Theatre InspiraTO's Playwriting Contest

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The InspiraTO Theatre Festival, now entering its 9th season, has produced 134 ten-minute plays to date. Each season over 100  theatre artists participate in Canada's largest ten-minute play festival. Be part of it all. See your story come to life.

InspiraTO's Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest is open to everyone without age or geographic restriction. You can only submit one play.  There are no submission fees.

Deadline to submit a play:  Dec. 18, 2013 (midnight E.S.T.)

Submission guidelines:

1. The creative challenge: The staging of the play must involve two or more dimensions* i.e. fantasy & reality; fiction & history; past & present; living & dead; different psychological states (character & alter ego); spiritual & physical world;  reality & dream world; deaf & hearing; human & abstract; stage & breaking the fourth wall, etc.

*A dimension is anything occurring in the same time and space.

Please note: The actors in the script cannot just mention a different dimension - this needs to be shown on stage.  For example, a play where a character just talks about a ghost would not qualify: a ghost, would at some point, need to appear on stage, for the submission to qualify.

2. The play must be a ten-minute play. You must submit online (see instructions below):

Fill out the submission form completely and submit your play to (click on the link): http://inspiratofestival.ca/write-a-play2.php  

Attach your script in a WORD document or in a PDF file.  Hit "submit". The WORD document must be compatible with Window XP. (Note: Vista & Mac formats are not compatible).

The cover page should have the title of the play, the playwright's name and the list of characters. The pages should be numbered. The format should be easy to read.

We accept previously produced plays.  The playwright must own the rights to the play up to the end of June 2014 (i.e. the script cannot be owned by a publisher).  Any style is acceptable except musicals. We are particularly interested in scripts that aren't afraid to make bold choices: quality writing backed by imaginative staging.

Only those playwrights whose plays have been selected will be notified by January 21, 2014.   The plays will be selected by a committee from the Toronto theatre community.
If selected, your play will be performed in Toronto, Canada from May 29 - June 7, 2014.  Between eleven to eighteen  ten-minute plays will be selected and performed. 1st Prize: $500 CDN.

Should your play be selected for inclusion in the festival, you are giving the non-exclusive right to Theatre InspiraTO to produce and perform the play in the 9th Annual InspiraTO Festival in Toronto (Canada's largest ten-minute play festival), in the May/June 2014.  The InspiraTO Festival will find the cast, crew and market your play. Authors retain copyright and full ownership of their plays.

The submission must be a play. A ten-minute play is distinct from a sketch, or a skit; it is a compact play, with a beginning, middle and an end. You need a character facing obstacles in pursuit of some specific goal. You need rising action, conflict, and a climactic moment. Your play must tell a complete story.

The submission must be 10 minutes.  Generally speaking scripts (including the stage directions, character names and dialogue) that are over 1,900 words are more than ten minutes long on stage.  This does not mean that all plays under 1,900 words are under ten minutes.  So be wise - use Word Count.  It also helps to read the play out loud and time it (keeping in mind all the pauses).  You don't want your hard work rejected because it was too long.

Get inspired. See your story come to life! Submit by Dec. 18, 2013.