please send all submissions June 1 – August 1.
No email or fax submissions accepted. Please include a SASE if you would like your materials returned.
Submission Deadline: August 1, 2013
10.
Overtime Theatre
Deadline: August 1st
The Overtime Theater is seeking play submissions for our 2014 season. Devoted to original work, we are particularly interested in new plays that are innovative in form and bold and moving in content. San Antonio’s “Theater for the People” -- the Current readers’ favorite theater for four years in a row -- creates a wide range of plays, from scrappy nerdcore to weird fringe, from heartwarming to hilarious, and has a loyal following. Located near the blossoming Pearl Brewery complex at 1203 Camden Street, we are at the heart of the city’s most exciting arts district, right next to the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Museum Reach of the Riverwalk, and the South Broadway renaissance.
We are seeking original experimental and devised work, film and novel adaptations, translations and adaptations of classics, musicals, genre parodies, political pieces, community-based plays, science-fiction and superhero epic adventures, broad comedy, gritty realism, and especially that which we haven’t seen and can’t be categorized. We are looking for unique local and national voices, visions, characters, and worlds that could only be live theatrical events, although they may (and are encouraged to) engage other media.
In all the plays we select, we are looking for work charged with a sense of now, pieces that wake the audience up to the present moment.
Please submit all completed plays or inquiries to BOTH the Literary Manager, Rachel Joseph at rjoseph@trinity.edu and the Artistic Director, Kyle Gillette atkgillett@trinity.edu no later than August 1, 2013. We accept electronic submissions only on a .pdf or .doc file. Please include contact information, cast requirements, and technical aspirations. We will acknowledge receipt of work and inform playwrights of their submission status by the end of November 2013.
*Because all of the work at the Overtime is indeed created “overtime,” artists receive compensation through our “love bucket”--audience donations split with the cast and crew. To be honest, it isn’t a lot, but that has never stopped us from surviving and thriving as a truly unique independent theater.
We look forward to reading your work!
--
11.
UMASS LAB
Deadline: July 1st
WHAT IS THE UMASS NEW PLAY LAB?
Our mission is to develop two exceptional new plays per year in cooperation with visionary playwrights. The Play Lab is, in essence, a writer's playground: a stimulating and constructive artistic environment founded on three guiding principles of engagement, collaboration, and discovery. The UMass Amherst Department of Theater's commitment to new play development is internationally recognized, from our groundbreaking work with New WORLD Theater to our recent collaborations with artists like Will Power, Marcus Gardley, and Constance Congdon. We approach new play development with rigor, focus, and sensitivity—and we're seeking playwrights who are as passionate about this process as we are.
2. HOW IS THE UMASS NEW PLAY LAB STRUCTURED?
The Play Lab is a UMass Department of Theater mainstage production, running from March 24 – April 5, 2014. Two playwrights will be chosen for concurrent 10-day residencies during this period. These residencies are structured around a series of public staged readings directed and dramaturged by UMass graduate students and performed by undergraduate actors. The 10-day workshop term allows time for exploration in rehearsal and the generation of new material.
3. DOES THE UMASS NEW PLAY LAB PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT?
Yes. We offer a $750 honorarium per playwright. Accommodations will be provided. Playwrights are responsible for their own travel arrangements and meals.
4. WHAT KINDS OF PLAYS CAN I SUBMIT?
Plays must be full-length. Musicals are not accepted. Submissions may have had a previous reading, workshop, or production; as a rule, though, the Play Lab exists to develop relatively new work, so unproduced material will be given priority in our selection.
5. HOW DO I SUBMIT MY PLAY(S)?
Submit manuscripts to newplaylab@theater.umass.edu. All documents must be submitted in .pdf format; plays formatted otherwise will be disqualified. Please include a concise playwright's bio and development history of your play in the body of the e-mail.
6. WHAT IS THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE?
The deadline is Monday, July 1st.
12.
Valencia College Theatre
Deadline: July 30th
Valencia College Theater announces a call for script submissions for its 23rd annual Florida Playwrights’ Competition. As it has since 1991, Valencia will produce a full-length original play in Spring 2014 as part of its regular subscription series.
Playwrights (who must reside in Florida) are invited to submit a cover letter, resume or bio, one page synopsis, and the first 15 pages of no more than two never-before-produced manuscripts. The deadline for this first phase of submission is July 30, 2013. A committee will evaluate the excerpts and selected playwrights will be invited to submit the full manuscript as part of the second phase of the submission process.
From these manuscripts, one play will be chosen for development as a workshop production with the playwright’s participation. The writer will receive a stipend to cover travel and other expenses related to the production. The administrator of the competition plans to announce the winning play in early September 2013, and the workshop process will begin in late fall 2013 or early spring 2014.
Scripts must be original, previously unproduced, full-length plays. Scripts that have received staged readings may be submitted. Collaborations are acceptable, but children’s plays, adaptations, and musicals are ineligible at this time.
Electronic submission of the cover letter, resume or bio, one-page synopsis and 15-page excerpt is required. Please send submissions and questions to Valencia’s incoming Artistic Director (May 2013), John DiDonna, at jdidonna@valenciacollege.edu.
13.
terraNOVA Collective's 2014 Groundbreakers Playwrights Group
Deadline: Applications available June 5th-August 5th
Since 1996, terraNOVA has developed over 90 new plays through our Groundbreakers program.
Groundbreakers Playwrights Group is an annual developmental playwriting lab, in which 6 playwrights receive the unique opportunity to work on a play-in-progress with the goal of creating a completed draft. Each playwright will hear their play read around the table by professional actors 3 times over 18 weeks, receiving feedback from the Groundbreakers Playwrights Group, special guests and the artistic staff of terraNOVA Collective. terraNOVA assembles a diverse group devoted to creating theatrical, original, innovative, socially relevant new work for the stage and welcomes submissions of new plays-in-progress that will benefit from collective feedback and further terraNOVA Collective's artistic mission. We are especially interested in playwrights who, in addition to working on their own play, have an interest in attending weekly workshops to engage in the development of other playwrights' work. Groundbreakers is made possible through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Dramatists Guild Fund.
Deadline for applications: August 5, 2013
Notification: October 1, 2013
PARTICIPATING PLAYWRIGHTS WILL RECEIVE:
An opportunity to create a 10-minute play to be showcased in terraNOVA’s Annual Benefit.
Complimentary tickets to all terraNOVA events in the current season.
Hands-on artistic support and professional development guidance from terraNOVA's artistic staff.
A workshop and reading performance in terraNOVA's annual Groundworks New Play Series.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY:
Must be able to attend weekly sessions. Attendance is mandatory.
Questions can be directed to jessi@terranovacollective.org
14.
Horse & Cart
Deadline: June 30th
Horse & Cart is hosting our first playwriting competition and festival, The PlayOffs. A select group of writers will be put through a series of competitions to test their playwriting prowess in order to win a $500 cash prize, and you get to watch (and vote!!!)
Featuring 5 weeks of live, hot-off-the-presses world premiere work, this is the best chance to see new plays come to life right before your eyes!
Submission Guidelines – 2013
Playwrights interested in participating should submit 5-10 pages of unpublished, unproduced work that highlights your abilities as a playwright along with contact info to horseandcartcompany@gmail.com with the subject line “Play-offs Submission”.
Submissions are due by 10pm, Sunday June 30th.
Playwrights who have been accepted into the competition will be notified by Sunday, July 14th.
Once accepted into the competition, playwrights will be asked for completely new material for weekly submissions based on writing prompts. Performances showcasing playwrights’ material will be produced live in Denver, CO every Thursday in August, where submissions will be judged and weekly eliminations will take place, leading to a winning playwright being announced Thursday, August 29th.
The winner of the competition will receive a $500 cash prize, and the opportunity to develop a full-length play for production with Horse & Cart to kick off the following year’s Play-offs festival.
All contestants accepted into the competition will have their pieces featured in a Horse & Cart e-publication, and receive a royalty for all copies sold.
Contestants will not be asked for a submission fee. We’d love to see all the playwrights attend the weekly performances and judging, but by no means are they required to do so. Attendance at performances will not affect results of the competition.
15.
Mobtown Players Reading Series
Deadline: August 30th
Last season, the play development wing of Baltimore’s Mobtown Players workshopped three new plays. One of them, Madeline Leong’s Stage IV, will receive a full production on the Mobtown stage this summer (July 26-August 10). For the 2013-2014 season, we will again devote 4 slots to the development of new work by area writers.
Each of the first 3 slots will consist of back-to-back weekends of public readings. The Mobtown Players will supply actors, directors, and marketing acumen. Playwrights will have a chance to revise their drafts based on feedback from the first weekend’s readings, and to rehearse those revisions for the second weekend’s readings. The goal for the 4th slot is to select one script to receive a full production by the Mobtown Players. The winning script will also receive a $50 honorarium.
Scripts for the first slot, which will run October 11-19 (2013), should be submitted by July 31. Scripts for the remaining two slots, which will run January 10-18 (2014) and March 28-April 5 (2014), should be submitted by August 31. If you prefer a particular slot, please include that information with your submission; otherwise, we will consider you for all three.
Plays may be any length, genre, or style and may be written on any topic. Please include with your submission 3-5 questions you still have about your play or scenes/moments you’d like to develop. (You won’t be held to this, but it will provide a starting point if we select your play.) You must be able to attend most rehearsals and each reading of your play. If you have questions, please contact Brent at mobtownplaywrights@gmail.com. Scripts should be submitted electronically to the same email address.
