From October 1, 2016 through January 1, 2017, Premiere Stages will accept submissions of unproduced plays (previous readings, workshops, and showcases are acceptable) written by playwrights affiliated with the greater metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania). All plays submitted to the festival are evaluated by a professional panel of theatre producers, dramaturgs, playwrights, scholars, and publishers. Our panel selects four finalists who will be given public readings with Equity casts in March 2017. Following the March readings, the panel selects the festival winner, who will receive a full Equity production in the Premiere Stages 2017 Mainstage Season and an award of $2000. The runner-up receives a 29-hour staged reading and $750. The two other finalists will be awarded $500.
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting a diverse group of writers; playwrights of all backgrounds, ages, and experience levels are encouraged to apply. We are particularly interested in scripts that explore or address contemporary issues and tackle topics that challenge and connect with our audience. We encourage writers to view our production history: http://www.kean.edu/premierestages/past15.php for a better understanding of the type of scripts that we have produced in the past.
Agent/Theatre Professional Submissions
Premiere Stages will accept full scripts from literary agents or theatre professionals affiliated with Premiere Stages. All other writers are required to submit a 10-page script sample and synopsis.
● Plays must be full-length and have a cast size of no more than eight.
● Plays submitted must be unpublished and must be works that have not been previously produced (readings, workshops, and showcases are okay).
● Plays must be written by playwrights who have strong affiliations with the greater metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania).
● Musical submissions, adaptations, and solo shows will not be considered at this time.
● Submissions are limited to one script per playwright.
● Playwrights must be available to be on-site at Premiere for the development of their script (see Play Festival schedule on following page).
● Submissions are due by 11:59pm on January 1, 2017. All plays must be submitted electronically, attached as a PDF. Hard copies will not be accepted. Non-agent submissions
Playwrights submitting without an agent/theatre professional must include:
● A brief synopsis of the play (no more than half a page).
● A character breakdown.
● A history of the play’s development (if any) and a brief statement of your goals for development.
● The playwright’s bio or resume.
● A script sample from the play (no more than 10 pages).
Plays and synopses will be evaluated by a panel of arts professionals. The panel will submit their recommendations to the Producing Artistic Director and Literary staff. The panel will request full scripts from synopses of interest.
For any questions regarding the submission guidelines, please email us at pfsubmit@kean.edu.
Submissions should be sent via email to: pfsubmit@kean.edu. All materials should be attached as PDF.
2017 Premiere Play Festival Schedule:
October 1, 2016: Premiere Stages begins accepting submissions
January 1, 2017: Deadline for submissions to Festival. Early March 2017: Four finalists are selected.
March 9-12, 2017: Play Festival readings.
April 2017: Festival winner and runner-up are selected for expanded development. April-September 2017: Continued script development.
June 23-25, 2017: 29-hour staged reading of runner-up.
September 2017: Full production of festival winner.
March 9-12, 2017: Play Festival readings.
April 2017: Festival winner and runner-up are selected for expanded development. April-September 2017: Continued script development.
June 23-25, 2017: 29-hour staged reading of runner-up.
September 2017: Full production of festival winner.