Broadway Betrayal

Tony, in the tangerine polo shirt, plopped down next to me at BETRAYAL and nudged my arm. "Hey, quiet! Can't you see we're trying to sleep?' I smiled and said "I hope that's not the case.' A co-worker gave me his very expensive orchestra seat for the performance tonight. Tony was there with his wife and started hitting me up about my opinion on the musicals he saw. He loved AIN'T TOO PROUD across the street, thought HADESTOWN was 'okay good,' gushed about seeing MOULIN ROUGE tomorrow, and was sad that he was going to miss THE ROSE TATTOO due to flight plans back home to Chicago. I told him that I went to Northwestern and he was at Depaul. He had never seen Pinter before and wanted to know what he should expect. 'Well...there won't be as much dancing as in AIN'T TOO PROUD.' Tony joked that they should open the show with a Motown number and that would win over the crowd. Yes, I think that would do it. We talked about Chicago, theatre and then oddly switched over to the Miami Dolphins since he loved coach Don Shula. I love Don Shula too so we talked about strategy and his legacy for a while.

Anyway, the play begins. It's very well acted. It's also very very...pretentious. Like 1990s OBSESSION perfume commercial pretension in the design element. Stark lighting, bare stage, fluorescent tracks to emphasize the hopelessness. It was an awful telegraphing of 'MESSAGE' by design and directing. The text is already sparse. We don't need sparse on top of sparse. These people have obviously never read BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS where Professor David Ball excoriates designers who create a show that tells you exactly how everything ends in the first minute...thus sucking all the fun and magic out of the play. The key example used in the book is when MACBETH'S castle in the opening scene is designed to look like a haunted house with blood dripping from the ceiling. In the actual text the King remarks on how wonderful everything is, which makes the audience think the King is an idiot. We know he's going to die but the lines imply that there has to be some hope. Bad design ignores the lines and creates a concept which telegraphs the end. Well, that's what BETRAYAL'S design did: it robbed the actors and audience of the ability to go on the journey. it was a classic example of 'Bad Ivo Van Hove' which thinks directing is bludgeoning the audience with metaphors...and then drowning them in red dye...so DEEP. Wow, that was SO SO interesting how you just shat on all the text and took over the play and turned it into a conceptual exhibit.

At the end of the play, we are told that an 'important artistic event' has happened through music, stark lighting, and lots of artisty catatonic stares. Of course, the audience -which had been dead-ass asleep, snoring, fidgeting, and sighing- gives it a standing ovation because it's so so important. I realize the standing ovation is for the audience, not the performers. It's an acknowledgement of their patience for 'important art.'

Tony, in the tangerine polo, had been sighing and fidgeting throughout. At the end, he asked me what I thought and I said that it was 'ok and a bit of a letdown.' He seemed shocked that I didn't love it like everyone else. He loved it..or the standing ovation had convinced him that he loved it...or the ticket prices convinced that he better fucking love this play considering how much time, effort, and money was spent for this weekend. He ambled out with his wife and I wished them well. May we stay true to our own thoughts, and not betray them for the safety of the flock.

Hurricane Map Logic

Hurricanes can be scary and dangerous, but it's just different when you grow up in the strike zone. While my parents didn't have a 'daredevil' mental state, there was a certain South Florida attitude of 'oh well, if you're gonna die, you're gonna die, so STFU about it.' My Dad would take me shopping during category 1 and 2 hurricanes because we would have the day off. As a kid I would hang up the Publix's annual Hurricane map on my bedroom wall. They handed out these free maps to customers every spring. The game was to track the storms each hurricane season. Every storm got a different color and you would change the name if it went from a Tropical Depression to a Hurricane. The whole game was demystifying. You looked at a hurricane as a logical progression.

Local tv meteorologists would warn viewers about a big sandstorm in Northern Africa and kids could take out their hurricane marker and date the sandstorm and put a dot on the map. A sand storm would swirl off the African shores and turn into a sea storm. And that might shift into a tropical depression and then it was a system to track. We were conscious that this thing on a map could move its way toward us, blowdown our homes, and kill. But it wasn't scary or nerve-wracking. It felt more like 'I wonder what's going to happen now? Oh, the storm turned this way...that's fascinating. Is this going to hit us?' Curiosity canceled out the fear. The grocery store hurricane maps were an important life lesson. I don't have control over the sandstorms and hurricanes...the literal and metaphorical kind.

There is an odd/magical human power to naming something. When you give something a 'name,' track it, categorize it, you bring it within the realm of the human spirit. Whether it's race, gender, diseases, or storms, this 'naming power' can trigger great discoveries or cause great harm....but it always demystifies the situation. We aren't as smart as dolphins but we can 'name the hell' out of things and gain power over ourselves.

Falsely Accused (thoughts from 2015)

He is homeless and people think he stole money from a community center donation envelope. The community leaders wants to ban him. He is my friend so I bought him groceries and we took refuge from a tropical storm in an empty Miami parking garage. He is my lesson so I remembered the Buddhist perspective of what the mind goes through when it feels 'persecuted.' In the second grade I was accused of stealing someone's lunch. I became conscious of being the only black person at a lunch table and not being anywhere near the alleged crime. It was my first odd experience of 'wait, what? Who is this person you speak of who steals white girl's lunches and lies?'

For my inability to confess to the crime and produce another lunch I got yelled at in front of other students and detention. She later found her lunch, which she had misplaced. Even though I wasn't near her, she assumed I must have stolen it and the adult powers believed that to be true. There was no apology issued. It was the first significant schism when I realized 'wait, people think I did something despite no evidence. And they are going to punish me based upon an opinion.'

Everyone has these moments of being falsely accused throughout their lives whether they are black or white, male or female, rich or poor. It is a test. It is an awful trial. I reacted badly and told the girl 'I wish I would have stolen your lunch' before knocking her bag to the ground. Since that time I have been given many more opportunities to react in different ways to new and strange accusations. I hope I have shown my character in not letting false accusations drag me out of myself. I told my friend that -no matter what he has done and no matter how people treat him- I hope he doesn't let accusations bring out the need for revenge or hatred. I hope he doesn't slip into that final surrender of thinking 'maybe I should be as bad as they think I am' because then we fulfill their ugly prophecy. The storm passed. We hugged and he walked off into the light drizzle.

Type. Write. Boom.

Write like you're talking to a friend. A friend you're so excited to see that you don't care about punctuation, spelling, or sophisticated aesthetics. Write like you're so excited/frustrated/angry/ exhilarated/despondent that you just want to tell them this story. You need to tell them this story. Write like it's 12:01 AM after the 2016 elections, or when you got your first job, or when you were stuck in an elevator, or that first time when you thought you were going to die, that first moment when you got a glimpse of mortality and you were snatched back to safety but your heart was still racing because death had breathed on you...just a bit...to let you know that He is closer than you think. Write to me like your cousins, aunties, and BFF's. Write to me like I'm sitting across from you at dinner, or lying next to you in bed.

This morning I was writing an email to a friend. I became aware of how fast I was typing. It sounded like machine gun. The staccato rhythm seemed to imprint itself on the sentences. My excitement sped my fingers across the keyboard. I remember a time when I still used a typewriter for high school papers. When I really got going, the typewriter would have this wonderful hesitation and then...

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

All at once the letters would fly on to the page. The sound and kinetic feel was so beautiful. Some times I would gather myself to speed through a sentence just so I could see that burst of sound, steel, ink, and heat. If I really got going and sped through three or four sentences, I could feel the engine hum afterward, like it was gasping for air, like steam was coming from the machine. That was my first experience with the visceral feel of urgent writing.

DING, the bell would signal when it was time to start another line and then CLACK-SLIDE-CLACK right back on track. By the time I got to my senior year of high school, typewriters were replaced by computers. By the time I got to college, computer labs were becoming obsolete. Everyone had their own desktop and, in a few more years, those clunky overheated beasts were replaced by laptops. The laptops have gotten thinner and faster. But I don't think the current generation will ever know what it viscerally feels like to write with urgency, how writing can punch ink onto paper, make an engine whirl, make the fingers tingle from the CLACK-SLIDE-CLACK feel of inspiration. 

Artistic Development

"90% of all development deals are bullshit. They post an article w/ your pic and it doesn't mean anything."

A few years ago a more seasoned writer was talking to me about development. He said that it was fine but not something to chase. It wasn't a big deal and -often- it was a trap. He said that so many young writers get development deals that pay them money upfront. The agent gets money, some attention, and then they are sent to development hell. They spend years fiddling around with a project no one is going to make. On the off-chance they do manage to get through hell, they won't be given a green light until they find a showrunner, and few showrunners want to take on an inexperienced writer. When the writer then tries to just get staffed, they have a black mark against them: they have no track record. Even worse...they're old news.

I told the writer that I knew of success stories, but I was assured that those were a very small percentage. Lighting in a bottle. He said it was better to get experience. The real development isn't in practice. The real development is doing the actual thing. Theatre suffers from the same problem: young writers get workshopped to death, but the real growth happens in actual productions. He said the most important thing is to get on a show. It's better to do 'the thing.' When the time comes, you can sign on to a project without any babysitters or nannies.

I think about how many tv writers and playwrights are nannied to death, smothered by the good intention of safety measures. Our arts would be better if we allowed young writers to take the training wheels off. Fail and fail again...until you fly.

The Craftsman vs the Salesman: An Artistic Dilemma

I walking with another playwright/tv writer in LA a few days ago. They were lamenting about all the incompetent ppl they've worked with in TV. The one defining trait is that all of the bosses have been able to sell themselves to executives..even when they don't know what they're doing. Even when they're lost, they project confidence. An older writer told me a story about working with David Milch at his peak. This scribe would attend meetings with Milch as his 'hype man' pumping up the project, assuring the producers that the script is looking great when...there was no script. They would be talking about the project like it was CASABLANCA when Milch hadn't written one single word. He was projecting this aura...and it staved off the questions and bought Milch more time to actually write the script.

I told my friend that I LOVE studying ppl like that. It's helpful to me b/c I am not that extroverted salesman. Writers are a mercurial lot. Most are self-deprecating, neurotic, constantly questioning ourselves b/c...it's a necessary part of re-examining our work. Doubt is what keeps us up at night. Doubt is what forces me back to the screen at 2am b/c 'it's not good enough' or 'OMG they're going to hate this.' Doubt is what drives late sessions, extra rehearsal, not wanting to be embarrassed. But while doubt is a helpful tool in being an artist, it is a TERRIBLE trait for being a presenter, producer, director, showrunner, MC, salesman.

I am fascinated by those ppl who project confidence, especially ppl I label as 'overconfident.' My middle-class voice is always in my ear 'who the fuck do you think you are? How DARE you? Don't be arrogant! Don't be greedy! Where do you get off thinking that you're the shit? This isn't good enough!' While I need that voice in the privacy of my writing cave to push me further in my craft, I need another voice out in the world.

Endings

Writing a good ending is hard. I was thinking about that after a matinee performance of a play that had some great moments, but no real ending. The thing just sputters to a concluding gesture. A character has an emotional outburst. Why? No reason, just that the play is dwindling down. The other characters comment, there's a fancy light change, and that's the audience's cue that 'we're wrapping this baby up. Just sit tight.' We applauded. I left with my friend and said 'you know that wasn't really an ending.  He asked me how come so many plays don't have endings? How come so many tv shows start off on fire and then have an awful 2nd season or drift away?

I think not understanding how a good ending works is tied to no understanding how plot drives the narrative. Also, TV viewing has something to do with it. TV drama is serial. Our minds are so adjusted to narratives continuing on and -if it's really good- a spin-off series. We have gotten used to never experiencing catharsis. Most of the stuff just drifts away.

But on a deeper level, I don't think we write good endings in America b/c most ppl don't really think about the endings to their own personal narratives. Most ppl don't think about retirement or death or what they ideally want to happen at the end of their journey...the ultimate character arc. We are a youth culture so we're about big beginnings, comebacks, rising to fame. The goal is to 'get money' or 'get famous' and then continue to get more. There's no ending to 'get materials' except 'now go get some more.' So we just engage in an endless series of chases and believe that this is life. To be chased or to chase something/someone.

Writing wills are depressing. Old bodies are depressing. Not being in peak condition is depressing. So most people don't write wills or think about the end. We infantilize ourselves and then look for Instagram validation. Personal catharsis is impossible or seemingly abstract and... Zen. That's so Zen...which is code for 'that's calm and a bit depressing. I'm going to put this label on it so I don't really have to think about it. Zen. There. Ommmm....'

But what happened if we taught our children to think about how they want their journey on this planet to end? Maybe they would be more purposeful. Maybe it wouldn't be depressing but freeing. Maybe we would tell better stories and live better narratives.

Mood: When Your Bank Fishes For Compliments But You're Feeling like a Motherless Child in an Existential Capitalist Abyss

TELLER: You're ready for the weekend?
ME: Well it's doesn't matter cuz it's here. So ...😐
TELLER: 😁
ME: (give. me. my money. And let me go) 🙂
TELLER: I see that you've been a long-time customer of Wells Fargo-

*Blood-curdling sound of a crow screeching in the distance...CAWWW!!!*

TELLER: -is that correct?
ME: .Um..Wells Fargo (CAWW!!) ate my bank. I was at another bank that was swallowed up by Wachovia. And then Wells Fargo (CAWW!!) just sort of ate Wachovia. Whole.
TELLER: But you're satisfied with Wells Fargo?

*Crow screeches. Blood starts pouring out of an ATM*

ME: (what I wanted to say) Um...you guys ate my bank. And I was working at the time in Albuquerque and the only options for cashing my checks were 1) Wells Fargo 2) Bank of America which -I have been told- is the bank of Satan 3) check-cash stores. So out of those options, I choose incompetence over Satanic blood rituals or getting shot by a pimp while waiting in line.

ME (what I actually said): Um...you know. It's like...😬
TELLER: 😁 So you're satisfied?
ME: 😁 Ahahaha...um...
TELLER: 👀
ME: 👀
TELLER and MANAGER: 👀👀
ME: 👀
TELLER, MANAGER, SON OF SAM: 👀👀👀
ME: Um...sure. Yeah. Fine. Okay.
TELLER: 😁thank you for banking with Wells Fargo.

*Crow Cannibalizes Another Crow. Sound of Cats Having Angry Sex*

ME: 🤥 always a pleasure.

Making Time/Space for a Shift

File under: If you don't make time for yourself, why would anyone make time for you?

Trainer cancelled for early morning session. I had already geared myself up the night before so I went to the gym this morning. He called to apologize and I was in the middle of my workout so I texted 'can't talk. Working out.' He seemed taken aback by that. Working out? Without me? Well yes, I had mentally set up a space/time in my mind. Just because you cancelled doesn't mean that space goes away. The workout is going to happen...with or without you. The only difference is whether or not you show up and get paid. It made me think about how I set up my schedule and making time for things.
It also made me think of ppl asking me for advice about writing.

About 4-5 times a month I receive an email requesting coffee for advice ( btw I'm not bragging or complaining. It's just the way things are right now.) In the past, I would indulge in these requests. I would set aside my time and go meet the person. Usually the meetings were nice. We would exchange pleasantries and advice. And then...nothing. Did it help? 99% of time the answer would be 'no.' Surprisingly, giving advice didn't seem to work. So I would try to elevate the conversation: to talk about the spirituality of writing, how to delve into your emotions, using certain techniques from Buddhism and meditation. I would even suggest reading books that have changed my life like THE DIAMOND CUTTER "Wow, thank you so much. This is so inspiring." They would run off and I would sit there feeling smug, like I actually did something. And I would check in a few months later to see if these meetings helped? No. Did they read the book? No. Did they take any steps? Well...they sort of took half a step and then got busy. Most of the time nothing would change and the person would be stuck in the same rut...or ask for a follow-up meeting to review the same things in the same way and do...nothing.

It finally occurred to me that most people don't set aside any time for themselves: to work out, to write, to plan, to set-up a retirement. Most people WANT to do these things, the like the benefits of doing these things...but then they go on with their lives. Good thoughts don't matter. Smart advice doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the commitment to change, and that commitment shows itself in setting up a time/space for transformation. We go to school. set up gym appointments, ask for meetings so that someone else ties us down to a time and space to change. But really, those are just external ways to trick us into committing to ourselves. At the heart of it, if we don't set up time for ourselves, why would anyone set up a time for us?

The universe, God, karma...whatever you want to call it...doesn't work by magic. It works by commitment and deeds

Get What You Want: August 2019

1. IVORYTON WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS INITIATIVE 2020
Deadline: August 15th
Website: http://www.ivorytonplayhouse.org/women-playwrights-initiative-2020-call-scripts-readers

Starting June 15, 2019 women playwrights are invited to submit one-act plays written solely by women. Scripts must be in standard Samuel French playwriting format: 12 point font, character name centered, 1” margin all around. Email scripts to Laura Copland laurac@ivorytonplayhouse.org.

We are specifically looking for TWO ten-fifteen minute plays, and TWO longer plays up to one hour—approximately 50 pages. Plays running longer than one hour will not be considered. Each play will have one staged reading on either Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening on February 22, 2020.
No one-person plays or musicals will be accepted.

Only one submission per playwright will be accepted. Scripts will not be returned.

Submissions are limited to the first 150 scripts received. No play will be accepted before June 15.

These are blind submissions. The title page must include ONLY the name of the play, the characters, and the setting. DO NOT include a synopsis. A separate file is required with the playwright’s name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and the name of the submitted play. Please also include a resume as a separate file and NOT included in the PDF file of the play.

The call is open from June 15 to August 15, 2019 OR until we receive 150 plays.

Playwrights will be notified if their play was received after receipt of 150 plays or the deadline and thus, not considered.

Submissions will be acknowledged by email. Playwrights will be notified in the fall of 2019 by email if their play is selected. Playwrights whose plays were not selected will also be notified.
All ethnicities and all ages are strongly encouraged to apply.

The four selected playwrights will be invited to stay for the week of workshopping beginning the arrival day, Sunday, February 16, 2020 through to the staged readings on Saturday February 22, (performance inclement weather date and/or departure day on Sunday, February 23, 2020.)

The WPI is a workshop and playwrights are encouraged and should be prepared to work on their play, including rewrites, as needed.

Stipend: PLAYWRIGHTS: $500, plus travel from your nearest airport or train station to Ivoryton, CT on Sunday, February 16, 2020 and from Ivoryton on Sunday, February 23, 2020. Housing is provided.

DIRECTORS: The WPI also seeks resumes from women directors. Stipend: $300 and housing is provided, if needed. All ethnicities and ages strongly encouraged to apply.

READERS: We also seek resumes from male and female readers to evaluate the plays and to email feedback on a form provided. All readers will receive free admission to the staged readings. All ethnicities and ages are strongly encouraged to apply.
To download a pdf copy of these instructions, please follow this link:  WPI 2020 CALL FOR SCRIPTS

Play submissions and Director and Reader resumes should be emailed to Laura Copland, Director of Play Development, and Founder and Director of the WPI at the Ivoryton Playhouse, laurac@ivorytonplayhouse.org.


2. CROSSROAD PROJECT
Deadline: August 15th
Website: https://finearts.illinoisstate.edu/crossroads-project/

The Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative welcomes submissions for full-length, unproduced plays by playwrights of color in accordance with the mission statement of the Crossroads Project (see below). A diverse panel of judges comprising faculty members and students will select one playwright as the winner of the contest.

The winning playwright will receive:

An award of $500.
An invitation to Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, IL for a one-week new play development workshop, culminating in a public staged reading. The playwright may also be invited to offer guest lectures/colloquia. The Crossroads Project will cover costs for travel, housing, and meals during the workshop.
To be eligible to win the contest, a playwright must be available for a one-week workshop in late March 2020 (exact dates TBD). The playwright must also be residing in the United States in the spring of 2020.

The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2019, 11:59 p.m. CST. There is no entry fee. We only accept electronic submissions in PDF format.

Fill out the form at: https://forms.illinoisstate.edu/forms/diversevoices


3. THEATRE VISCERA
Deadline: August 15th
Website: https://www.theatreviscera.com/work-with-us-playwrights

We are hosting our first ever Queer Playwrights Contest. Guidelines:

-Full-length pieces, at this time we are not accepting one acts or 10 minute plays.

-An emphasis on queer lives and the queer experience, we want plays written by queer playwrights for queer actors about queer characters.

-New work, unpublished and unproduced, may have been publicly read. (Let us know the history of your play if there is one.)

-Send us an excerpt of your play (15-25 pages), a short bio, and a cast breakdown.

-The submissions will be open until August 15th, 2019.

-We will invite finalists to send us their full scripts by August 31st, 2019.

-We will announce the play selection on September 30th, 2019.

-The selected play will be produced by the company in the spring of 2020 in Portland, OR. The selected playwright will be brought out to Portland for the production. The top 5 runners up will be featured in our “Artists to Watch” page.


4. METZLER NEW WORKS FESTIVAL
Deadline: August 15th
Website: http://www.adplayers.org

A.D. Players at The George Theater in Houston, TX seeks full-length scripts to be developed and presented over the course of the first annual Metzler New Works Festival. The purpose of the festival is to present new American plays and musicals that contribute to the larger cultural understanding of how faith and storytelling can effectively intertwine in alignment with our mission to present and premiere work from a Christian worldview that engages a diverse audience. Three selected works will be developed over the course of two workshops, followed by a publicly presented staged reading with professional actors and directors; selected playwrights will receive an honorarium, and the possibility of premiering their work at one of the largest theatre companies in the city of Houston. Individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds, racial and gender identities, and abilities are highly encouraged to submit. Playwrights are not required to identify as Christian. Writers must be available to attend the Metzler New Works Festival, March 31-April 4, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Selected playwrights will receive a $1000 honorarium, a developmental workshop and reading, and travel expenses, room, and board will be provided.


5. BRAVE NEW WORLD REPERTORY THEATRE
Deadline: August 15th
Website: http://bravenewworldrep.org/

Three original, full-length plays (under 120 pages) will be selected and given minimally staged readings between January 10 – March 30 , 2020. Playwrights must be local to the Tri-state area, ideally within a 90-minute commute to Brooklyn, NY as your attendance is requested. Brooklyn-based playwrights will be given first consideration. In 2020 we will give priority to plays that address Women’s Rights and/or Environmental Challenges. The chosen playwrights will receive a small stipend.

To be considered, plays must meet the following criteria:
1) Plays must be un-produced, although previous staged readings/workshops are not disqualifying factors.
2) The play must be completed at the time of submission – unfinished or partial drafts cannot be accepted at this time. Plays may still be in development, but they must be audience-ready at the time of submission. If the play is heavily revised AFTER being submitted, it MUST be resubmitted before the end of the submission period.
3) Plays must be able to be read by no more than 7 actors and someone on stage directions. If double and triple casting is possible please advise. We are particularly interested in plays that feature diverse casts.
4) We are unable to accept new musical submissions at this time, given the limited technical nature of this reading series.

Brave New World Rep is committed to giving a platform to voices and stories from under-represented and historically disenfranchised communities. Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, POC, Muslim, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and womxn playwrights are HIGHLY encouraged to submit and will be prioritized.

To submit, please send an electronic copy of your script in PDF format with numbered pages to submissions@bravenewworldrep.org. In a separate document or in the body of your submission email, please also include a short synopsis of your play, a brief bio, and a website link (if relevant to your work as a writer/theater artist.) Submissions are limited to one play per playwright per season. Multiple play submissions by the same playwright for the same season will not be considered.


6. ENSEMBLE PLAYWRIGHT LAB (Letter of Marque Theatre Company)
Deadline: September 19th
Website: https://www.lomtheater.org/

The Ensemble Playwright Lab (EPL) is a residency program in which the playwright engages with Letter of Marque's (LOM) ensemble to create, develop, or reimagine a piece of work; which will be presented to the public at the end of the residency. There will be two residencies: Fall & Winter. Two playwrights, one for each residency, will be selected to work with our ensemble once a week, for a total of 21 hours of collaboration and discovery.


7. NATIONAL WINTER PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT
Deadline: August 31st
Website: https://hbmgfoundation.org/nwpr/

A playwright-based retreat, the National Winter Playwrights Retreat prioritizes the playwright, not the work being produced. Playwrights have an opportunity to have work read or sung, conversation over dinners and coffees, sightseeing in the San Juan Mountains, and an introduction to local theaters. The retreat provides respite and renewal for playwrights. Inevitably, the artist's rejuvenation finds its way into her work. In enabling the playwright freedom from expectations, we enable the art. HBMG Foundation's team of a Latino Playwright/Director and a Female Actor/Writer, Manuel and Ann Zárate are passionate about diversity. As founders and directors, they seek especially to empower playwrights of all ethnicities and gender. Additionally, diversity of experience and age is considered in the selection of playwrights each year. Our goal is to reflect the landscape of America.

This is the easy part. We don't read scripts. We are interested in you. Complete the form and tell us about you... your background and what you want to accomplish while on retreat. Include both professional and personal descriptions.

Please note whether you are applying as a playwright, artistic director, dramaturg, director, or as a team. You are welcome to apply as a team if you are working specifically with an actor, director, composer, or dramaturg on a piece in progress. Give us details of what you will be working on during the retreat and your weeks of availability December 2019-February 2020. Deadline for applications is September 1, 2019. There is no application fee; do not submit a writing sample.


8. BLUE INK PLAYWRITING AWARD
Deadline: August 31st
Website: https://americanbluestheater.com/

The international Blue Ink Playwriting Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, we’ve named 9 Award winners, 64 finalists, and 83 semi-finalists.  Over $5,000 in cash and prizes will be distributed to playwrights in 2020.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater’s Ensemble. The playwright receives a monetary prize of $1,250 and a developmental workshop or staged reading at American Blues Theater in Chicago. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too.  All proceeds of the administrative fee are distributed for playwrights’ cash prizes.

Submissions for the 2020 Blue Ink Playwriting Award are accepted between July 1 – Aug 31, 2019. Semi-finalists, finalists, and the award winner will be notified January – March 2020.


9. NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Deadline: September 12th
Website: https://mellon.org/programs/arts-and-cultural-heritage/performing-arts/national-playwright-residency-program-call-for-applications/

The program provides three years of salary, benefits, and a flexible research and development fund for a diverse group of American playwrights at selected theatres around the country. More than a standard residency, we conceived this initiative as an intervention into the traditional relationships between artists and institutions, as a way of reimagining what institutions might look like when an artist’s voice is at their cores. Playwrights and theaters must apply together by submitting individual statements and a jointly crafted scope of work. Playwrights must have at least three plays previously given professional productions—with one at the co-applicant theater and no other full time employment, including academic positions. Both the playwright and the artistic leader of the theater must agree to attend two NPRP convenings during the residency at Emerson College (travel expenses would be paid by the Foundation).
 NPRP has four primary goals:
o Advance the state of playwrights in the American theater by providing them with space, time, and
resources, and greater access to the institutions in which they work;
o Influence the working environment of theaters by embedding playwrights in them;
o Generate public value through the interaction of playwrights with local artistic and civic communities;
o Document and disseminate the findings to help benefit the field.
Residencies will be selected through an open application process. Theaters and playwrights must apply jointly by submitting statements of intent from the playwright and artistic director; a scope of work; and other specified materials to demonstrate eligibility, potential to achieve the goals of the program, and desire to participate in a growing network to advance artist-centered practices in the theater field. The basic structure of the program will remain similar to prior rounds. Playwright compensation and benefits will be covered by grant funds based on the salary structure of the host institution, up to a maximum salary and benefits of $130,000 in the first year of the grant. Resident playwrights will also receive access to discretionary development funds and opportunities for developmental workshops hosted by HowlRound at Emerson College, and theaters will receive modest funds to support administrative expenses associated with hosting and documenting the residency. In the two prior rounds of the program, we have been able to offer a single three-year renewal when mutually agreeable among the playwright, theater, and Foundation; we hope to do the same this round.

10. CULLMAN CENTER FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: September 27th
Website: https://nypl.onlineapplicationportal.com/misc/guidelines/default.aspx

Award Period: September 8, 2020–May 28, 2021
Stipend: $75,000
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers supports projects that draw on the research collections at The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library). The Center looks for top-quality writing from academics as well as from creative writers and independent scholars. Visual artists whose projects require extensive use of Library collections are also encouraged to apply. The Center aims to promote dynamic conversation about the humanities, social sciences, and scholarship at the highest level-within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows' published work.
Successful candidates for this Fellowship will need to work primarily at the Schwarzman Building rather than at other divisions of the Library. Applications from those working not in English are welcome; however, the applicant must be conversant in English, and the application materials must be in English.

In order to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest, the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers does not accept applications from New York Public Library staff members or their partners, or from people active on the Library’s Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees, or Library Council.
Please visit www.nypl.org/research-collections for detailed information about the collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

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

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

The Cullman Center will not accept dossier letters in place of new letters of recommendation.
Completed applications and supporting materials—research proposal, Curriculum Vitae, letters of recommendation, and creative writing sample or artwork sample—must be submitted by 5 p.m. EDT on September 27, 2019.


11. LOTUS LEE SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL
Deadline: October 1st
Website: https://www.lotus-lee.foundation/2019-short-play-festival

THE LOTUS LEE FOUNDATION 2019 SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

The Lotus Lee Foundation is currently seeking submissions for short plays under 30 minutes in our newest international theatrical initiative, the 2019 Lotus Lee Foundation Short Play Festival.

The winning entry will receive a world premiere production in China in 2020.

The Lotus Lee Foundation has recently presented critically-acclaimed theatrical adaptations of THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM and THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM: THE DARK FOREST, based upon the novels of international best-selling author Liu Cixin, to sold-out success in both Shanghai and Beijing and a number of major cities in China, utilizing a plethora of innovative artists from around the world to collectively create technologically superior experiences beyond anything witnessed in world theatre until now. Our next hot property could be yours!

The Lotus Lee Foundation employs artists from all corners of the globe, featuring directors, designers and production staff famed for their innovative contributions to productions on Broadway, London's West End, Las Vegas and world theatre. Our most recent offering was THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM: THE DARK FOREST which was presented in Shanghai and Beijing earlier this year to critical acclaim and sold-out audiences, with further productions coming soon.

Submissions will be accepted from August 1 until October 1, with a first-place winner announced on November 1.

The winner receives a $500 prize; 2nd Prize receives $200 and 3rd Prize $100, with an exclusive option to produce their shows in China in the near future.