Haiti Donations and the Expansion of Me

 A Miami tailor went back to his homeland of Haiti and saw extreme poverty. Some people were so poor that they didn't have clothes for 8 or 9-years-old kids. He started donating clothes and supplies. Then another person got involved. 30 years later they're still doing. Still going up into the mountains of Haiti. Still collecting supplies. He's an old man who retired from everyday work years ago. When he stopped by to pick up our supplies he said he's going to do this until the day he dies. This is his mission. This is what makes him happy. 

Master Shantideva (685-763) spent a lot of time talking about self-care and how we think the borders of 'me' are just around our body. But in fact, 'me' borders extend and contract all the time. You become a parent and the 'me' borders expand to include a child. You hurt the child and a parent will attack like it's their own body. Conversely you fall deeply in love with someone, expand your borders, and then you're betrayed by them. The borders of 'me' shrink back. You need to have your foot amputated to save your body and the 'me' contracts to exclude the foot so the rest of 'me' can be saved. And all the time these borders are expanding and contracting around family or friends according to our moods. We always 'stop' at a certain point. Self-care includes a certain number of people and then we stop it. But that's not true. 

Conversely, contracting 'me' triggers depression and despair. Even when someone is our so-called enemy the side effects of hatred and 'taking away' the link causes low-level depression, anxiety, neurosis, and suffering. It may not appear immediately but hatred is low-level radiation that eventually causes lethargy and sickness. 

Despite our contradictory selfishness, we want 'me' to expand because we know it's what makes us happy. That's why people have families, seek out relationships, join movements, go on social media. We're always seeking the expansion of 'me' in some form. That's why people create art. It's the 'me' extending to others. We sit in a theatre for that expansion of self. We know that theatre is fiction but we are so desperate for this expansion that we will buy into the artifice to experience connection. 

"Me" can become as big as a family, a theatre audience, an entire village in Haiti, or a planet. 

Week of Understanding

 -30-page screenplay outline: done. 

- halfway through 2 books for 2 other projects. 

-beginning to break next ep of THE GOOD FIGHT. 

- production meeting for ep of EVIL coming up.

-finishing up dharma homework and grading other ppl's hw and quizzes from class.

- sorting through thumb drive of old family pics for collection.

I was having a week that felt like 'look at all that I'm doing.' So productive, so capitalist, so efficient. And then I was reminded again of mortality. 

On Wed, a colleague died of covid. On Thursday evening, I got an email about another former colleague who also died of covid. As I sat there stunned I realized that I had been ignoring the suggestion of several ppl to go get the covid vaccine. I have asthma. I qualify. But I wanted to wait. I rationalized that I wasn't a priority. I had too much on my plate. Things were busy. Besides, I worked out 3 times a week. I do yoga. I can complete 18 burpees in 45 second...for 3 sets. Things are too hectic...maybe later. And then I remembered the 2 colleagues that died in 48 hrs. Two smart, brilliant POC who worked tirelessly...until their bodies stopped working all together. I wondered if I was falling into the same trap. I remember older family members who worked themselves to death b/c...who cares, right? I'm not that important. It isn't that big of a deal. it's the plague of false modesty to work and not take sick days or rest, to not make doctor's appointments. 

So I called Thursday night after the devastating email about death. I called around midnight and left a msg on the Florida hotline. And early Friday morning, a vaccine coordinator reached out to set up an appointment that day. After work I had a meeting, went to my 4pm virtual workout (yes with the burpees), showered, and then went to the Dolphins Stadium. I was still sure I was going to be rejected or they would say 'get out of here.' I had a mixture of anxiety, fear, guilt. After driving through a comically long obstacle course of orange cones, I arrived at the station. The nurse walked up to the car, wrote something on my window. Then another nurse came by with a needle. She rubbed my arm, plunged the needle in, handed me a card, and then they set up appointment for the second shot. And that was it. 

It's so silly. These emotions play games with our minds and our health.

Remembering March 2020: Before It All Changed

 Cognitive Disconnect from a Yr Ago....

-Missing my last two shows on Wednesday b/c I was too nervous. Sorry HANGMAN and SUICIDE FOREST. I really wanted to see both, but my anxiety at sitting in a theatre w/ ppl was at an apex.

- and yet, I still had one-on-one meetings that day. Without masks. 

- buying multiple thermometers, ordering masks, and then I hop on a plane to Miami on Thursday to go A WONDERFUL WORLD previews at Miami New Drama. I forget to bring ANY of that stuff with me. 

-Newark Airport is a ghost town. 

- Everyone is spraying down their plane seats and wiping it...but only half of us are wearing masks. 

- by the time I land in Miami, AWW is being cancelled. We get 2 more performances to wrap everything up in previews.

- I avoid shaking hands with ppl...some understand and some think I'm overreacting. Still not wearing a mask.

- last performance of AWW on Saturday. 

- we think that the show, the world, theatre, life will be back by summer...okay late summer...okay maybe September. Every time we talk about a return to theatre, we start moving the dates back in our mind. The reason? Stopping the spread depends upon collective responsibility. We look around at South Beach, Trump, scientists being demonized, diseased being weaponized by anti-Asian bigots, Fox News...and think 'this pause is going to be a lot longer than expected.'

- And still we hang out after the show. I hang out with friends on South Beach. Granted, we are in outdoor spaces. We go to the beach, eat on a patio, walk around on Lincoln Road not knowing that this is the safest bet. 

- last indoor restaurant was a Mexican place a block from Lincoln Road. There was one couple inside. Me and my friend sat as far away as possible...not that it mattered. We didn't know about how indoor air conditioning pretty much spreads droplets everywhere. So we sat on opposite ends of a barren restaurant trying to enjoy a casual meal while not thinking about the other table poisoning us by breathing. 

- rent a van, travel around the city. Rental Car pulls its entire fleet a few days later and I have to return van. 

- just walk to beach and enjoy the sun. City closes all the beaches. 

- stay in hotel room for a week in isolation.

- CBS announces that the EVIL room is returning 3 months early and starting on Monday. We are going to try this thing called 'Zoom.' Yay. 

-Work returns immediately. I was worried about a shutdown. CBS Studios might use the opportunity to cancel contracts and clear the books. Quite the opposite has happened. No time to reflect or pause. Don't think about it, here's some money, new contract, crank out stories from the dark regions of your mind. Oh, do I have nightmare material. 

- Maybe it's better not to reflect or sit with these feelings. Maybe it's better to just plunge into this new world and let the emotions sort themselves out later. The fact that EVIL is a horror show about our worst nightmares means that the Zoom writers' room becomes group therapy for ppl living through a plague. Unintentionally it becomes a place to dump our fears...without ever mentioning coronavirus in a script.

- zoom test? Success! 

- I notice that there's no toilet paper in some of the stores...which seems odd. Does coronavirus give you diarrhea? Struggling to understand...there has to be some logic here.

- turns out, there's no utilitarian logic to the toilet paper shortage. It's just our collective American psychological fear of uncleanliness and shame in the middle of a disease pandemic. Apparently ppl in a crisis immediately think of the most shameful thing (poop!!) and the horror of walking around with a sticky smelly butt. So toilet paper!! 

- stores that cater to tourists still have toilet paper b/c a) tourists are foreign and b) they're down in Miami to have a good time so they are less concerned with shame/dirtiness and more concerned with their tan lines. 

- mental note, shop where the tourists shop. Able to find toilet paper and all supplies...except for kitchen cookware. Apparently, cooking in hotels has skyrocketed. 

- Take an uber back to my parent's home. Wearing a mask, windows open. It begins.

Black Celebrity Flow Chart

 Note about LeBron James, Megan Markle, and blk celebrities speaking out about anything. 

Newly monopolized media conglomerates in the early 1990s made the switch from hard news to focusing on sex scandal and celebrity culture. Bill Clinton was the perfect president for the switch: part celebrity and part walking non-stop sex scandal. He hit all the Pavlovian buttons of horror, sex, scandal, celebrity. This was followed up by several sex scandals and, of course, The OJ trial. When OJ trial started, a good portion of the media didn't want to sensationalize it. In fact, David Letterman rejected telling jokes about a double homicide b/c he found it crude. Jay Leno had no problems about it, and his rating soared. Leno continued to soar so much that Letterman eventually surrendered to 'Dancing Ito's" circus of the OJ trial and started feeding off the ghoulish vibe. The eyeballs told CNN and Fox what people wanted and it wasn't stories about homeless people or inflation. They wanted to hear about the homicide gossip. 

When I was a freshman at Northwestern I was invited to the Chicago Tribune newsroom one fateful weekend. The editors were getting ready to do a week-long series about the Pope visiting Cuba. The stories were going to be about hope, spirituality, diplomacy. Important news, several correspondents traveling to Cuba, all out push. On the tv screen behind me was a little story about a White House intern and a blue dress. I asked the Tribune editor, 'what about this Monica Lewinsky story?' He told me that it was cheap and tawdry. The Tribune was sticking with its Pope story. They were betting on the integrity of its readers. Of course, a few weeks later, the editor called me up and said 'boy, was I STUPID!!!' Tribune lost a ton of money betting on the goodness and integrity of people. All the other Chicago papers went with the jizz-stained dress and wiped out the Tribune. Eventually the market forces, wore down the Tribune and it became Lewinsky coverage, wall to wall. 

There are good ppl in the media, just like there are female rappers who talk about other things than their WAP. But when you don't support them, they don't get seen. Our media and gov is only as good as its citizens. 

Fast forward to the present moment and we have a media that is 24-7 addicted to celebrities. So celebrities have a lot of power. If they're black and too happy and carefree they get criticized for not being serious. When they try to be serious they get heckled for being rich and trying to say something. When they try to not say something, the media will just create stories to keep your name around. So the flowchart for black celebrities is...

-enormous power = expectations

- doing nothing and you get criticized for being detached.

- do something and you get criticized for trying to use your power to bring attention to something.

- speak out and ppl discount you for being privileged

- not speak out and ppl resent your privilege. 

- avoid spotlight and rumors circulate that you're on drugs or have gone crazy (a la Dave Chapelle). 

There is no winning this game, and it's especially difficult for anyone of color attempting to make a difference. Colin Kaepernick gets death threats and blacklisted from the NFL for taking a knee. LeBron James is told to 'shut up and dribble' for speaking out about brutality. And yes, Megan makes a comment about how she was treated and the response is 'you're rich, so shut up.' Oprah covers black women novelists and you fall asleep. She covers Megan and it's 'shut up, billionaire.' 

The system is designed for non-stop worship and then hatred for celebrities having power. If you're a women or a POC that hatred is doubled. If you're a woman of color, that hatred is increased three fold. 

The game is designed to trigger mainstream viewer's outrage/titillation/distraction/disgust/ worship. It is designed for white viewers to feel good about themselves. 

So blk celebrities and sports athletes speak out. If ppl are going to hate, then you might as well not have any regrets. If people are going to discount every statement due to your bank account, then you might as well have a free conscience.  

Food in the Black Community: Weapon, Tool, Elixir

 My parents always said this: food is a powerful weapon. Historically, it was a reward, a tool of obedience for Black people in this country. Soul food comes out of this tradition. Same is true for Native Americans and how food was used to subjugate them. To this day, it's why many sociologists and say Black Americans and Native Americans have disproportionate levels of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Food is one of the unspoken tools of racism and oppression. If Maslow and Marx got together to design a pyramid of weapons used against enslaved communities it would be 1. literacy 2. food 3. guns 4. alcohol/drugs 5. religion 6. disease 7. property/capital. America's Black community has pretty much only dealt with literacy and maybe religion (a bit). Everything else is still weaponized and food is the biggest weapon.

Black communities not only have the most food deserts, they tend to have the most unhealthy, toxic, disease-causing foods. And then the worst healthcare as a follow up. Black communities have the least access to capital to build shops in their neighborhoods, which often leads them to be at the mercy of second-rate bodega groceries, fast food merchants, liquor stores, and high-sodium Chinese restaurants where things are fried hard and smothered in salt. These venues are mostly owned by outsiders and backed by white banks. 

 Unsurprisingly, the cleanest and healthiest Black food in Brooklyn tends to be Jamaican and Caribbean restaurants. Black people born in other countries (especially the Caribbean) are, at least, conscious of offering healthy alternatives on the menu. They are also more likely to own their own businesses and connected food to their spirituality and culture...so they make more conscious choices. 

It is possible for us to turns this generational curse around. It is possible for what was once used as a weapon to become an elixir, a tonic, medicine for the body. It may not be as radical as going full vegan...although that wouldn't be bad. It may be just making conscious choice of reducing harm and being more conscious.

Personally, food has been one of my biggest struggles. I'm now in my 40s. Yes, I'm officially middle-aged although it feels so weird to say that. My food habits have shifted. I can't imagine pizza as an actual meal any more. I know how my body would react. Soda? Gone. Candy? Just no. Never. There's no reason for me to eat candy. Since the start of 2020, I took processed sugar out of my diet. It's now been a year and a few months. I don't miss it...much. Occasionally I see gooey cookie on Goldbelly and my tastebuds have euphoric recall. But for the most part there is fruit and sugar free substitutes. I try not to have too much of the substitutes but they serve as fail-safe plans if I start slipping. Reading the back of labels is now mandatory. 

Theatre: 1 Year On Pause

 And one yr later... I still miss theatre. Despite the elitism, expense, inconvenience, uncomfortable seats, elbow scrapes, I still miss the slogging and dragging. I miss the rituals and rites. I miss the lights dimming on an audience. I miss shutting off my phone with a group of people for a set amount of time and surrendering to whatever happens. I even miss the ridiculous ringtones, beeps, chirps at inappropriate moments. I miss the old man next to me at the Skirball Center who couldn't make his phone alarm turn off. I miss how that too became apart of the evening and how I remember it more than the performance. I miss the wordless wide-eyed exchanges with audience members after something absurd or accidental or unfortunate happened. That wide-eyed look that said 'we both just saw that' or 'W.T.F?!?' or 'I hate humans' or 'the nerve?!?' I miss the woman who unwrapped the loudest aluminum foil wrap on a meatball sub and then proceeded to eat THE WHOLE GODDAMN SANDWICH in the middle of a quiet one-person show. 12 inches of hot, steaming, marinara-drenched bread and meat. I miss that this meatball sub became apart of his show and my experience became apart of the sandwich and the very eating of the sandwich was a theatrical act of defiance from a member who may have been exacting some revenge on the actor or the playwright or theatre itself...and this too became apart of the legend of that evening. 

I miss it. I hate that I miss the brat. Still, I miss it. It's utterly childish that I miss it. And yet I miss the arcane, frustrating,  problematic theatre. It's so insane. I have been granted enormous kindnesses and opportunities in lieu of live theatre. And still I miss the problem of theatre. I miss that people were trying to fix the problem. I miss the utopian attempts of artists throwing themselves into the dark hell mouth with almost no hope of reward. The warriors and dreamers who were determined to fix it, reform it, transform it, de-colonize it, and who were often broken by it. 

I hope this doesn't come across as too sentimental or too bitter. Most nights theatre was awful. Yet, some nights it was less awful. Occasionally there were times when it was tolerable. Infrequently it was sublime. 

Goddamn. God Bless. God. 

 Make it Make Sense.

Theatre. Come back better. But also don't change. But also please fucking change. But also stay true...whatever the fuck that means. Stay true to oneself? Stay true to one experience? Stay true to something inexplicable and ancient and necessary. Or just stay. Come back and stay. You're awful. Stay.

Get What You Want: March 2021

 1. RESIDENCIES AT THE TOFTE LAKE CENTER

DEADLINE: March 1st 

WEBSITE: https://toftelake.org/residency-information-2021

 TLC is sponsoring its first National Emerging Artists Residency Program which enables early-career artists to focus on their current work. This program subsidizes 2 one-week residencies for 5 emerging artists and/or 2 person creative teams from the United States. More info here. Our MSAB Residency* supports 6 Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or Middle-Eastern artists of color who live in Minnesota. We seek to provide a brave space for artists from different disciplines to balance personal work time with community interaction and option sharing or performance.

2. THE CREATIVE CAPITAL AWARD

DEADLINE: March 1st

WEBSITE: https://creative-capital.org/about-the-creative-capital-award-open/

Creative Capital supports forward-thinking and adventurous artists across the country by providing up to $50,000 in project funding, counsel, and career development services. Our pioneering venture philanthropy approach helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build sustainable practices. Creative Capital takes chances on artists by supporting your bold, challenging, and genre-stretching ideas. Over the past 20 years, we have developed a four-part approach that includes support for you, your project, your community, and your audience. Through funding, professional development, individual meetings with close colleagues, and consistent engagement with our staff, we provide you with the resources you will need at strategic moments in your process. These include: consultations with legal, financial, marketing, public relations, and web consultants; an orientation meeting, Artist Retreats and Regional Gatherings; ten meetings with a strategic planning coach; and much more.

 Our application questions are designed to help you better articulate your project, your goals, and how you would like to position yourself in the field. Many people have told us that the application itself taught them a lot about their project and their life goals. Additionally, our application evaluation process ensures that your work will receive additional exposure. In the first round, two colleagues from your field will read about your project. If you make it to the second round, two more people will read about it. If you make it to the panel review stage, five to seven more people will know about your work. That means that, just by applying, up to ten professional curators, programmers or editors in your field will have been informed about your project. 

The Creative Capital Award application is a highly competitive process, but the questions are designed to help artists articulate and think through the ideas and goals behind a project, in order to make the time the artist spends on the application worthwhile. The application questions are designed to provoke meaningful reflection about a project, why it needs to be made, and for whom. Although Creative Capital has funded artists who are working in a discipline that is new to them, we want to make sure that the applicant has the appropriate professional capabilities to execute the project—especially if the impact is ambitious! The Creative Capital Award is not ideal for artists just beginning their creative practices—that’s why we require artists have five years of experience. It’s important that the applicant demonstrates a deep understanding of the professional landscape of their field. They should also have a certain amount of momentum in their career that we can help them build upon. Beyond looking at the ideas of the artist’s project, we ask evaluators to determine if the applicant is ready to examine their creative and professional approach. Because we offer more than just financial support, we want to know if the applicant could benefit from additional resources of capital and skills building to complete their project. 

The resources that Creative Capital offers our Awardees work best over a long period of time. So, if the artist applied with a project that will premiere a year or less after the award announcement, it is not a strong match. Entering the life of a project at a key moment is important to us, and we have found that projects premiering within the first year are less able to take advantage of our resources. Finally, we are looking for artists who demonstrate a strong sense of mutual generosity and engagement in a community. Artists who receive Creative Capital Awards stay in our community of supporters long after they’ve premiered their projects, and we expect them to pay forward what they gain from us to future artists. We value artists who are generous toward their peers and professional colleagues.

3. CANTHIUS

DEADLINE: March 1st

WEBSITEhttp://www.canthius.com/submissions

Canthius is committed to publishing diverse perspectives and experiences and strongly encourages women of colour, including Indigenous and Black women, to submit. We welcome submissions in Indigenous languages.

We consider unpublished work of poetry and prose (both fiction and creative non-fiction – we welcome experimental works and play excerpts). Please limit prose submissions to 3500 words and poetry submissions to five poems. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if another publication accepts work you've submitted to Canthius.

Along with your submission, please include a cover letter with your name, home address, email address, phone number, the date, and the name(s) of the piece(s) you're submitting. If you are comfortable disclosing your racial background and/or gender identity in your cover letter, we encourage you to do so. This information will be held in confidence and will be used solely to help us uphold our mandate to publish diverse work. For prose submissions, please include a word and page count in your cover letter. Finally, your cover letter should include a short bio that tells us a bit about yourself and lists your previous publications, if any. Please include a header on each page of your submission with your name.

We respond to all submissions by email. Our average response time is 12 to 15 weeks. Please be sure to designate Canthius as an approved sender to prevent our response from being caught in your email spam filters.

Writers accepted for publication will receive $50 for one page, $75 for two pages, $100 for three, $125 for four pages, and $150 for five pages or more, regardless of genre. Contributors will also receive a complimentary copy of the issue and a discounted price on any further copies of the issue in which their work appears. 

Thanks for sharing your writing with us – we can't wait to read it!

4. THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER'S CORE APPRENTICE PROGRAM 

DEADLINE: March 4th

WEBSITE: https://pwcenter.org/programs/core-apprentice?mc_cid=6a31d4bc7b&mc_eid=7ef197c927

The Playwrights' Center's Core Apprentice program is offered in partnership with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Each year the Playwrights' Center will offer fully funded play development workshops for three student playwrights combined with a nine-month mentorship with a professional playwright. Previous mentors have included Pearl Cleage, Dominique Morisseau, David Henry Hwang, and Taylor Mac. Students (graduate or undergraduate) and recent grads from a New Plays on Campus Member School may apply for the Core Apprentice Program.

Eligibility Update for 2021-22:

1. Any current student or recent grad from a New Plays on Campus (NPOC) Member School may apply for the Core Apprentice program. Schools will no longer be limited to three students, and there is no need for a faculty nomination.

2. In past years, recent grads have been eligible to apply for the Core Apprentice program up to one year after they graduate. Because the pandemic has made it difficult for some to apply in time for the 2020 deadline, we're extending the cutoff for recent grads to two years past graduation. This means that anyone who graduated in 2019, 2020, or 2021 from a New Plays on Campus school is eligible to apply for the 2021-22 Core Apprentice program.

The top twelve to fifteen rated students after the first round of review will be contacted in May 2021 for the full script of their play, which will then be read by a larger panel. The three writers selected for the Core Apprentice development experience will receive: a professional mentorship with an established playwright who will read the student's work, provide career advice, and serve as a connection to the field; recognition on the Playwrights' Center website and consulting opportunities with Playwrights' Center artistic staff; Playwrights' Center Membership for two years; professional development and educational opportunities; an intensive workshop with professional actors, a dramaturg, and a director; a $500 stipend for the workshop in June 2022. Applicants do not need to be residents of Minnesota.

The Application

Each application will contain the following pieces:

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

• -Professional Resume

• Include a professional resume that details work, education, and life experiences that are relevant to this opportunity.

• -1 page Artistic Statement

• This is a one-page artistic statement written by you describing how the Core Apprenticeship (which includes a nine-month mentorship, career development and educational opportunities, and a professional workshop) would be transformative for you as an artist. What goals would you hope to achieve by the end of this apprenticeship?

• -Script Sample

Please submit a 15- to 25-page sample of the script that you are proposing to workshop. Please include a brief play synopsis and casting description at the beginning of the sample. Be sure your name and the play title are on the cover page. All script submissions must be written only by the applicant—no co-written submissions will be accepted. Scripts for musicals may be submitted by the book writer only. If you advance to the finalist round, you will be asked for the full script, but please only submit a play for which you have a complete, full-length draft. Full-length plays are defined as those that run at least one hour in performance.

-One letter of recommendation

Please request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member or individual who is familiar with your work as a playwright. This letter should detail why you would benefit from a Core Apprenticeship at this time, your strengths as a writer, and areas in which you have room for growth in your craft. Letters of recommendation are due by the application deadline (March 4, 2021, 11:59 p.m. CST). You will be requesting your letter through the link below.

Questions may be addressed to University Programs and Partnerships Assistant Shalee Mae Cole Mauleón at shaleec@pwcenter.org.

5. NEW VISIONS FELLOWSHIP (NATIONAL QUEER THEATER)

DEADLINE: March 5th

WEBSITE: https://www.nationalqueertheater.org/new-visions-fellowship

This Spring, National Queer Theater and the Dramatists Guild are launching the New Visions Fellowship, an innovative new program for Black trans and gender nonconforming playwrights. The New Visions Fellowship will select two playwrights for a rigorous year-long professional development initiative aimed at celebrating the brilliance of and uplifting Black TGNC writers in the face of the systemic exclusion that Black TGNC writers have endured within American theater.  

We believe the New Visions Fellowship is essential because of its opportunity to create space for the Black and queer imagination, a perspective long and consistently forced to take a backseat to “safer” LGBT stories in American culture, and even American queer culture. 

The curiculum of traditional artistic conservatory programs is heavily influenced by a white, cisgender male patriarchal perspective, particularly centering on male-identifying writers from both the classical and modern eras. Our program seeks to help remedy the exclusionary bias that riddles traditional channels of training and mentorship. 

ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

The fellows will be paired with a primary mentor and supplemental mentor figures who will guide writers through the development of a play, musical, or performance experience of their design and choosing. Roger Q. Mason, pictured above, will serve as one of the primary mentors. In addition, writers will have the opportunity to participate in professional development sessions covering a wide range of artistic topics. The fellows will also receive access to Dramatists Guild contracts, business advice and career services in an effort to for the purpose of aiding fellows in protecting both the artistic and economic integrity of their work. These workshops will help writers broker relationships with Off-Broadway or regional theaters. A theater will host a professionally cast and directed reading of their play at the end of the program. Selected fellows will receive $5,000 and a three-year complimentary Guild membership.

APPLY TO THIS PROGRAM

Applications are due on March 5th at 6pm EST. Please click the link below to apply. This program is specifically for Black playwrights who identify as trans or gender nonconforming.

6. NADIA

DEADLINE: March 5th

WEBSITE: https://www.nadiaconnects.org

NADIA is a non-profit organization based in New York City dedicated to coordinating the research, development, and implementation of industry-wide anti-discriminatory practices. NADIA supports a diverse group of project leaders and artists who are looking to think critically and discover new ways to produce culturally conscious art in order to develop practices that are equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. National Arts Diversity Integration Association (NADIA) is accepting script submissions for a new play or musical to be recorded and presented as a staged reading in their Spring 2021 Amplified Currents Festival of the Arts, which will be held online, April 17th-25th, 2021. Please note: There are no submission fees, nor is there a fee to be a part of the festival. This is a paid opportunity, and all artists involved will receive a stipend for their time and talent. 

Playwrights will be responsible for travel expenses should they choose to join us for any part of the in-person recording process, which will take place in New York, NY in the beginning of April. 

• Piece should be no longer than 75 minutes long

• Have a cast no larger than 10

• Should be actor/story forward

• Should incorporate music in some way 

• Should be unpublished and have limited or no production history 

• Should include a character breakdown as well as a brief synopsis

NADIA is committed to investing in the work of and supporting artists who have been historically excluded in the arts, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. BIPOC writers and creatives are particularly encouraged to submit. For more information about NADIA, submissions, or our past work, visit www.nadiaconnects.org or reach out to nadiaconnectsinfo@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

7. RED EAGLE SOURING 

DEADLINE: March 8th

WEBSITE:https://www.redeaglesoaring.org

Red Eagle Soaring in Seattle is currently seeking submissions of short plays between 10-30 minutes long, written by Native playwrights. These plays will be performed by Native Youth as part of Red Eagle Soaring’s inaugural short play festival in June 2021. The playwrights of each selected play will be compensated with a licensing fee of $100 per performance.

For this year’s play festival we are excited to focus on the question: Who do you want to be? Plays can explore any facet of this question or answer. Who do you want to become? What challenges or obstacles are you facing to become that person? When do you want to become that person? Are there other expectations or obligations that wish to define you differently?

Please keep in mind in your submissions, that the plays will be performed by predominantly youth actors and via an online platform like Zoom. We are excited for plays that feature multi- generational casts and stories that young actors can relate to.

Plays must be submitted in either Word or PDF format.

The front page of script must list: - Title of play

- Full Name

- Tribal Affiliation

- Date of Birth

- Home Address

- Email

- Phone Number

Submissions are due via email at: AD@redeaglesoaring.org.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to:

AD@redeaglesoaring.org 

8. THE ORCHARD PROJECT

DEADLINE: March 10th

WEBSITE: http://orchardproject.com

For more than ten years, the Orchard Project has become the go-to new work development workshop for many of America’s boldest companies and artists. Orchard Project’s flexible, form-fitting support has provided countless artists, companies, and productions a much needed kickstart through its programs ranging across forms. To date, the Orchard Project has supported more than 1,200 artists and 250 shows from All the Way and its sequel The Great Society to 33 Variations to Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus to Amelie:The Musical; from work of Savion Glover to Mike Bartlett to Annie Baker to Rachel Chavkin to Taylor Mac to Dave Malloy. Since the launch of its labs, the OP has also played a significant role in the development of new works produced on and off Broadway and at theaters including St. Ann's Warehouse, The Geffen Playhouse, MCC Theatre, BAM, Arena Stage, Philly Live Arts, PS122, The Public Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, the Edinburgh Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Rep, the Royal Court, and more. Work created at the Orchard Project has also been turned into films distributed through HBO Films (All The Way), Universal (The Riot Club), and optioned into television projects at HBO, Netflix, and AMC Networks.

This year, more than 30 projects will be selected to participate in the Orchard Project's programs. Each will receive support in flexible, collaborative environments that put faith in artists to create new works. In 2021, our offerings will remain virtual.

In summer 2021, the Orchard Project will offer:

The Orchard Project Performance Lab, for professional makers of live performance, either staged in traditional or digital venues;

The Orchard Project Greenhouse Program, for collaborators generating multiple new works and collaborations in a multitude of forms;

The Orchard Project Episodic Lab, for writers working on the advancement of original TV scripts; and

The Orchard Project Audio Lab, for early development of scripts and ideas in the audio storytelling form.

Learn more about the labs or apply online at https://secure.orchardproject.com 

The Orchard Project has updated its application process, so please read carefully — especially if you've applied in the past.

All applications are now submitted via a common, simplified application. While applications had historically been evaluated by a small reading panel that centered on OP staff, applications will now be read by a diverse panel of 30+ readers. A full rubric and explanation of evaluation criteria for our application process has been posted online in order to be as transparent as possible.

9. HEDGEPIG ENSEMBLE THEATRE

DEADLINE: March 12th

WEBSITE: (www.hedgepigensemble.org)

Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre is seeking to commission a playwright to adapt a verse play by a forgotten woman writer from history. The commissioning award is $1,000; more details below. Founded in 2012, Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre elevates the voices of women (cis, trans, non-binary) by reimagining the classics. As part of Hedgepig’s Expand the Canon (www.expandthecanon.com) effort, we are commissioning an adaptation loosely based on Mercy Otis Warren’s verse drama, The Ladies of Castile. This play grapples with revolution, women’s roles in the status quo, and a country divided.  

We are especially interested in proposals from playwrights that identify as Global Majority (does not identify as "white") women or non-binary playwrights. Playwrights must be 18+ and based in the New York City Metro Area. The ideal candidate has experience working from historical source material, comfort in a devising setting, and interest in both prose and verse writing. 

This project is part of an effort to increase the visibility of classics by women, champion contemporary women writers, and increase the number of producible plays by women based on the classics.

You can visit this site for a sample of the source material play: http://bit.ly/LadiesofCastile

The playwright will be supported in a brief devising process with Hedgepig’s ensemble of actors, a director and a dramaturg. The process will culminate in a work-in-progress public reading in the fall of 2021 with the hopes of moving to full production in 2022 (with additional stipend).

To submit, please send a resume, 10-page writing sample, and a cover letter addressing your interest in adaptation and experience in a devising setting to info@hedgepigensemble.org with the subject line: Playwright Submission / Ladies of Castile

10. THE HEADLANDS’ BAY AREA FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: March 19th

WEBSITE: http://www.headlands.org/program/bay-area-fellowship-program/

The Bay Area Fellowship Program (BAF) represents a radical departure from Headlands’ traditional modes of working with artists. The BAF will engage each artist as a full collaborator in designing and producing their own Fellowship engagement, bringing them into the Headlands community as thought partners while developing an experience tailored to their specific needs. Applicants should come with a desire to work closely and deeply with their Fellowship cohort and Headlands staff to thoughtfully and iteratively design the vision, aims, schedule, scope, and allocation of resources for their own Fellowship. In short, Fellows will partner with Headlands to produce the nature of its support. This program aims to deepen support for Bay Area artists; engage artist Fellows as partners in collaboration with Headlands; center Bay Area Fellows among Headlands’ national and international artist cohorts; and demonstrate Headlands’ commitment to supporting creative practitioners holistically through provision of financial support, time, space, and community. The program will also evolve over time, as Headlands continues to learn how best to work with and support future Fellows.

Fellowships are intended to last two years and will be planned in close collaboration with participants on annual timelines. The program will initially support three Bay Area artists, and is open to artists and writers working in any discipline. In addition to providing access as needed to Headlands resources such as studios, meeting spaces, and staff expertise, support includes an annual stipend of $15,000 and additional financial resources to cover the tax burden of that stipend, health insurance, and potential Fellowship activities and resources, such as professional and project development, fabrication, or travel.

Program Goals

• Support and engage Bay Area artists at key moments in their careers

• Build meaningful connections between the Bay Area arts community and Headlands’ visiting Artists and Fellows 

• Challenge and rethink traditional power dynamics between arts nonprofits and artists by engaging with artists as full partners

• Connect Fellows to each other through cohort building processes

Award And Support

Annually per Fellow:

• $15,000 stipend

• Tax burden on stipend and health coverage reimbursement (estimated at roughly $14,000)

• $8,000 to support Fellowship activities designated by the Fellow

• Additional available resources, such as studio space, convening space, staff time and expertise, and/or other resources as determined by Fellow in collaboration with Headlands

The inaugural Fellowship period is July 1 2021 – June 30, 2022. The Fellowship is fully expected to be renewed for a second year (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) by mutual agreement between Headlands and the Bay Area Fellow.

The Bay Area Fellowship application process will take place as follows:

• Headlands will solicit short applications through an open call process. Those applications will be evaluated by outside evaluators and Headlands programming staff. A limited number of applicants will be invited to submit full applications.

• Applicants invited to complete full applications will be offered a $1,500 stipend to produce full BAF applications.

• Evaluators will select three Bay Fellows from the pool of full applicants to begin Fellowships July 1, 2021.

Program Details

• Fellowship is awarded for a duration of one year, with an additional year renewal by mutual agreement

• Fellows will be asked to participate in Headlands’ Open Houses and internal artists “Show and Tell” presentations

• Fellowships will occur in phases with an initial visioning and design phase, mid-point check-in, and annual review

Eligibility

Bay Area Fellows must be able prove current and continuous residence in the Bay Area, beginning no later than July 1, 2019. The Bay Area is defined as the following nine counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. Applicants will be asked for proof of residence if invited to the full application stage.

Bay Area Fellows can work in any artistic discipline, including arts professionals and all writing disciplines. We welcome artists at all stages of their careers, but preference will be given to mid-career and established artists in developing the inaugural (2021-22) Fellowship cohort.

11. THE REEL SISTERS OF THE DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL & LECTURE SERIES

DEADLINE: March 31st

WEBSITE:https://filmfreeway.com/ReelSistersoftheDiasporaFilmFestival

The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series is a two-day annual film festival founded by African Voices magazine and LIU's Media Arts Dept., Brooklyn Campus. Established in 1997, Reel Sisters (www.reelsisters.org) is dedicated to providing opportunities for women of color to advance their careers in the film industry. Reel Sisters accepts films written, directed, or produced by women/non-binary filmmakers of color. Reel Sisters is the first Academy Qualifying Film Festival for short narratives devoted to women of color across the globe. Reel Sisters is an IMDb qualifying film festival.

APPLICATION INFO: YOU MUST SUBMIT PRODUCTION STILLS/PHOTOS and a TRAILER for your submission to be ELIGIBLE AND COMPLETE. You can screenshot photos from your film if you were unable to hire a photographer; 

TO SUBMIT A SCREENPLAY:

- All submissions must be original and the sole property of the applicant(s).

- Feature screenplays must be between 65-125 pages.

- Pilot scripts must be between 20-75 pages.

- Web series or short screenplays must be between 1-30 pages.

PLEASE NOTE: Reel Sisters is scheduled to be held Oct. 23-24, 2021 at the Alamo Cinema Drafthouse and other NYC venues but due to the pandemic the festival may be held virtually to keep our audience safe. Join our mailing list & visit our website for updates: ww.reelsisters.org. Reel Sisters is a competitive festival and films are selected by an independent jury. Please submit films early as deadlines are final. The festival provides quality customer service and does not offer fee waivers. The fee covers a small fraction of the administrative costs for running a professional Oscar qualifying film festival. Reel Sisters accepts all genres and formats with a special interest in submissions from animated and web series producers. Send us films that will make our audience “cry, dance, laugh, sing and explore." The festival curates events throughout the year so all entries will be considered for Reel Sisters Tea & Cinema series. Join our worldwide community of film professionals in celebrating stories produced, directed and written by women of color!

NEW @REEL SISTERS: We're sponsoring our 2nd Scriptwriting Competition for 2021. Top 3 scripts will receive feedback from industry professionals, cash awards and a feature in our literary magazine and website. Our first place winner will have a table read at Reel Sisters 24th Anniversary Film Festival!

12. CINCINNATI LAB THEATRE’S 2021 NEW WORKS FESTIVAL PLAY 

DEADLINE: March 31st

WEBSITE: https://cincylabtheatre.wixsite.com/cincylab/submissions

Submissions are now open! Cincinnati LAB Theatre is planning its eighth producing season and is now accepting submissions to fill staged reading slots for its New Works Festival in the summer of 2021. It is our hope that we will be able to produce theatre in-person in July of 2021, but if we are still unable to do so due to COVID-19 we will hold our New Works Festival completely remote again to protect the health and safety of our artists as well as our patrons. To be considered for a staged reading a playwright must submit an original, unpublished, fully realized script of at least 30 minutes in length.  Only plays with no more than 6 characters will be accepted.  Playwrights must be available to be present for at least 50% of the workshop/rehearsal process and during at least one performance. 

Submissions will be accepted by emailing a script to cincinnatilabtheatre@gmail.com. 

Please attach the script to the email as a portable document file (.pdf) or as a Microsoft Word file (.doc). In the body of the email, please include the playwright’s full contact information and a short synopsis of the play being submitted. Furthermore, if the play has been previously workshopped and/or had a staged reading, please provide all the pertinent details of the workshop and/or reading. 

Please feel free to contact one of the artistic directors directly by emailing us at cincinnatilabtheatre@gmail.comif you have any questions for concerns. 

13. ALPINE FELLOWSHIP (Sweden)

Deadline: April 1st

Website: https://alpinefellowship.com/writing-prize

The Alpine Fellowship is a group of writers, thinkers and artists who are passionate about learning and communicating with a view to better understanding themselves and others. We value a capacity for openness - being engaged in critically reflecting on firmly held beliefs; the courage to be vulnerable - speaking from a place of lived experience; the drive for curiosity - being truly able to receive and listen to others.

Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of the 2020 Alpine Fellowship Annual Symposium: Forgiveness and Retribution.

The winner receives a £10,000 cash prize and is presented with the award by the poet John Burnside. A £3,000 cash prize will go to the second place, and £2,000 to the third place runner up. The winner and two runners up are invited to attend the Fjällnäs symposium.

Rules: Open to all nationalities, aged 18 and above. All genres permitted. A maximum of 2500 words per entry. Limited to one entry per person. Text must not have been published, self-published or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been placed in another competition at any time (including the AF Academic Writing Prize). All entries are judged anonymously and no correspondence can be entered into.

14. FESTIVAL OF 10 (at SUNY-Brockport)

Deadline: Rolling until April 15th

Website: https://www.brockport.edu/academics/theatre_music/festival_of_ten.html

The Department of Theatre and Music Studies at The College at Brockport is pleased to announce its 12th Biennial Festival of Ten-Minute Plays.

Brockport’s Festival of Ten began in 1999, and every two years since then audiences have enjoyed these performances consisting of 10 ten-minute plays. Our Festival of Ten has grown over the years and now has an international reputation, with playwrights from as far away as Australia. For each festival we accept 500 submissions, ultimately selecting ten to produce. Plays can be submitted beginning February 15, 2021 until April 15, 2021, or until we reach 500 submissions.

Submission Guidelines:

• All plays will be submitted online. Submitted plays should have the name of the playwright removed.

• Each script must have a running time of 7–14 minutes.

• Only original scripts allowed.

• Maximum of two scripts per playwright.

• Plays that have been read or performed in any manner for a paying audience prior to submission are not accepted.

• Plays written by current  Brockport Department of Theatre and Music Studies faculty and staff (full and part-time) are not accepted.

• Entries will be acknowledged via email.

• Only the first 500 scripts received will be considered.

• If you are unsure how to format your play, view this website for an example. If you have questions or need more information please email play-fest@brockport.edu.

15. LIGHTHOUSE WORKS FELLOWSHIP

Deadline: April 27th

Website: http://www.thelighthouseworks.com/apply/

The Lighthouse Works’ Fellowship is an artist-in-residence program that strives to support artists and writers working in the vanguard of their creative fields. We are proud to have supported these artists, writers, and composers with the time and space to focus on their creative work.

The program accepts artists working in a wide range of disciplines, but we are best able to accommodate visual artists and writers. Fellowships are six weeks in length, occur year round and provide fellows with housing, food, studio space, a $250 travel allowance and a $1,500 stipend. Artistic excellence is the primary criteria for acceptance as a Lighthouse Works fellow.

While in residence, our fellows’ primary obligation is to the solitary pursuit of their work but we do ask every fellow to participate in an artist talk on the first weekend of the fellowship and to open their studio for an afternoon at the session’s conclusion.

Artists at any stage of their career are encouraged to apply for a fellowship through our online application system. Applicants are required to fill out an application form, submit work samples, attach a CV and work sample statement, and remit a $25 application fee.

Each session cohort is made up of 5 individuals provided with a $250.00 travel budget $1,500.00 stipend (one-time).

Each fellow has a private bedroom and shares bathrooms, a kitchen and living space at our residential facility with their cohort of 4 other fellows. They will have a private studio located adjacent to Silver Eel Cove where our ferry arrives and departs the island. The studios are private, flooded with light and face the ocean. Additionally, Lighthouse Works maintains a wood and metal shop, and a Paragon kiln for our fellow’s use.

16. CARLO ANNONI PRIZE

Deadline: April 30th

Website: http://premiocarloannoni.eu/

The Carlo Annoni Award is for theatre plays on gay themes and on diversity in love. The plays can be written in Italian or in English. The prize is € 1000 for texts for each language (Italian and English).

Two plays (one in English and one in Italian) will be awarded the amount of 1.000 Euros each.

Special Mentions:

• BEST COMEDY: for a play on relationships

• BEST SHORT PLAY: a special mention will be given to a short play or video of a maximum of 10 minutes length

• BEST MUSICAL: must be submitted in audio+ score version

• BEST WORK ON ASYLUM SEEKERS: for a play on the topic of asylum-seeking for those persecuted for their sexual orientation.  

• Plays, Audios and/or Videos must be submitted via email at info@premiocarloannoni.eu by 30th April 2020

Carlo Annoni Prize is dedicated to the promotion of LGBTQ topics, with a particular interest on ‘love and diversity’

17. AUDIBLE EMERGING PLAYWRIGHTS

DEADLINE: Year round

WEBSITEhttps://www.audible.com/ep/audible-theater

In 2017, Audible launched a theater initiative, intended to radically increase access to exceptional plays and performances. A core pillar of the initiative is the Emerging Playwrights Fund, a program that invests in and nurtures self-identifying emerging playwrights, some of our most inventive, delightful, and provocative storytellers. Through the Fund, Audible aims to connect extraordinary performers with remarkable original work, amplifying new voices and harnessing the power and potential of audio to reach millions of listeners. The Fund specifically supports the creation of original dramatic work, written with audio in mind, but theatrical in spirit. If you are looking to submit an idea for an audio project that is not a play, please visit www.audible.com/pitch.

Audible is dedicated to commissioning, developing, and producing work that reflects the diversity of our members and our world. To accomplish this, Audible is committed to granting at least 50% of emerging playwright commissions to artists of color and women.

Submission Guidelines: To be considered as an applicant for a commission, please submit all of the following to AudibleTheater@audible.com:

1. One full-length script for an original or adapted play (in English language only) that represents your voice ("Script"). The Script can be in any genre and may include one-acts and solo pieces;

2. A short biography; and A brief statement about why audio plays appeal to you.

If you have an idea for an original audio play, you are welcome to include a pitch or summary along with your statement (this is encouraged, but not required).

Any applicant over the age of 18 may submit a Script. Employees or independent contractors, or immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) or those living in the same household of employees or independent contractors of Audible Inc., Amazon or any entity involved in any aspect of the Theater Fund may not submit a Script for consideration, unless it is determined by Audible in its sole discretion in accordance with Audible’s then current policies and procedures that no conflict of interest exists in connection with accepting the relevant submission for consideration.

Submissions are accepted year-round. Due to the number of Scripts that Audible receives, Audible will only consider one Script at a time from each applicant and will not consider resubmissions, including those that have been significantly revised. The Audible team evaluates submissions on a rolling basis, and applicants will be notified regarding the status of their submissions via email. Thanks in advance for your patience while we process your Script; our typical response time is 6-8 months.

18. CAPITAL THEATRE 

DEADLINE: Open

WEBSITE: https://www.capitaltheatre.net/submissions

Capital Theatre in Frankfort, Kentucky is now accepting submissions from new and established Black playwrights and musical writers/composers for the 2021-2022 season and future seasons. Visit www.capitaltheatre.net for more information about submissions. Submissions are open year round. 

Capital Theatre is a Black-owned theatre company located in the heart of Downtown Frankfort, Kentucky. Our goal is to tell the stories of the Black experience through live theatre. Our shows will not only feature works of prominent Black playwrights, but of up and coming writers as well. We strive to create a space in which anybody can come and enjoy live theatre.  

All Submissions are treated as confidential. Due to the number of submissions we are not able to respond to every submission and will only respond to ones that we are interested in.

19. ARTIST RESCUE TRUST

DEADLINE: Ongoing

WEBSITE: https://artistrescue.org/

The mission of Artist Rescue Trust is to provide relief funding to musicians and artists totaling $1,500 over three months and amplify their stories, performances and art to the world. We invite eligible artists and musicians who are facing financial complications from cancelled events and bookings to fill out the application form to be considered. Qualifying applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will be entered into a pool. A new fund recipient will be randomly selected from the qualified pool each time $1500 is donated to A.R.T. We are continuing to accept applications, so if you feel you would be eligible, please apply! The longevity of this effort will be assessed by, 1) the status of COVID-19 and its economic effects. 2) The impact of this program to date. The need is great. So we will continue our work and help as many as possible.

Basic requirements to be eligible for our grants are:

• Be 18+

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. Territories (e.g. citizen, green card holder, and/or permanent resident who can provide a W9 and SSN or ITIN).

• Be a professional, actively practicing musician or artist whose primary source of income is made through live performances, tours, gallery openings, book tours/readings, or other bookings/events and not working on a regular salary basis for one employer.

• Demonstrate a commitment to current and ongoing activity in their artistic discipline/s.

• Show a demonstrated need for emergency relief to recover the immediate loss of income through cancellations and bookings due to COVID19.

• Not be enrolled in unemployment benefits.

• Not a full-time employee, board member, director, officer, or immediate family member of any of the coalition partners.

• Not previously awarded a relief grant from this fund.

20. STOCHASTIC LABS

DEADLINE: Rolling

WEBSITE: https://stochasticlabs.org

Stochastic Labs awards fully sponsored residencies to exceptional engineers, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs from around the world. Residencies in San Francisco are of variable length and include a private apartment at the mansion, co-working and/or dedicated work space, shop access (laser cutter, 3D printer etc), a $1k monthly stipend and a budget for materials. Residents become part of Stochastic’s creative community, participating in weekly dinners and invitation events. Residents may apply as individuals or as teams. While applicants may be at any stage in their career, the selection is highly competitive.