sUBVERsIVE sHORTs 2012 Competition

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sUBVERsIVE sHORTs

Guidelines, Rules, & General Information on our 2012 Competition

     Our "sUBVERsIVE sHORTs" program is designed to help foster and highlight the vibrant body of new political theatre creations that are being crafted in America today.  Please take a look at the rules and guidelines listed below and find out if your latest work would be a good fit for our program.

     The deadline for submissions for the 2012 "sHORTs" competition is February 1st, 2012 (details on the submission process are provided below).  Selections will be announced no later than May 1st, 2012.  All selections will be performed as part of our 2012 "sUBVERsIVE sHORTs" Showcase in June/July of 2012.  All works are presented on a royalty-free basis.

     We consider our "sHORTs" program to be an incubator for developing promising new works.  For that reason, the director of each project may propose possible re-writes, cuts, or alterations to works.  Playwrights are asked to remain cooperative and open-minded with this process.  Playwrights will be consulted regarding any significant changes to their work and no significant alterations will be made without advanced approval by the author.

     Subversive Theatre retains the right to assign directors, cast actors, and craft the presentation of all selected submissions as we see fit. 
The Submission Process:

     To enter your work for consideration, send your submission as an attachment to shorts@subversivetheatre.org (please send a separate e-mail for each submission).  Include a synopsis and bio on the first page, being mindful of our selection criteria.   Playwrights are welcome to submit multiple entries.  There is no fee for the competition.  But each playwright will be limited to three submissions.  If you would like to help defray some of the costs of producing the showcase, please go to our contribution page and make a donation.   Donate Now!
     All scripts must be submitted online.  For technical reasons, we cannot accept hard copies of scripts.  Please do not send anything other than checks by snail mail.
Important:  In the body of your e-mail submission, please indicate the following information in this order:  Your Name, Play Title, E-mail address, #Pages, #Characters.
Example: "William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Playwright@Globe.com, 175mins, 15".

NOTE THAT BY SUBMITTING YOU WILL BE INDICATING THAT YOU CONTROL THE RIGHTS TO THIS WORK AND IF SELECTED, YOU ARE  AUTHORIZING SUBVERSIVE THEATRE TO PERFORM  THIS SUBMISSION AS PART OF 2012 SUBVERSIVE SHORTS.
Eligibility:

     To be eligible for this competition plays must run no more than 30 minutes in length and be "subversive" in some aspect of content and/or style.  What qualifies as "subversive" is of course a matter of interpretation and our selection committee will always keep an open mind in reviewing entries.  But the primary type of submissions that will be considered are works that address some sort of political and/or social issue in a radical and/or unconventional and/or controversial way.
     Due to the limited resources available for this program, special consideration will be given to works that have modest production needs (although we'll always consider a more involved project if it is particularly strong).  The "sHORTs" Showcase is presented as a cabaret-style production with multiple works being performed in quick succession.  Plays with simple set-up and small casts (or casts that can easily be doubled up to be performed by a small group of actors) are typically the best fit for this format.
The Selection Process:

     Subversive Theatre maintains a Selection Committee of no less than four members.  All entries will be reviewed by at least two readers for consideration.  After an initial round of screening, submissions will be passed onto all members of the Selection Committee.  Semi-Finalists will then be referred to the body of directors for this year's Showcase.   
     Directors will make one round of selections and then finally select the plays they wish to direct from a group of Finalists.