1. Yaddo Artist Residency
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Website: https://yaddo.slideroom.com
A prestigious artist residency in Saratoga Springs, NY offering room, board, and a private studio for uninterrupted creative work. Residencies last two weeks to two months and are open to playwrights and other artists. Access grants available for travel assistance.
2. Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Website: https://phoenixtheatre.com/engage-learn/the-festival-of-new-american-theatre
Hosted by The Phoenix Theatre Company, this festival offers developmental workshops and staged readings for new full-length plays and musicals. Arizona artists are prioritized. Submission cap: 300 scripts.
3. Aurora Players Script Submissions
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Website: https://auroraplayers.org/opportunities/scripts
Directors may submit plays or musicals they wish to stage during the 2026–2027 season. Best suited for playwrights in collaboration with prospective directors. Volunteer-run, relationship-driven programming.
4. Granum Foundation Prizes
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Website: https://www.granumfoundation.org/granum-prize
A grant of $5,000 awarded to writers working on a literary project at a critical moment of development. Open to multiple genres, including dramatic writing.
5. I Came, I Saw, I Laughed Playwriting Competition
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Website: https://icameisawilaughed.com/playwright-competition
Comedic plays under 30 minutes are eligible. Offers professional productions and mentorship. Two categories: open and collegiate. Submissions may close early due to volume.
6. New Dramatists 7-Year Residency
Deadline: August 4, 2025
Website: https://www.newdramatists.org
One of the most prestigious U.S. residencies for playwrights. Includes workspace, readings, and a vibrant artistic community in NYC over a seven-year period. Requires two full-length blind submissions.
7. IAMA Emerging Playwrights Lab
Deadline: August 5, 2025
Website: https://iamatheatre.com/new-play-development/emerging-playwrights-lab
A yearlong lab in Los Angeles for emerging playwrights to develop a full-length play within a peer-supported structure. Culminates in a public reading.
8. 46 Minutes Collective Writer’s Group
Deadline: August 6, 2025
Website: https://www.46mincollective.com/
Weekly, in-person Brooklyn-based cohort for playwrights seeking accountability and collaborative development. The fall session emphasizes peer feedback and regular writing practice.
9. Yale Drama Series Prize
Deadline: August 15, 2025
Website: https://yalepress.yale.edu/yale-drama-series
An international competition for emerging playwrights. The winning play receives $10,000, publication by Yale University Press, and a staged reading at Yale. No entry fee.
10. Wildfire National Playwriting Competition
Deadline: August 15, 2025
Website: https://mmmtheatrecollective.com/wildfirecomp
Open to Canadian playwrights 30 or younger. Awards include cash prizes, development workshops, and a public reading. Seeks bold, edgy new voices.
11. Echo Theater Company New Play Competition
Deadline: August 31, 2025
Website: https://echotheatercompany.com
Unproduced, original plays (60–150 pages) eligible. Top prize: $1,000 and a trip to Los Angeles for a staged reading. Submission fee: $40.
12. Willapa Bay AiR Residency
Deadline: August 31, 2025
Website: https://willapabayair.org/apply
Willapa Bay AiR, situated on 20 acres in coastal southwest Washington state, launched its residency program in March 2014. The Residency has been specifically designed, from the site selection to the architecturally specific building concepts, layouts, and materials, to combine the opportunity for solitude with the opportunity for daily community that fosters creative endeavor.
We offer month-long, self-directed residencies to emerging and established artists, filmmakers, writers, playwrights, scholars, singer/songwriters, and musical composers. The Residency provides lodging, meals, and work space, at no cost, to six residents each month from April 1 through October 28 of the year. Applications are evaluated by selection committees comprised of working artists and professionals in the applicants' respective fields of discipline.
13. Blue Ink Playwriting Award (American Blues Theater)
Deadline: August 31, 2025
Website: https://americanbluestheater.com
Winner receives $3,000 and possible production. Open to full-length plays worldwide. Finalists and semi-finalists also recognized.
14. Theatre Three One-Act Festival
Deadline: September 1, 2025
Website: https://theatrethree.com/one-act-play-submissions/
Submit one-act plays (up to 30 minutes). Selected works receive full productions on Long Island and $150 royalty. No fee to submit.
15. Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (Harvard University)
Deadline: September 11, 2025
Website: https://radcliffe.harvard.edu
Highly competitive nine-month residency in Cambridge, MA offering a $78,000 stipend, project support, and office space for major literary or dramatic projects.
16. Sundog Theatre – “Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry”
Deadline: September 15, 2025 (postmark)
Website: https://sundogtheatre.org
10–25 minute plays set on the Staten Island Ferry. Winning plays receive $200 and are staged in NYC. Mail-in submissions only; no fee.
17. Cullman Center Fellowship (New York Public Library)
Deadline: September 26, 2025
Website: https://www.nypl.org/about/fellowships-institutes/cullman-center-scholars-writers
Nine-month NYC residency at the NYPL offering $90,000 to writers using its research collections. Ideal for playwrights developing historical or archival-based works.
18. Snowdance® 10-Minute Comedy Festival
Deadline: October 10, 2025
Website: https://overourheadplayers.org
Submit a 10-minute comedy for a chance to win $300 (Best in Show) and full production in Wisconsin. No submission fee. Finalists receive $50.
