NOTE: This is a self-production opportunity restricted to playwrights in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania
Thespis Theater Festival / Competition is organized to help bring never-before seen work of playwrights, directors and actors to the stage in a way that may lead to future performances. The Festival presents an opportunity to stage first-run plays for audiences with the chance to win prizes for Best Play and Best Actor. The Festival will be presented in the Cabrini Repertory Theater in Manhattan.
Submission Rules
In order to submit a play please send the following via email:
- A 200- to 300-word synopsis of the play
- The complete script
- Your telephone number and home address, plus the phone number of one other person in your production that we can contact
- Your bio with age included
As soon as your play is accepted, you will be sent the festival guidelines.
All plays will be given a three-performance run at the theater.
Prizes
After all plays have had their three-performance run, the best 6 plays will be selected by the Thespis jury as nominees for the $3,500 prize of Best Play. Those 6 shows will be given a fourth performance that will be advertised to the surrounding community, which is full of artists and theater-goers who are aware of Cabrini Repertory Theater. So if, after your three-performance run in Thespis, your play is selected as one of the 6 nominees, you are not only in the running for Best Play, but in addition to other audience members you’d like to invite, we will invite our supporters to your fourth performance.
Along with audience members from the theater’s neighborhood, three judges will also attend your fourth performance. This panel of outside judges will make the final decision about the winning play.
There will also be several nominations for best actor. In addition to the winning actress ($500 prize), there will be a third and second runner-up. These runner-ups will receive surprise prizes!
The winners are chosen buy a well know group of Judges that operate in the city of New York… This is the real deal.
Winners will be announced during a special prize ceremony at the end of the festival to which the cast and crew of all nominated productions will be invited.
Video
All plays will be filmed. At the end of the festival, or after your show’s run, you can purchase a copy of your show’s video for $75.
Please be aware that the festival is not directly involved with the filming of the plays. You must connect with the videographer on your own in order to purchase your show’s video.
There is no fee to submit your play to the Venus Festival.
Once you are accepted, there are two methods of participant payment and ways to make a profit at your show’s box office:
1. You can send in a $300 refundable check. The deposit will be returned as long as the production is able to bring a minimum of 39 audience members in total to all three performances assigned to each show; that means at least 13 people per performance = 39 audience members in total to all three performances assigned.
2. You can send in a $500 non-refundable check and receive 50% of every ticket sold for your play. That means you’ll receive $10 for every ticket sold. If you get 17 audience members for each of your 3 shows, you will break even and from there on, make a profit. Nominees for Best Play will be given a fourth performance and have even more of a chance to make a profit at their box office.
Plays from last year’s festival whose creators came from the Tri-state area brought an average of 70 audience members for their show’s run.
Again, there is no submission fee. Only those plays that are accepted will be required to send in participant payment.
General submission to Venus is free-of-charge and submissions will be accepted until June 10th.
Contact us at Theaterfestival@thespisny.com
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE THEATER HOSTING THESPIS NY IS INVOLVED IN SEVERAL HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS TO AID THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THEREFORE, A SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO SEE ANY OF THE SHOWS RUNNING IN THESPIS FOR FREE. THESE PEOPLE WILL BE A NICE ADDITION TO YOUR AUDIENCE.
Accepted plays will be considered on a first – come first served basis. (The earlier you submit, the better your chances of being accepted.) Acceptance might close before June 10 if the number of plays that will run in the Festival will be reached earlier.
Cabrini Repertory Theater wants to make staging your show a pleasure.
First-time writers are more then welcome!
We’ll help you with everything you need to stage your play.
What The Thespis Festival offers:
- Shows will be not be packed into a cramped festival schedule.
- Musical playing life music are more then welcome, we offer a large area in front of the stage for the orchestra to play. The stage is 4′ elevated from the floor level
- Your play will be the only one that performs on your scheduled nights, so no rushing your production on and off the stage.
- Five-hour tech/dress rehearsal (as opposed to getting just double your show’s run time)
- Professional, easy-to-use lighting/sound system that anyone on your cast can learn to use
- Free lessons in how to use the system
- Free venue director from the Cabrini Repertory Theater team–you won’t have to hire an outsider.
- Constant contact with the Art Director of the venue should you have any questions about staging, lighting, sound or theater rules. You will never be forced to wait on answers, causing your production process to be held up.
- A strong, effective and aesthetically beautiful ad campaign run in the theater’s neighborhood, which means access to audience members in the surrounding area
- Email blasts announcing your show to the theater’s mailing list
- Set pieces and props that are already stored in the theater, saving you time, energy and money in transporting stage sets
- Storage space for your own props and set pieces should you decide to keep them in the theater during your show’s run
- The possibility to drive your props to the front door of the theater and temporarily park your vehicle there
- Free box office management
- A beautiful 21′ by 18′ proscenium theater that stands out and has a reputation in the neighborhood. (So many small theaters are located on 42nd Street that many tend to get lost. Cabrini Repertory Theater is the only theater in a neighborhood of artists and theater lovers. So getting an audience is far more likely than on the crowded streets of midtown where many theaters fight for attention.)
- Three performances, all during prime theater-going hours
- Every show in the festival will be performed in the Cabrini Repertory Theater—no outside venues will be rented.
- All festival participants can see all other festival shows for free.
- The possibility to be covered by reviewers
- A $3,500 prize for Best Play and $500 for Best Actor, and an exciting Prize Ceremony
Rules
- Only plays from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania will be accepted.
- Submissions must be between 75 and 90 minutes long.
ALL PLAYS MUST BE FIRST RUNS AND MUST NEVER HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BEFORE THESPIS THEATER FESTIVAL IS FOR BOTH NON-UNION AND UNION
Each applicant is fully responsible for all elements of their production. These include directing, casting, stage-managing and hiring a sound & light board operator.
What the Theater Offers
For those playwrights who want to incorporate live music into their play, Cabrini Rep offers a fully-tuned baby grand piano. We also offer a choice of stage furniture and props to all productions, as well as a large projection wall at the back of the stage and a quality projector that will create a wide range of possibilities for your set. In this way, productions need not be as concerned about moving their props in and out of the theater before and after each performance.