Sunday, March 07, 2010

Play submission for for The Flea theater

form here

The Flea regularly produces 4 - 6 new plays per year. We are offering this questionnaire to consider propositions best suited for The Bats. See more information about The Bats.

Because The Bats are a young ensemble, we are only interested in work which reflects and features performers in their 20’s. (In other words, if your play is in a naturalistic style and requires grandparents or children, please do not occupy your time and ours by submitting answers to the questionnaire.) Although we seek large diverse casts, we are open to smaller ensembles – but do tend to favor plays that reflect the company’s diversity and size. We do favor work which is risk-taking, politically relevant, sexually charged, and intellectually engaging.

This questionnaire allows us to get a snapshot of your work – and enables us to efficiently consider work for this extraordinary company. Please be advised to fill out the answers thoroughly and feel free to use your writing skills to begin the conversation about you and your proposed work. (Incomplete questionnaires will not be considered.)

form here

Friday, March 05, 2010

Project Y's video monologue contest

web site

CONFESSIONALS: Project Y's video monologue contest.

You do: monologue that's under 60 seconds. The theme: Confessionals.

We do: Pick 5 of them to rehearse, shoot, edit, and post on our site.

How to submit: Go to our PY Blog by March 14th and become a follower.

Project Y on Facebook

David Lamberton: ANTIGONE

Actor member David Lamberton appears in "Antigone" (Creon)
at Baruch PAC Great Works Reading Series
Mon 3/8 -thru- Thurs 3/11
Admission Free but Reservations Required
Mon: 1:15p
Tue: 10:45a
Wed: 3:45p ... 5:40p ... 7:40p
Thur: 1p ... 5:40p

www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac
--or-- (646) 312 - 5073

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Spare Change Theater: in a New York Minute

sparechangetheater.com

Spare Change Theater is excited to announce a brand new theatrical event; In a New York Minute. This play competition will be a showdown of original plays with a maximum length of sixty seconds. The evening will consist of about 50 plays competing for various prizes. Like the nail biting sport of Curling... this event will include a qualifying round, quarter finals, semi finals, and the final face-off for the top prize. The winning plays of each round to be decided by the roar of the crowd. Included prizes are; cash, dinners, gift certificates, and the opportunity to have a free space for a reading of any of your full length plays. We are looking for playwrights in the NYC area to submit plays for consideration.

There is NO SUBMISSION FEE. This will be an opportunity for you to get exposure, and even earn a little cash if your play is one of the winners.

Deadline for submissions is Sunday, March 14th .

Important. Please have your plays submitted with the following information. You can submit up to 5 plays.


Name:
Address:
Phone #:
Cell #:
Email:

Please submit to plays@sparechangetheater.com

By emailing your play, you certify that you give Spare Change Theater permission to produce all plays you send in their New York Minute Playwrights Competition. You understand that the play must be under one minute and that all cuts or other changes must be made and/or approved by the playwright. If your play or plays are chosen, we will notify you by Wednesday, March 17th

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Visionfest 3 - Live Wire Chicago Theater

web site

VisionFest 3 - PLAY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submissions are required to adhere to the "Image" guideline or are discarded. Submissions are open to local, regional, national and international playwrights. Finalists will be announced when program is complete.

* Only original material may be submitted.
* Submissions must be postmarked between April 19th through July 31st to be accepted (Any submissions sent outside of these dates will be discarded.)
* Plays must be between 1 to 12 minutes in length; 1 to 12 pages depending on density of material. (Any scripts over 12 minutes will be discarded.)
* One submission per playwright will be considered.
* Previously produced scripts will NOT be accepted.
* Submissions should only include your playscript (bound preferred) with playwright's name on the title page only. (SASE for returning playscript is optional.)
* Submissions should be sent to LiveWire Chicago Theatre, ATTN: VISIONFEST, P.O. Box 11226, Chicago IL 60611-0226. E-mail Submissions will not be accepted.

Lebanon Community Theatre Play Writing Contest

Lebanon PA

web site

Aspiring playwrights of all ages and experience are invited to submit scripts for LCT's 12th annual play writing contest.

Plays will be judged on content, dialogue, ingenuity, use of theme, and ability to be staged. Plays with special effects, lighting or elaborate sets can not be produced.

Previous years' winning plays came from throughout Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic area,
and from across the United States and Canada.

The authors will maintain all literary rights to their own material.

All winning plays will be presented on the LCT stage on August 12, 13, 14, 2010 at
7:30 p.m. and at a Sunday matinee on August 15, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.

For further information call: Mary Lou Kelsey at (717) 274-0787
or send an e-mail message to pwc@lct.cc

LCT's Play Writing Contest Committee and the LCT Artistic Board will judge the entries.
The winners will be notified by letter near the end of June, 2010.
Each winner will receive:

a) a $100 cash prize; and
b) one season ticket for LCT's 2011 season for local winners; and
c) each of the winning plays will be performed on the LCT stage; and
d) each playwright may direct and cast their own play if they wish. Playwright directors will
be assisted by committee members; and
e) a DVD of the production of the winning plays.

All plays submitted should center on a common theme, idea or concept.
This year's theme is "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

All plays submitted must be the original work of the author and must comply with
guidelines of length and appropriateness for community theatre audiences.

Plays not on theme or not written for this contest will not be judged.

Play's should be at least 10 minutes long, but must not exceed 20 minutes of production time.

Plays should have no more than three scenes using limited sets, props and costumes. Only simple on-off or fade lighting will be considered. The cast of characters must be at least two, but should not exceed eight.

Playwrights should keep in mind that they are writing for the stage and not television or film, and must use dialogue, not stage directions, to develop their play.

There is no limit to the number of plays each person can submit.

Please submit two copies of your play. Submissions should be typed and double-spaced
on one side only. Both copies should be unbound and stapled on the top left corner.
Do not use any covers. Use a simple font such as Times New Roman or Courier.

All plays must be submitted by April 30, 2010 and must include on the title page
a short paragraph stating how your play makes use of the theme.

Mail your plays to:

L.C.T
P.O Box 592
Lebanon, Pa 17042


Auditions for the winning plays will be held at LCT on Sunday, July 11th and Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. All winning authors who want to cast and direct their own play should be present. Playwrights are encouraged to recruit potential actors; and those auditioning will be considered for all winning plays.

Bruce Barton - GLEE CLUB

Actor member Bruce Barton performs in Blue Coyote's GLEE CLUB Weds - Sat, March 3rd - April 3rd.

Tickets are now on sale at Smarttix.

http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?EID=&showCode=GLE1

www.bluecoyote.org

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest

web site

Shubert Fendrich, the founder of PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE, passed away in December of 1989. In tribute to him, the Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest is held annually to encourage the development of quality theatrical material for educational and community theatres.

CONTEST GUIDELINES

Individuals currently published by Pioneer Drama Service are not eligible for this contest. Pioneer Drama Service employees and their families are also excluded.

This is an ongoing contest, with one winner selected for each calendar year. The winner from the previous calendar year will be announced each year on June 1.

All plays accepted for publication will be considered contest finalists. The contest winner will receive a $1,000 royalty advance in addition to publication.

Entries should be sent to:

PLAYWRITING CONTEST
Pioneer Drama Service
P.O. Box 4267
Englewood, CO 80155-4267

Uhry Master Class

Several NYCPlaywrights are attending the Alfred Uhry Master Class at the Cherry Lane Theatre. For more information: http://www.cherrylanetheatre.com/playing.php?page=masterclasses

Sunday, February 21, 2010

NYCPlaywrights Spring Fundraiser

The Spring Fundraiser will be at 8PM on Saturday, April 24, 2010. For location, lineup, cast etc. check in again later.

go here to see info about previous NYCPlaywrights fundraisers

Amanda Thickpenny: MAN AND SUPERMAN

Actor member Amanda Thickpenny is playing Ann in George Bernard Shaw's MAN AND SUPERMAN at Love Creek Productions. It plays at the Beckman Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors at 314 W. 54th Street. The production runs as follows:

March 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13 at 8:00 pm
March 6 at 3:00 pm
March 7 at 7:00 pm
March 13 at 3:00 pm
March 14th at 3:00 pm

Tickets are $18 and reservations can be made by calling 212-769-7973

Amanda's web site : www.amandathickpenny.com

North Park Playwright Festival

web site

Short new plays (no more that 15 minutes, less is fine) that are easily staged and have casts with no more than four people. Our theater is very small and we normally use a minimal set concept in this festival. We have to be able to change sets in just a few minutes as we do six to seven plays each evening of the festival. We don't have space for large casts.

2. We request new work. A play that has had workshops or one or two previous productions is OK, but we are not interested in work that has been produced in numerous other places. Our goal in building the theater was to have a place to produce brand new work and let playwrights have a chance to see their work done for the first time.

3. We seek complete plays rather than excerpts from a larger work.

4. Work will be chosen by the directors we have in the festival. It is not a "contest" and we are not really judging plays in the formal sense. The directors choose the plays we will produce, within the production budget guidelines we give them.

5. Most subject matter is OK. We don't mind controversial issues, etc., but we don't do nudity.

6. We ask that all submissions be sent to us via snail mail at the theater. Address is: North Park Vaudeville and Candy Shoppe, 2031 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92104, Attn Summer Golden, Artistic Director. We have too much trouble with differing email, word processing, and computer platform issues to take them via email. Additionally, our selection process requires the directors read all plays submitted and the cost of printing all the plays we receive each year is prohibitive. Please insure submissions have a title page with complete contact information, a character summary, and are in proper script form. There is no charge to enter.

7. Submissions must be postmarked by June 30, 2010.

8. Send only one script. Multiple submissions do not increase chances of production.

General information:

We are trying to support new work and involve actors, playwrights, and directors of all experience levels. We have had a wide variety of artists involved from very experienced to first time directors and actors to an 8 year old playwright (very short, well received play). We feel having a wide range of experience involved helps the new people learn from the more experienced.

We really appreciate your interest in our theater.

If Ophelia had a sassy gay friend



Initially discovered by member Amanda Thickpenny

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Penn State Summer Theatre Project

web site

The Penn State Summer Theatre Project offers a unique opportunity to young theatre artists, ages 18 through 22, and young professional playwrights ages 18 through 25. Founded on the professional training methods used in one of the top five musical theatre programs in the country and by the professional playwrights and composers who form the core of two nationally recognized new works festivals, the Summer Theatre Project features an exciting liaison between training and practice. Penn State’s new play festival, Cultural Conversations, and The Penn State New Musicals Festival bring national and international composers, lyricists, and playwrights to Penn State to do new works, and the students in Penn State's School of Theatre have the privilege of working closely with professional writers on both creating and workshopping new theatre pieces. The relationship between the Summer Theatre Project and the two festivals creates an exciting environment of training and performance, and this extraordinary program is designed to serve the needs of both the highly motivated young theatre professional and the professional playwright, composer, and lyricist.

The playwrights chosen for The Project will take classes at Penn State in Hero's Journey, Theatricality as Metaphor, Revising a Play, The Workshop, and New Play Development, and participate in Master Classes with visiting playwrights and artistic directors in the field. This unique training and performance experience sets The Penn State Summer Theatre Project apart from any other summer theatre experience in the country, and the collaboration between creation and performance offers the young writer and actor an opportunity to study, refine, and present his or her own gifts in a supportive and artistically progressive environment.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

nufan ensemble, Chi, A Table & Chairs, submit 8/15-9/15, no fee

If you have any questions regarding submissions, you may direct them to info@nufanensemble.com

The n.u.f.a.n. ensemble has shifted its focus to producing festivals for the 2009-2010 season. We look forward reading new work created by writers from around the world.

New work is defined as a play that has never had a full production (table readings and workshops are acceptable, however).

Submissions must be in standard industry format, including page numbers and binding. Please remove all identifying information from the title page of the script. Your contact information should be included on a separate page.

(Please acquaint yourselves with these guidelines. If you are unsure how to format your script – please follow the link. We consider one properly formatted page equals roughly one minute. Binding can be anything from a staple to a folder, but the work must be securely bound.)

One hard copy of the script should be sent to;

The n.u.f.a.n. ensemble
c/o Paul Barile
4261 W. Addison
Chicago, IL 60641
Scripts will not be returned.

The following is our submission schedule. All scripts must be postmarked on or before the final day of each call for scripts. When submitting a play for a particular festival, please put the name of the festival on the outside of the envelope.

A Table and Chairs: a 10-minute play festival

Submissions accepted August 15 – September 15.

This festival is open to all playwrights.

Page count – no more than ten pages

Set pieces are limited to a table and two chairs.

When submitting a play for a particular festival, please put the name of the festival on the outside of the envelope.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Madhu on Gurney

Madhu Rye, who was among the NYCPlaywrights who attended A.R Gurney's Master Class at the Cherry Lane Theatre generously allowed NYCPlaywrights to reprint this English-language version of his column from Divya Bhaskar. Thanks Madhu!

Heaven On Earth
by Madhu Rye
(adapted from his weekly column in Divya Bhaskar, the Gujarati language daily published from India in seven editions, date 1-13-2010)

Have you seen "Tumhari Armita", the Hindi language play starring Shabana Azmi and Farukh Sheikh? It has only two characters, who simply sit on their chairs and read a series of letters, electrifying the audience by just the words, the events those words describe, and the emotions bursting out of the cadence of their voices. There is no one threatening the bad guy by resting a foot on a chair and leaning menacingly, or averring "Oh, by the way..." No one gets poked in the chest with the stem of a Briar pipe, and no one weeps with muted sobs. An entire world of complex relationships and the quirky passage of Time rendered with disarming simplicity is presented through the 50-year-long series of letters between a man and a woman. It is spell-biding. That play was inspired by an American play "Love Letters" by Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr.

A Gujarati language adaptation of this play by Naushil Mehta, starred Mallika Sarabhai and Utkarsh Majumdar in Bombay. Being so low-maintenance to stage - the playwright asks that the actors not even rehearse, and so intense in its effect, that it must have had hundreds of adaptations, translations, renderings in other languages of India and of course the whole world. It has made Gurney a darling of stage performers all over the globe.

Gurney saheb entered his eightieth year last month. He has written forty-one plays to date, and three of his new plays are opening on professional stage in New York next month. By some cosmic miracle, courtesy of NYCPlaywrights, a group I am associated with, I was able to meet Gurney saheb in person in New York's Cherry Lane Theater "Master Class" - a series of interactive sessions for aspiring playwrights with masters of American Drama. It was a buoyant, humbling, joyous occasion.

Gurney saheb was teaching American Theater at the formidable Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was forced to become a "showman" to keep his students from dozing off. So he put together a drama circle there to stage his plays. After twenty-five years of diligence, his "Scenes from American Life" made it to Broadway, which freed him to write full-time. He writes from 8am to noon as a daily ritual. This way it becomes a habit, even an addiction, he explained. In his benign, grandfatherly intonations he also answered questions from budding playwrights. Why no rehearsals for "Love Letters"? For spontaneity. And you can have different teams perform it to bring out different nuances. This play has been done by mighty professionals of Broadway stage as well as promising newcomers, with delightful results.

Gurney saheb has also written three novels. Has he tried converting his novels into plays, and the other way around? Well, it was only when the "Love Letters" manuscript was returned by the New Yorker magazine saying they didn't accept playscripts that the author realized that it was actually not a novel but a play! So he read it at a social gathering with a lady friend and the effect was exhilarating. It took off like a rocket after that and is still performed everywhere except in England. The English, the playwright muses, do not get the point of the play. Gurney loves writing plays because it involves other arts and crafts. Writing novels is a lonely occupation.

Gurney has made a dog compose poetry (Sylvia), threaded 18 scenes crisscrossing Time and Space in a single play (Dining Room), adapted a Cheever story into a musical (Love in Buffalo). He writes like a gardener cultivates rose bushes. There are no psychological dungeons of Tennessee Williams, nor complex architecture of Arthur Miller. His gift is simplicity. He has written about the WASPs but has inspired scores of black, yellow and brown dramatists to adapt his work in multiple incarnations over and over again. After 41 plays, at the age of 80, he has three plays opening this month. Heaven on earth.


Visit Madhu's web site at madhurye.net

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Slings and Arrows, Season 1, Episode 1, Part 6

Raconteur Theatre Company seeks scripts

web site

Please note that Raconteur Theatre Company does not provide any comments or suggestions about work that we neither intend to develop nor produce. Although we accept material year-round, we do not guarantee that every script will be read. We will not return any materials physically mailed to us unless they are accompanied with a SASE and adequate postage. Please note that Raconteur Theatre Company does not provide any comments or suggestions about work that we neither intend to develop nor produce. Although we accept material year-round, we do not guarantee that every script will be read. We will not return any materials physically mailed to us unless they are accompanied with a SASE and adequate postage. If you have any questions or need additional information, please e-mail scripts@raconteurtheatre.com.
Include the following information to allow us to contact you if interested:

  1. Full Name of Playwright
  2. Complete Mailing Address
  3. Email Address
  4. The font should be easily readable and 10-14pt.in size.
  5. Your script must contain page numbers.
  6. Include a list of characters. Keep it brief but be sure to include any important
  7. details such as gender, age and race if applicable.
  8. Any script submitted must be the sole work of the playwright(s) and must not include any material you do not have permission to use.
  9. All scripts must be in English.

Script Submission Suggestions
Raconteur is a small company with under 20 members. We typically perform scripts which allow us to be as minimal as possible or include only one or two locations. We read a lot of scripts to find the ones we feel fit us best. The following are a few suggestions to help you to have the best possible opportunity

  1. We accept scripts of all lengths. We do not accept screenplays.
  2. Providing a cover page including the title, playwright name, contact information, a little background on the playwright, cast size, genre, approximate run time, and a brief synopsis is helpful.
  3. Electronic submissions are strongly preferred.
  4. Including a production and publication history if applicable is strongly preferred.
  5. Proofread to be certain there are no serious grammatical errors.
  6. Consider audiences when choosing a title, think about how it will look on a poster or in a press release. It should compel audiences to come see the show.
  7. Try not to include stage directions or costume design unless they are imperative to tell your story.
  8. We suggest limiting your cast of characters to no more than 8 and your list of settings to no more than 2.
  9. Special interest is given to writers from the Central Ohio area.
    Thank you for your interest in Raconteur Theatre Company. We look forward to reading your work.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

7th Biennial Festival of Ten-Minute Plays

The Department of Theatre at The College at Brockport - State University of New York is pleased to announce its 7th Biennial Festival of Ten-Minute Plays

+ All submissions are online. Please visit our website for complete submission and format guidelines: http://www.brockport.edu/theatre/Fest2010ad.html

+ Each submission must have a cover sheet – available with the complete submission guidelines

+ Each script must have a running time of seven to fourteen minutes

+ Only original scripts allowed

+ Maximum of two scripts per playwright

+ No musicals

+ Previously produced plays, for which admission was charged, are not accepted

+ Entries will be acknowledged by email

+ Scripts must be submitted by April 15, 2010 midnight EST

+ The top ten scripts will be produced in fully realized productions as part of the College at Brockport Festival of Ten VII in February 2011

+ Awards will be given to the top three selected plays

+ Finalists will be notified by December 3, 2010

+ For more information please visit our website: http://www.brockport.edu/theatre

NYCP & Cherry Lane Theatre

Once again Cherry Lane Theatre has generously offered complimentary passes to NYCPlaywrights - this time to participate in Lee Blessing's Master Class. Read more about it here.

Submissions for Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival

Submissions are now open for the 2010 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival

web site

Samuel French is now accepting submissions for its 2010 Festival. Festival application and guidelines are available here.

Deadline is March 12th, 2010.

FAQs

What is the deadline to submit to the OOB fest?

All submissions must be postmarked no later than March 12th to be considered for the festival.

When will I know if I'm a chosen finalist?

Our decision on our final forty plays will be made in May.

Why do I need a liaison/producer?

The Samuel French OOB Festival requires a producing body for each play, because this is a performance festival. This means you need someone to produce the play you put on paper – a liaison. In some cases this is a third party, in many cases this is the playwright themselves. If chosen to participate in the Festival, the liaison is responsible for all production-related issue.

Wait! I have to do a production of my play?

Please remember that this is a PLAYWRITING festival, not a PRODUCTION festival. That said, the production should be audience-ready as these are not staged readings. Samuel French will provide stock set pieces, dressing rooms, basic lighting, and curtains. Remember, the focus is on the writing.

At this early stage, I don't know who would want to act as my liaison - can I act as my own liaison?

Yes, you can act as your own liaison. When applying, just include your own information in the section labeled "agreement by liaison".

How long can my play be?

Your play can be up to 30 minutes in length. It can be less, but not more.

How many plays can I submit?

Each author is allowed to submit up to three scripts.

I'm not from the New York area. Will I be able to cast my play in New York?

You can absolutely cast from a New York pool of talent, you can also feel free to bring your cast from wherever you are.

My play has been part of other festivals. Is it still eligible for yours?

The winners of the OOB Festival are published and licensed by Samuel French. So if your play, as part of another festival, is under any other contract for publication or licensing, then you would not be eligible. However, if it has not been published or licensed, we encourage pieces that have already been workshopped and produced in other festivals. Prior workshops and readings can only help the development of your play.

I don't live in the United States. Are international submissions accepted?

Of course. We encourage submissions from around the globe. Our one condition is that all plays MUST be written in English, though foreign expressions may be used.

When is the festival?

The OOB Festival will be taking place from Tuesday, July 13, to Sunday, July 18, 2010 at the Lion Theatre on Theatre Row in NYC.

This should help answer most question you may have. If any further concerns come up that aren't addressed here, direct them to oobfestival@samuelfrench.com and we will answer them promptly.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

10% off Spring 2010 Semester at Primary Stages for NYCPlaywrights



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mention you saw this notice on the NYCPlaywrights web site
and receive a 10% discount on a writing class at Primary Stages
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The start of Primary Stages' Spring 2010 semester begins February 16, and there are still a few spots left within its Writing Department.

The writing classes are designed to create an environment that breeds creativity and growth. Join small class sizes with writing mentors (rather than strict teachers!) and a fabulous community of artists working toward a common goal. Courses still open for enrollment include:

Face the Blank Page and Write
Adaptation
The One-Act
Television Writing

In addition to traditional writing classes we
offer the following courses that round out your education:

Script Analysis
Dramaturgy

Can't commit to a full semester but still looking for a boost of encouragement?
Check out our workshops with David Adjmi, David Grimm and Itamar Moses.

Contact Tessa LaNeve tessa@primarystages.org or 212.840.9705 x212
for more information or to enroll..

Learn more about PSST here

SEEKING SUBMISSIONS FOR "EMERGING ARTISTS" PLAYWRITING RESIDENCY

SEEKING SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR "EMERGING ARTISTS" PLAYWRIGHTING RESIDENCY

web site

DEADLINE MARCH 1st, 2010

Seeking one act or short play (60-75 minutes run time) featuring a cast of no more than 4 performers (roles can be doubled and trebled) age 18-35 that can be produced appropriate to our "bare bones" approach to production (see website, www.shakespeareinthevalley.com for examples of our costuming, sets, lighting, etc) and can be rehearsed in 4-5 days (actors will be cast in advance and will arrive to rehearsal off book) leading up to a three night run on our various Main Stages in July 2010. Work must be at least a NH premiere (prefer never produced pieces). Classical or Shakespearean content appreciated but not mandatory. Playwright will also direct. No pay. Travel stipend, housing and all production support provided.

No limit to scripts submitted by same person as long as they follow the guidelines given.

The casting session will be done by playwright/director (if available to do so) and artistic director in NH 2 weeks prior to start of rehearsals. The director/writer will not be supplying actors--they will already be on site in NH as part of our summer festival company. If writer/director is unavailable to come for casting, then AD will cast and playwright/director will meet cast at start of rehearsals.


Please send cover letter, CV/Resume and submission (prefer Word format) attention "Donna Devlin, Founding/Producing Artistic Director" at info@shakespeareinthevalley.com.

If prefer to send via postal mail, please send c/o Donna Devlin, 1020 Grand
Concourse, Suite 20K, Bronx, NY 10451. IF SENT VIA POST, SCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

Finalists will be notified of our decision by April 1st and an interview scheduled with the Artistic Director at that time. Final decision will be made prior to May 1st, 2010.

Affair with a Fish

Member Wayne Paul Mattingly's latest full-length play, AFFAIR WITH A FISH, has been selected a semi-finalist in the 2011 Trustus Playwright's Festival. Winner to be announced this April/May.
more info here

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Firehouse Theatre Project 9th Annual Festival of New American Plays

web site

Firehouse Theatre Project
9th Annual Festival of New American Plays
Rules for Submission

Full length scripts only.

Plays must not have been previously produced. Readings are acceptable if no admission was charged and actors read from the script.

Submissions should be made in standard manuscript form and with no fancy binding. This
means no discs, no e-mails. Please just use a binder clip to secure the script pages, no folders, no plastic covers, etc. All author information must be on a title page separate from the body of the manuscript and no reference to the author is permitted in the body of the script.

Scripts must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a theater company or
individual familiar with your work. Letters of recommendation do not need to be specific to the play submitted; they may be general recommendations of the playwrights work. All letters must be received with the script, not under separate cover. Scripts received without a letter will not be considered.

Entries must be postmarked no later than June 30, 2010.

Due to volume of mail, manuscripts cannot be returned.

Send submissions to:
Firehouse Theatre Project
7th Festival of New American Plays
1609 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220

Two winners receive staged readings and prizes of $1,000 and $500. In the case of a tie, each winner will receive $750.

Winners will be announced January 1, 2011.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

thoughts on the Master Class

Marguerite Louise Scott, who attended the Gretchen Cryer Master Class at Cherry Lane kindly shared her thoughts on the experience:
Much gratitude to the Cherry Lane Theatre and Gretchen Cryer for a fabulous Master Playwrighting Class! As a playwright who has just recently relocated back here to NYC after eleven years in Portland, Oregon it was greatly comforting and inspiring to be in a room with fellow writers and hear each others work we all wrote on the spot. I came into the evening feeling like a stranger in a new land, and left knowing something intimate and intriguing about each and every one present. What a gift.

The focus of Solo Writing and Performance was particularly inspiring for me, as I have written and performed a show in the past, but didn't think I had another one in me. I left the evening with the seeds of a new show I am now working on!

Thank you Gretchen and NYC Playwrights and the Cherry Lane Theatre for making my landing back here in the city such a fruitful one.
Marguerite's blog

Friday, February 05, 2010

FUSION Theatre Company Announces Fifth Annual Short Works Festival

web site

NOTE: submission is free if you send hard-copy scripts via snailmail. There is a submission fee if you send electronic submissions via email - $5 for up to 2 submissions.

***

Seven fully-produced world premieres.
Seven different directors.
A professional ensemble cast.
One winning playwright who will receive transport and lodging to Albuquerque for the festival.

GUIDELINES FOR PLAY SUBMISSION

* The plays should be inspired by the theme: “Hidden Agendas”
* Scripts may be a maximum of 10 pages.
* Each playwright may submit up to two scripts.
* Do NOT include the phrase “Hidden Agendas” in the text of the play.
* We are looking to mount premiere productions of submitted plays. If the play has previously received a fully-mounted production, please do NOT submit. Plays that have been given public readings are allowable.
* Longer one-act or full-length plays will not be accepted for consideration.
* Each manuscript must include an additional title page with name, address, phone number and e-mail address.

* The easiest and our preferred method of receiving scripts is via e-submission. There is a nominal cost of $5 to offset printing and distribution costs to do so. You may submit up to two scripts with this fee.

* To begin, click on the "Add to Cart" button below, which will place the required $5 fee in your Shopping Cart;
* Then, after you pay via credit card or PayPal, the displayed receipt will include a WWW address that allows you to upload your script. The receipt will also be Emailed to you automatically. Copy and paste this address into your web browser for a page that will permit you to upload your script(s).
* If this is your first time visiting our ticketing site, you'll be asked to create a simple account that protects your transaction and allows us to contact you if something goes awry. All patron and artist information, including email addresses, are kept strictly confidential: FUSION never shares any information with any other organizations.

You may also mail your submissions to:

FUSION Theatre Company
Attn: The Seven Submissions
700 1st St. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

There is no submission fee with this option.

* POSTMARKED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FRIDAY, APRIL 16th, 2010.
* E-Submissions will be accepted until midnight on that date.
* Entries will be acknowledged by e-mail once they have been received. Due to the volume of scripts we are unable to offer criticism or return any submissions.
* Finalists will be announced on Friday, April 23rd. The winning seven will be announced on Friday, May 7th.

Questions: use our contact form, attn: The Seven.

McClernan's Sodom & Gomorrah



Writer member N.G. McClernan's short play SODOM AND GOMORRAH: THE ONE MAN SHOW will be performed as part of the Where Eagles Dare Playlab, February 26 & 27 2010 @Studio Blackbird 347 W. 36th St., 13th Floor NY NY (right where NYCPlaywrights meets each week) Actor members Carl Maguire, Carolyn Paine and Doug Rossi and Alice Anne English perform. More information @mergatroyd.org

Thursday, February 04, 2010

SkyPilot Theatre Company seeks submissions

web site

SkyPilot Theatre Company is focused exclusively on bringing compelling, challenging and humorous new works of stage art to the Los Angeles region. SkyPilot will seek to establish relationships with provocative writers from the Los Angeles area and beyond to ensure that its local audience experiences a fresh, never before seen production each and every time.

We encourage all playwrights who would like to work with us as we head in this new direction to contact our Literary Manager Philipe Simon at psimon620@yahoo.com and send him your work. The only stipulation is that it has never been produced in Los Angeles. World Premieres are especially favored.

EndTimes Productions call for submissions

web site

Award-winning company EndTimes Productions is now seeking submissions for
its 4th annual one-act festival, "Vignettes for the Apocalypse". The
festival focuses on pieces with horror, sci-fi, political, or dystopian
themes. Many past pieces have been published on the basis of their
inclusion in the festival, and last year's production of "The Godling" went
on to win Best Director and Best Ensemble at the 2009 San Francisco Fringe
Festival. Submissions should not exceed a 50 minutes run time. Enter plays
at submissions@endtimesproductions.org. Deadline for submissions is
February 15, 2010.

Kids with Guns seeks plays

Kids with Guns, a NYC-based theater company is presently seeking submissions of new plays for the 2011 season.

web site

Special consideration will be given to emerging playwrights that live and work (or aspire to live and work) in New York City.

What to submit:

* Brief synopsis of your new, unproduced, full-length play
* Character breakdown
* Clarification of any technical or production requirements
* 20 pages from your script
* Script page count
* Playwright contact info (name, telephone, mailing address, email address)
* Playwright bio or resume

Send all materials (PDF, DOC, or RTF formats only) to submissions [at] kidswithguns.com

Due date: Sunday, February 28, 2010

We encourage questions. Email us at submissions [at] kidswithguns.com

Monday, February 01, 2010

Master Class with Gretchen Cryer

Thanks to the generosity of Cherry Lane Theatre, several members of NYCPlaywrights have received complimentary passes to particpate in Gretchen Cryer's Master Class tonight.

Read more about Cherry Lane and its programs here.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

CALL FOR PLAYS - 2010 Centenary Stage Company Women Playwrights Series (WPS)

web site

The Centenary Stage Company, an Equity theatre in residence on the campus of Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ is accepting submissions for the 2010 Women Playwrights Series (WPS) and the 2010 Susan Glaspell Contest.

The WPS is a developmental program dedicated to providing a working forum for the unique and underserved voice of women writing for the theatre today. Each season 3-4 new plays are selected for a collaborative workshop process, with a professional director and actors, which takes place over a period of a approximately 1 week, allowing time for the playwright to hear and adapt their work with other professionals. At the end of the rehearsal, a staged reading of the play is presented at CSC (50 miles w. of NYC) for our regional audiences, giving CSC audiences larger exposure to new work, as well as offering the playwright an opportunity to get feedback from the audience during the development process.
Playwrights selected for the workshop process will receive a $200 honorarium. Additional funds for travel and housing are available for one playwright each season.

The 2010 WPS will celebrate new plays and playwrights in a week-long festival, featuring a series of readings, seminars, workshop presentations and playwrighting classes.

Send to:

Attn: Catherine Rust, Prog. Dir
Centenary Stage Co. WPS
400 Jefferson St.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840

The 2010 SUSAN GLASPELL CONTEST: One play from the WPS Festival will be selected by a panel of judges to be featured in a subsequent CSC main-stage season as a full production, with an additional award of $1500 to the playwright.

Guidelines for WPS Susan Glaspell Contest: Submit Full-length play, previously unproduced.
Deadline: Feb 1, 2010

Project 2
Deadline: Mar 1, 2010

This season the WPS Festival will feature the 2nd annual "THE MASTODON CHALLENGE" contest, for short plays having anything to do with the subject of mastodons. The challenge is inspired by The Harvard Mastodon (now in the Harvard Museum), which was discovered and excavated from the great swamplands just north of Hackettstown, in the shadow of the Delaware Water Gap. The real-life history of the event includes a discovery of historical significance, subsequent financial hardship and finally, murder. The Terminal Moraine of the last ice age ends just a few miles from the site near Stephens State Park in Hackettstown.

Three submissions from the Harvard Mastodon "Challenge" will be read during the WPS festival week, April 20 - 25, and one will be selected for further development. The winner of the short play contest will receive an honorarium of $150, plus further development by the Centenary Stage Company.

Guidelines for Harvard Mastodon "Challenge": One-act or 'short' play having anything to do with the subject "Mastodon".
Deadline: Mar 1, 2010
CSC is an SPT Equity Company located
50 miles west of NYC in Hackettstown, NJ

Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights seeks submissions

Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights
A unique annual festival showcasing original works by Appalachian playwrights

web site

Play Submission Guidelines:

Plays must be written by an Appalachian playwright (currently living in the Appalachian Mountains which, for our purposes, run from New York State to Alabama)
OR the plays must contain Appalachian settings and themes.

Full-length plays are preferred. Please submit the full script and an SASE if you wish your play returned. No E-mail submissions, please. The writers of the selected plays will be provided with housing and transportation in order to attend the reading of their play.

The playwrights of the six selected plays will each receive $250 plus transportation and housing for two nights (the day before and the day of the reading).

The winner of the Festival will receive $500 and a possible mini-production the following year.

Second place will receive $250 and a possible mini-production the following year.

Plays must be received by March 31, 2010. Plays may be sent to address below.

For more information contact:
Nicholas Piper
Director, Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights
P.O. Box 867
Abingdon, VA 24212
276.619.3316
apfestival@bartertheatre.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Fingland: COME LIVE WITH ME

Writer member Andrew Fingland's play COME LIVE WITH ME will be performed at Polaris North on Friday, Jan 29th at 7 pm. @ 245 W. 29th St, 4th floor.

Rubicon Theatre Project

Kassi Festival

web site

It's happening again! Our 3rd annual short play festival, Kassi Fest. Last year was such a hit we can't stop now.


But we need YOU!


Playwrights: Here's how it works. We've chosen a list of words and phrases to be used as inspiration: gnomes, Muppets, panic attacks, renter's insurance, "Doll Man", drinking 40s, chicken dumpling soup, cross country skiing, sunburn, Circus World, Stevens Point/WI, meatloaf, ping pong table.
Take any (or all of) the words to create a short play no longer that 10 pages. Then email it, with a short blurb about yourself, to playwright@rubicontheatreproject.org.

Play submission cut-off is February 15th.

Actors: We're going to need you, too. Please submit a resume and headshot to actors@rubicontheatreproject.org.

Directors: If you're interested in directing a piece in the festival, please sned us a short blurb about yourself and a resume to directors@rubicontheatreproject.org.

Thanks to all of those who have made Kassi

Aspiring Playwrights Contest

Aspiring Playwrights Contest
Sponsored by East Valley Children’s Theatre

web site

East Valley Children’s Theatre is searching for aspiring playwrights to become a part of the theatre’s future seasons of performances. Contest rules and prizes are listed below.

All Plays must be submitted to EVCT no later than March 15, 2010. (Must include a cover sheet with name, address, phone number and age.)
All Plays must be suitable for children to perform for children.
All Plays must be one hour to one hour and a half in length. (Shorter plays may be submitted but they will not be considered for production by the theatre as one of its season’s productions.)
Plays and Musicals have not been previously performed.
Musicals must include a copy of the music in some form either written or recorded.



Cash prizes will be given for the first, second and third place entries.
The first place entry will not only receive a cash prize but also will be produced by East Valley Children’s Theatre in its upcoming season, if it meets all the criteria for performance.

Send entries to:
East Valley Children’s Theatre
P.O. Box 20514
Mesa, AZ 85277-0514


Or email them to: Karen (at) evct.org

For more information or questions call EVCT at 480-756-3828 or email Info@evct.org.

Seeking Original Plays

Seeking Original Plays
No longer than 10 min
Open Genre
characters between 2-6 roles in each play
Plays will be performed at Shetler Theater Feb 27th
Director is Joanna Tomasz

jo.tomasz (at) gmail.com

This is brought to you by Urnetworkalliance

DEADLINE IS JAN 30

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Einhorn: A YEAR OF HER LIFE

Horse Trade Theatre Group will be reading an excerpt of writer-member Aliza Einhorn's A YEAR OF HER LIFE in The Red Room, as part of their new play reading series, and featuring their acting ensemble, The Drafts. Two other playwrights on the bill, free admission, tentative date July 18. More info: www.horsetrade.info

Rising Sun Performance Company Open Call for One Act Play Submissions

RSP is seeking Original Unpublished One Act plays for its Annual Series.

web site

Submission Deadline: January 30th 2010

Plays will be vetted by RSP Ensemble, and the top 15-25 plays will receive a staged reading for the public in spring, from the reading series, audience & ensemble favorites will be given a fully produced run in the summer of 2010.

Seeking Contemporary themed, Ensemble driven works; all genres and subjects considered.

Cast Age range should be Mid-Twenties to Late 30s.

Cast size should be no larger than 5 people.

Running time should be 10 to 20 Minutes.

Plays should be no more than 30 pages in length.

Unit/Basic Set with uncomplicated production values.
(Keep in mind plays will run in rep)

Submission Guideline; Please include the following:
Cover Letter, including your contact information
Play Synopsis
Cast breakdown
Script in word or PDF format
List of previous productions/publishing (do not include readings)
Any other pertinent information

Please be aware that no financial payment is available at this time. Writers retain full rights and credit for all work produced. Rising Sun also conducts workshop and table readings as a tool for writers to hear their work out loud and continue their artistic journey. Also accepting applications for resident & guest writers, as well as teaching artists.

Please resubmit even if you have submitted in the past.
Work will not be returned, please do not send original copies
Electronic Submissions are preferred. No Phone Calls Please

For more information on the company visit www.risingsunnyc.com
To Submit your work : Submissions@risingsunnyc.com

Or mail to
Rising Sun Performance Company
C/O Horse Trade Theater Group
Attn: Akia Squitieri
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Quinn does Shakespeare

Actor member Quinn Warren will perform as Buckingham in the Alliance Repertory Theatre Company's production of Richard III March 5 - 27 2010.

See their web site for more details.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Thistle Dew Theatre welcomes new plays for production in our intimate theatre

web site

The Thistle Dew Theatre welcomes new plays for production in our intimate theatre. Our New Playwrights' Program is not a competition, festival, workshop or staged reading program. We consider plays that writers feel are ready for production, not development.
We have an in-house Playwright’s Workshop, which considers only local playwright’s (Sacramento, CA) work for development.
We are interested in personal issue-oriented full-length plays (a comedic approach is fine); 1 to 5 characters; with no double casting; no produced or published plays; and no musicals at this time.
There is no submission fee.
Playwrights will be compensated if play is produced.

Your submitted play, if mailed via USPS to
Thistle Dew Theatre,
1901 P Street,
Sacramento, CA 95811
Should include:
1. Script bound with one staple only at bottom left,
2. A character list and character description,
3. 350 Word critical synopsis,
4. 100 Word Raison Pour Écriture,
5. Your resume, including contact information,
6. Typewritten in proper manuscript form with pages numbered and your name in the header or footer of each page, and
7. An SASE if you want your manuscript returned.

If emailed to thistledewplaywrights@yahoo.com as an attachment, your script should include:
1. A character list and character description,
2. 350 Word critical synopsis,
3. 100 Word Raison Pour Écriture,
4. Your resume, including contact information,
5. Typewritten in proper manuscript form with pages numbered and your name in the header or footer of each page.

Call for Submissions to the 9th Annual 10 by 10 in the Triangle

web site

January 7 - February 14, 2010.

Call for Submissions to 10 by 10 in the Triangle, an international festival of new, ten-minute plays. 10 Plays, 10 Actors, 10 Minutes, ONLY 10 Bucks! A panel of judges will select ten plays to showcase in The ArtsCenter mainstage theatre July 8-25, 2010.

The Submissions: Please email new, 10-minute plays with minimal set requirements to theatre@artscenterlive.org. We do not accept monologues but do accept musical submissions, provided that they require little or no accompaniment. Playwrights may submit up to two plays in standard format (Courier or 12 pt font) in Word or PDF.

Please send two separate emails for each play.

Email 1: The subject line of the email is the title of the submitted play followed by "Contact Info." (For example: For the play "Poker Face," the email subject line would read "Poker Face Contact Info.") The body of the email contains only the title page of the play with playwright contact information. Please use the full title of the play as we often receive plays with similar titles.

Email 2: The subject line of the email and name of the attached file are the title of the play. (For example: For the play "Poker Face," the email subject line would read "Poker Face" and the attached file title would read "Poker Face.") This file contains cast, set requirements, and script. NO CONTACT INFORMATION PLEASE. If you are submitting 2 scripts, please send 4 separate emails. Please do not zip the files.

Submission Deadline: February 14, 2010. We will notify finalists by email and post those titles on our website. We are sorry we cannot respond to each individual playwright.

The Award: Playwrights receive an award of $100. Playwrights who attend our playwright gala on July 10 will also receive a $100 travel stipend.

The Space: Our main stage is a 300-seat theatre with basic lighting and sound capabilities.

The Producer: ArtsCenter Stage will provide directors, actors, designers, and technical staff for the festival. The directors will contact the playwrights at the beginning of the rehearsal process. For more about The ArtsCenter, visit www.artscenterlive.org.

The Dates: Festival dates are July 8-25, 2010.

Playwright Gala: July 10, 2010. Playwrights are invited to a Post-Show Discussion/Reception as well as an overnight stay at a local hotel or bed and breakfast on Saturday, July 10, 2010.

The Production: Featuring an ensemble of 5 men and 5 women, all ten plays run every night on a unit set with flexible set pieces.

Nudity required - no pay

An excellent web site for actors is Nudity Required, No Pay which documents the many and varied ways that actors in the NYC area are exploited. Here's an example of a project recently featured on the blog:
DAY 2
Feature Film
NON-UNION
NO PAY

Producer: Laura XXXXX
Director: Andrew XXXXX
Casting Director:Laura XXXXX
Interview: late January
Shoot/Start Date: February 15
Location: New York

SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY TEL: 732-XXX-XXXX

THERE IS NUDITY IN THIS PROJECT.

[ LAURA ]
Lead - Female, 20s - plagued by voices in her head, one of very few survivors of the apocalypse. She is hunted by the giant robots and must find a way to stop the invasion. Nudity, one back-lit love scene.

[ DR. MASCHWITZ ]
Female, 40s-60s - Laura's psychiatrist, secretly trying to protect Laura from the robots.

[ NEIL ]
Male, 30s-40s - a crazy drunk, former Special Forces op. Knows way more about the invasion than he should.


Gabby says: ...Thanks to Anonymous for tipping us off to this masterpiece where our heroine, poor, haunted, schitzo Laura, will probably be forced to make back-lit naked "love" to Neil the crazy drunk. It is very fortunate, however, that her psychiatrist is one of the "very few survivors" of the apocalypse. I mean - what are the odds?

It is because of shameless exploiters such as this that actors unions are so important.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

We are back

NYCPlaywrights returns after its holiday hiatus with the first meeting of the new year tonight, Tuesday, January 19. 2010. 7PM - 10PM. There are five readings scheduled for this evening.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Philadelphia Theatre Workshop's Playshop Festival call for submissions

web site

Our Annual PlayShop Festival occurs in February/March each year. During this unique and intensive program, playwrights work collaboratively with a director, dramaturg, designers, actors, and audiences over a five-week period to fully develop scripts into plays ready for world premiere productions.

Submisions are now being accepted for our 2011 festival. We seek new, previously unproduced scripts from playwrights in the greater Philadelphia area. Philadelphia Theatre Workshop looks to the PlayShop Festival to choose productions for our mainstage season. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2010. Here are the details:

Philadelphia Theatre Workshop presents world premieres of high quality scripts that reflect diverse, contemporary, human stories. Our plays are chosen because they present characters, situations, and perpectives not seen on other area stages. We are looking for unproduced, full-length, contemporary plays that require simple sets and costumes, with small casts and low technical requirements. For the festival, we are specifically seeking plays that are IN PROGRESS and would benefit from the five-week developmental process. Four plays will be chosen for the festival.

The PlayShop Festival offers playwrights:
* 3 staged reading performances
* 5-week workshop process working with actors, designers, dramturg, and director, with time between performances to revise, rehearse, and try new material based on audience reaction. NOTE: playwrights are required to be in residence throughout the full five weeks and are expected to attend all rehearsals -- at their own expense (no stipends are available).
* consideration for full production in our 2011-2012 season
* no fee for submissions

Submission requirements:
(Please read carefully. Submisions that do not comply with the guidelines wil be disqualifed)
* playwright must live in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware
* submit ONE DOCUMENT either in Word or Rich Text format which must include:
- Title page with playwright's name, address, email, phone numbers. This is the ONLY place where the playwright's name may appear
- Play synopsis and character breakdown
- Full manuscript with the play title only as header/footer. The playwright's name MAY NOT appear on any page of the full manuscript
* manuscripts in process are welcome, send your submission in its current stage of development
* deadline is April 30, 2010
* submit via email only to ptwplayshop@gmail.com with "PlayShop Festival Submission" in the subject line

Questions? Call Artistic Director Bill Felty @ 215-300-9460

Madcap submission process

This is Madcap's general submission policy:

web site

Play Submissions:

We are interested in reading plays of any length to consider for future productions.

************************************
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

LENGTH OF PLAY: Any length.

SUBJECT MATTER: Completely Open.
Both comedies and dramas will be considered. We do prefer plays that haven't been staged before. If you would like to submit a play that has been produced, please include a production history with your script.

SEND TO:
E-mail entries (MS Word or PDF files preferred) to: scripts@madcapplayers.com

If you are unable to submit electronically, mail to
Madcap Players
405 6th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

Include a self addressed stamped envelope if you would like the script(s) returned to you.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

And Toto too seeks plays from women

web site

And Toto too Theatre Company promotes women in the arts, with a focus on producing new works by women playwrights. Our goal is to become an incubator for these works, spearheading their production at venues nationally and internationally.
Requirements:

* Women Playwrights only
* Never Produced in Colorado
* Full Length: any genre except musicals and children's
* 6 characters or less
* Minimal set requirements

Submit:

* Synopsis of play
* Character outline
* First 10 pages only - manuscript format
* Playwright bio and production history of script

Submissions can be sent in electronic format only (PDF preferred) to submissions@andtototoo.org. (Need a PDF converter?)

Any scripts sent by mail will not be accepted; all communication regarding scripts will be done electronically.

Please note that due to the high volume of scripts received, a response to your script could take up to a year, and that we are unable to offer feedback. Submission of script, whether solicited or not, does not in any shape or form constitute an agreement to produce.

Scripts not following the above guidelines will not be considered. Please, no phone calls. Any further questions, feel free to contact us at info@andtototoo.org.

Aliza's FIRE

Writer-member Aliza Einhorn's short play FIRE was selected to be part of Madlab Theatre's 11th Annual Theatre Roulette, May 2010.
More info: www.madlab.net

On "constructive" feedback

There are some play reading groups that maintain that post-reading feedback must adhere to a strict "constructive" line.

The NYCPlaywrights philosophy is that verbal feedback is unnecessary for a reading - the purpose of a reading is for the playwright to hear their work. But more importantly: the best feedback is to be had by watching the audience respond during the reading. In this we agree with the playwright/teacher Jeff Sweet.

Sweet says, although not quite so bluntly, that the reason it's more important
to watch than to listen to the audience is because people lie more with their
mouths than with their bodies.

This is not usually out of malice: people tend to soften their criticisms in a public forum like a play reading. And the "constructive" stricture for feedback sessions only magnifies that tendency.

But the truth will out, sooner or later. I've seen promoters of "constructive" feedback in action: they avoid expressing negative feelings about the play, and spout a string of soft-sell euphemisms instead. Then, once the playwright has left the room, they say what they really think.

This is the behavior of politicians, not people who care about art.

Enforcing "constructive" feedback means that dissident voices are often squelched through the effort to reach some kind of consensus and achieve a teaching moment. Sometimes the squelching is done quite deliberately - I attended the reading of a founder of another playwrights group in New York, and in the notes of his reading's program, he very explicitly said, in effect "if you didn't like my play, STFU." He then went on to produce the play, and it was thoroughly trashed by critics.

NYCPlaywrights is not a course in playwriting (it would charge much more for membership if it was) but rather a service for playwrights, to hear their work spoken aloud, by skilled actors. Feedback is strictly optional: the playwright must request it. And when the playwright requests it they are warned: they might hear something they don't want to hear. In this, NYCPlaywrights feedback is no different from a critic's review. Anybody who is serious about writing plays needs to get toughened up - critics don't feel the need to coddle playwrights' egos, or reach a constructive teaching moment.

At NYCPlaywrights, audience members get to express their feelings, in any way that they wish (but only about the play, nothing personal) without any group-think restrictions. This means that sometimes arguments break out, and people disagree passionately about some aspect of a play, or even play theory in general. NYCPlaywrights prefers the expression of visceral honest feelings to namby-pamby carefully-articulated verbiage. The NYCPlaywrights philosophy is that honest emotional feedback is far more valuable to a serious playwright than all the "constructive" feedback in the world.

But some people are by nature conflict-adverse. They find the NYCPlaywrights type of no-holds-barred feedback upsetting. If these people are playwrights they should avoid having their work produced in a public, critic-reviewed forum, and stick to readings of their work for an audience of friends and family members.

And they can join a "constructive" playwrights group and never worry about anybody making strongly-worded, passionate commentary about their plays - at least, not to their face.

- N. G. McClernan

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

NYCP on FB

NYCPlaywrights is also on Facebook

Simonalta Theatricals is seeking play scripts to produce

Simonalta Theatricals, a new, independent theatrical production company is seeking play scripts to produce, and submit to upcoming NYC theater festivals. Please submit plays no longer than 90 minutes.

Please include a synopsis and character breakdown with your script.

Simonalta Theatricals
205 West 88th street
New York, NY 10024
US

Contact I. Simon
pooway1@aol.com

Monday, January 11, 2010

Seven Collective theatre company's opportunity

The Seven Collective theatre company's opportunity for aspiring playwrights:
TSC presents The "7 Days of Plays" Theatre Festival
We are giving four aspiring playwrights the opportunity to see their work produced in New York City now, and your participation is vital. The premise and details can be found here: TSC Festival

Sunday, January 10, 2010

who wrote the plays of William Shakespeare?

A pro-Strafordian article in the London Times:
There is an extraordinary - seemingly an insatiable - urge on the part of quite a number of people to believe that the plays of William Shakespeare were written by someone other than William Shakespeare. The number of published books suggesting - or more often insisting - as much is estimated now to be well over 5,000.

Shakespeare's plays, it is held, so brim with expertise - on law, medicine, statesmanship, court life, military affairs, the bounding main, antiquity, life abroad - that they cannot possibly be the work of a single lightly educated provincial.

The presumption is that William Shakespeare of Stratford was, at best, an amiable stooge, an actor who lent his name as cover for someone of greater talent, someone who could not, for one reason or another, be publicly identified as a playwright.

The controversy has been given respectful airings in the highest quarters. Perhaps the most extraordinary development of all is that Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London - built as a monument for his plays and with aspirations to be a world-class study centre - became, under the stewardship of the artistic director Mark Rylance, a kind of clearing house for anti-Stratford sentiment.

So it needs to be said that nearly all of the anti-Shakespeare sentiment - actually all of it, every bit - involves manipulative scholarship or sweeping misstatements of fact. Shakespeare "never owned a book", a writer for The New York Times gravely informed readers in one doubting article in 2002. The statement cannot be refuted, for we know nothing about his incidental possessions. But the writer might just as well have suggested that Shakespeare never owned a pair of shoes.

For all the evidence tells us, he spent his life naked from the waist down, as well as bookless, but it is probable that what is lacking is the evidence, not the apparel or the books.

more...

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival is currently accepting submissions

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (DUTF) is currently accepting
submissions for its eighth season, scheduled for April 19th through May 2nd
at the Theater for a New City, located in the Lower East Side of New York
City. DUTF, presented by Creative Ammo Inc., is a two-week celebration of
urban theatrical expression by a cross-section of playwrights. This annual
event focuses on theatrical works that resonate with the essence of urban
life and speaks to a whole new generation whose lives defy categorizing
along conventional lines.

For DUTF 2010, we plan to accept 12 theatrical works; six full-length
productions (60-90 minutes) and six shorts (30-45 minutes). Each work is
performed only once during the festival. Three of the outstanding works
produced during the festival will receive $1,000 awards in the categories of
Best Play, Best Short and Audience.

To submit for DUTF 2010, please provide all of the following information in
ONE (1) document file:

1) Bio with contact information of the playwright - name, address,
telephone number and email address; photo of
playwright
2) Synopsis of theatrical work
3) Complete script of theatrical work
4) Actor/director/crew bios, if available
5) Description of stage set (if any) and production needs (i.e. sound
and lighting)

To Arcos Communications by 5pm on Monday, January 11, 2010 at:
nsantiago@arcos-ny.com

Or

Mail -
Downtown Urban Theater Festival
C/O Arcos Communications
341 West 38th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Playlab seeks scripts ASAP

We're still looking for plays for the Short Play Lab on Jan. 23 - 24. Our ambitious program of as many as 4 programs a month, curated by 4 playwright/producers, has created an opportunity for some NYC playwrights. The rules are easy-peasy:
Plays should be 1 - 10 pp. in standard playscript format.*
Submit scripts in MS-Word.

You produce the play; the SPL provides the theatre (the 65-seat Studio Blackbird at Where Eagles Dare).
Productions must be non-union: no showcases please! (Solo shows may get an Equity waiver, if Equity approves.)
Keep production values to a minimum: costumes and hand props are okay. We provide rehearsal cubes, chairs, a table or two, and a couch.
We provide a board op, box office, and venue management.
There are no fees. The SPL keeps the door.
Tickets are $15. Each playwright and director gets 1 comp each. Comps are non-transferable. If you're involved in more than 1 play, you still get only 1 comp. There are no industry comps.
There is a tech rehearsal. Plays get either 15 mins of tech (1 - 5 pp.) or 30 mins. of tech (6 - 10 pp.).
Where Eagles Dare rehearsal studios offer 10% off on rates.
Every play gets 2 performances.
*12 pt Times Roman; character names in the middle on their own line; line spaces between speeches and stage directions; indented stage directions

Many of last season's SPL veterans ended up in the Midtown International Theatre Festival's Short Subjects series, not surprising since I produce both events. We are also seeking longer one-act plays for the ongoing Short Subjects (cont.) series. Regardless of your plans for your play, the SPL is a lot of fun and a good way to see your work on its feet in a supportive environment. It's also a great way to see actors and directors at work.

To submit a script, send it as an attachment to john.chatterton@gmail.com.

Thanks,
John Chatterton
Where Eagles Dare rehearsal studio and theatre

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