GET WHAT YOU WANT: APRIL 2026
Playwright Opportunities: Residencies · Fellowships · Competitions · Grants
April & May 2026 Deadlines | Compiled for working playwrights
Opportunity doesn't knock — it posts online with a deadline. Below is your curated guide to the most compelling playwright opportunities with deadlines in April and May 2026, spanning development programs, fellowships, residencies, competitions, and grants at every career level. Apply widely. Apply strategically. Get what you want.
— APRIL DEADLINES —
Playwrights for Change — AATE Adult Playwright Competition
Deadline: April 1, 2026 | https://www.aate.com
Got something to say about how we treat each other — and the planet? The American Alliance for Theatre and Education wants your 10-minute play on the theme “Widening Our Circle of Compassion.” This blind-adjudicated national competition is looking for work that resonates in schools and community spaces, with a big emphasis on empathy toward adversaries and the natural world. Six characters max, one author only — tight, focused, and purposeful.
★ Winners receive national recognition and distribution through AATE's educational networks.
LAB Theater Project — Full-Length New Play Submissions
Deadline: April 1, 2026 | https://labtheaterproject.org/submissions/
Tampa's LAB Theater Project is one of the rare organizations that takes new plays straight from the page to a full production — no workshop purgatory, no endless developmental limbo. If your full-length script is ready to live on its feet, this is the pipeline for it. Competition is stiff (400–500 scripts per cycle), but selection carries real weight.
★ Selected plays are produced as part of the upcoming main season. Page to stage, for real.
BAX — Artist in Residence
Deadline: April 2, 2026 | https://www.bax.org/artists-in-residence
Eighteen months of protected time, 450 hours of free rehearsal space, a $8,000 stipend, monthly cohort check-ins, and fiscal sponsorship — BAX's Artist in Residence program is the full package for theater and interdisciplinary performance artists committed to racial and cultural justice. The emphasis is on process, inquiry, and peer exchange, not polished product. Parents of school-age children also get free arts programming throughout the residency.
★ $8,000 stipend + 450 hours free rehearsal space + fiscal sponsorship. Benchmark presentations in 2027–2028.
Creative Capital Award / State of the Art Prize
Deadline: April 2, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET | https://creative-capital.org/creative-capital-award/award-application
This is the big one. Creative Capital's multi-year project funding plus sustained professional development support is as good as it gets for independent theater artists in the US. And every applicant for the Creative Capital Award is automatically considered for the State of the Art Prize — an unrestricted $10,000 grant just for being in the room. You need at least five years of professional practice and no active degree enrollment.
★ State of the Art Prize: $10,000 unrestricted grant. One of the most transformative opportunities in American theater.
BRIC TV — Pilot and Short Film Funds
Deadline: April 10, 2026 | https://bricartsmedia.org/art-artists/opportunity/bric-tv-nea/
If your stories want to live on screen, BRIC TV (in partnership with the NEA) is commissioning four new scripted projects: two short films at $15,000 each and two pilots at $7,500 each. Selected artists get access to BRIC's professional editing suites, equipment, and festival marketing support. The focus is New York City history and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — a wide mandate with real money behind it.
★ Short films: $15,000 each. Pilots: $7,500 each. Final delivery by October 31, 2026.
Goethe-Institut — Shadowing Programme for Theatre Professionals
Deadline: April 10, 2026 | https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/foe/hos.html
Want to see how the other half lives? Germany's subsidized theater ecosystem is one of the most robust in the world, and this program drops you inside it. International theater practitioners are embedded at major German houses for immersive professional development — full access to rehearsals, travel support, and a monthly allowance. The relationships built here often lead to co-commissions, translations, and European premieres.
★ Travel support + monthly allowance. A direct line to the international co-production circuit.
Village Playwrights — Annual June Pride Festival
Deadline: April 10, 2026 | https://sites.google.com/site/villageplaywrights
Founded in 1985, Village Playwrights is one of New York's oldest LGBTQ+ collectives — and they're looking for one-act plays (up to 30 minutes) for their annual Pride Festival at Theater for the New City in lower Manhattan. Selected plays receive full productions with professional casts. This is a community-rooted, lower-barrier entry point with a genuine production credit at a respected downtown venue.
★ Full production with professional cast at Theater for the New City. NYC-area writers especially encouraged.
SOZO Fellowship
Deadline: April 12, 2026 | https://sozomedia.com/fellowship
What if someone taught mid-career artists how to actually run their careers? That's the premise of SOZO. Using the APEC (Artists and Producers as Entrepreneurs and Changemakers) framework, this fellowship trains independent artists in financial literacy, sustainability, and entrepreneurship — with access to experts from the startup, finance, and wellness worlds. Vision-setting, leadership development, and a pitch panel are all part of the package.
★ For mid-career independent artists ready to think like entrepreneurs.
Hedgebrook — Writer in Residence
Deadline: April 17, 2026 | https://www.hedgebrook.org
Private cottages on Whidbey Island, Washington. All meals provided. Travel supported. Time to write. Hedgebrook's fully funded residency for woman-identified writers is built around the philosophy of radical hospitality — the belief that making space for women's voices is an act of world-changing. Applications for the 2027 season close April 17, with notifications in November 2026.
★ Fully funded: travel, meals, private cottage. Notifications November 2026 for 2027 season.
National Playwriting Competition — Theatre Rocks!
Deadline: April 17, 2026 | https://www.theatrerocks.com/nationalplaywritingcompetition/
A straightforward national competition for unpublished, non-musical, full-length plays in English — open to all US residents, no career stage requirements. First place wins $500 and an option for a full production in the upcoming season. Second and third place may also receive production options. There's a $30 entry fee, and you can submit as many plays as you'd like.
★ First Prize: $500 + production option. $30 entry fee. Multiple submissions allowed.
Abingdon Theatre Company — One-Person Play Submissions
Deadline: April 17, 2026 | https://www.abingdontheatre.org
Solo performance is one of the most demanding and intimate forms in theater — and Abingdon wants to champion it. They're seeking full-length one-person plays not previously produced for New York audiences, across all genres. Writers at every career stage and from any location are welcome. Submit one play plus an artistic statement (250–500 words), bio, and resume. Performer-writers should include a 2-minute reel.
★ All genres, all career stages. Champion solo performance as bold storytelling.
Page 73 — Playwriting Fellowship & Writers Group
Deadline: April 26, 2026 | https://page73.org/application
Page 73 is one of the most beloved early-career playwright support organizations in New York, and this dual application is one of the best deals in the business. The Playwriting Fellowship gives one writer $20,000 unrestricted plus a $10,000 development budget and multiple workshops. The Writers Group is a year-long cohort of 7–8 playwrights meeting twice monthly in Brooklyn, with each member receiving a $3,000 stipend. Apply to one or both through the same portal.
★ Fellowship: $20,000 + $10,000 development. Writers Group: $3,000 stipend. One application, two shots.
Carlo Annoni International Playwriting Prize
Deadline: April 30, 2026 | https://premiocarloannoni.eu
Milan-based and internationally minded, this prize celebrates plays in English or Italian that center LGBTQ+ themes — identity, love, gender fluidity. All lengths are welcome, including 10-minute plays, and previously produced works are eligible. Two grand prizes of €1,000 each go to the best plays in English and Italian, with additional jury special mentions. Award ceremony in Milan, September 2026.
★ €1,000 grand prize each for English and Italian. Previously produced works eligible.
PlayGround — 2026-27 Writers Pool
Deadline: April 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT | https://playground-ny.org/submit
PlayGround is selecting 25 early-career playwrights for its Writers Pool across San Francisco, LA, New York, and Chicago. Members participate in the Monday Night PlayGround series — write an original 10-page play in 4.5 days based on a monthly prompt, see the top six scripts receive public staged readings with professional directors and actors. The season culminates in a Best of PlayGround showcase in 2027. BIPOC, trans/gender-non-conforming, and disabled playwrights are strongly encouraged to apply.
★ 25 spots. Four cities. Monthly prompts. Public staged readings. Showcase in 2027.
— MAY DEADLINES —
Donald J. McCann Memorial Playwriting Contest — Oswego Players
Deadline: May 1, 2026 | https://oswegoplayers.org/productions/don-mccann-playwriting-contest
For New York State residents and students 18 and older, the Oswego Players have been producing community theater since before most of us were born — and they want your original, unproduced full-length script. No verse plays, no adaptations. First come, first served: this contest is strictly limited to the first 100 submissions, so don't wait.
★ NY State residents only. Full production by one of Upstate New York's oldest community theaters. Limited to 100 submissions.
Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) — Fall 2026 Residency
Deadline: May 1, 2026 | https://www.sundresspublications.com/safta/residencies
A quiet farmhouse outside Knoxville, Tennessee. A private room. Shared creative community. August 16, 2026 through January 2, 2027. SAFTA's fall residency is a slow-burn, sustained creative retreat — and while the standard fee is $350/week, fully funded fellowships are available for Black, Indigenous, and trans writers. Black and Indigenous writers can also apply for a $350 support grant for travel and childcare.
★ Fully funded fellowships for Black, Indigenous, and trans writers. $350 support grant also available.
Carolina Playwrights Lab
Deadline: May 10, 2026 | https://capitalartstheaterguild.com/cplaywrights-lab/
If you're based in North or South Carolina, this one's for you. Two playwrights are selected for a three-week intensive development of full-length scripts (70+ pages) with staged readings and feedback from local and national professionals. Submissions are blind and must be unproduced. Writers from outside the greater Triangle area receive housing.
★ NC/SC residents only. $500 stipend + housing for out-of-area writers. Blind submissions, unproduced work.
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA)
Deadline: May 15, 2026 | https://www.vcca.com/apply
One of the country's most established artist communities, VCCA offers residencies of up to six weeks at its Mt. San Angelo campus — private studio, private bedroom, three daily meals, and 20+ fellow artists across every discipline. This May deadline is for Spring 2027 placement. Residency fees apply, but fully funded fellowships are available at every deadline for writers who need total financial support.
★ Up to 6 weeks. Private studio + meals. Fully funded fellowships available. Spring 2027 placement.
Know an opportunity that's missing? Reply to this list and we'll add it.
GET WHAT YOU WANT IS COMPILED MONTHLY FOR WORKING PLAYWRIGHTS.
