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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Raíces Theatre Company’s 1st Annual One Act Play Festival

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Calling all Latino Playwrights to submit to Desde El Puente, Raíces Theatre Company’s 1st Annual One Act Play Festival. Ten plays will be chosen to have a 4 day run from June 11 to June 14 2015 in Buffalo, NY.

Please read our submissions guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not follow our guidelines will not be taken seriously.

Playwrights: May submit a maximum of 2 One Act Plays no longer than 10 minutes, if you find yourselves with more than 10 pages on hand ( or less) please read it aloud and time it. All plays must have a cast no larger than 6 characters and minimal set requirements as there is no time for elaborate set changes. All plays must deal with subject matter that relates to the Latino culture. If selected your play will be cast, produced and directed by Raíces Theatre Company. All plays will run every night. Selected plays will receive at $20 royalty. Please email your submissions to play to raicessubmissions@gmail.com in standard format WORD or PDF. Subject line should have your name and title of the play. Body of email should contain your contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number and email)

Deadlines: All submissions must have arrived before December 31st, 2014. An email confirmation will be sent to you when we receive your play. If we select your play for the festival we will notify you no later than April 31st, 2015. Please do not email us asking for status, if you are selected you will be notified. Please note that Plays will be read as they come so the earlier you submit your play the better, once we have 10 that we like we reserve the right to close the submissions before the dateline.

We look forward to reading your work!

For more information about Raíces please visit us at www.raicestheatrecompany.com

Monday, September 29, 2014

Modern-Day Griot seeks full-length plays

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In celebration of their 5th year anniversary, The Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company is accepting submissions of full-length plays for our mainstage production. Performances will be held in New York City in May 2015.

We are only accepting original work. All plays must be production-ready, typewritten, have 1-6 characters, and must have a running time of 90 minutes or less, with minimal scene and set changes. Any genre (comedy, tragedy, etc) is accepted, but the plays must have a fresh plot, sufficient conflict, and a provocative and engaging text.

Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2014 at 6pm EST.

The Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company cannot offer royalties but can offer a production opportunity.

For inquiries or to submit your work, please email:madgsubmissions@moderndaygriot.org

Sunday, September 28, 2014

October Short Play Lab

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Dear Friend in the Theatre,

Whether you've thought about doing a short play in New York but have never tried, or if you're a regular at such events around town, please give a thought to producing a show in the October Short Play Lab. Not only do you rub shoulders with your fellow short-play playwrights, but you get to showcase your work to people you don't know yet. Our Labs are always well-attended, and they can lead to other festivals and events that we produce, such as the Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival and the Midtown International Theatre Festival (visit our website: www.midtownfestival.org for submission opportunities and requirements). The rules for submitting to October's Short Play Lab are easy-peasy:

  • Deadline is Oct 12. 
  • Notification will be soon after submission, depending on number of submissions. The sooner you get your script in, the more time you have to prepare. Get that script in pronto! 
  • Plays should be 1 - 10 pp. in standard playscript format.* (The shorter the better; shorter plays get priority.) Include a title page, as the first page of the script, with your contact info (only means of contact is by email). 
  • Submit scripts in MS-Word. 
You produce the play whether or not you live in New York. The SPL provides the theatre. This Lab will take place at Roy Arias Studios, 300 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10018.
Productions must be non-union: no showcases please! (And no Equity waivers, either.)
Keep production values to a minimum: costumes and hand props are okay. We provide rehearsal cubes, chairs, and a table. You can't leave your stuff in the theatre overnight.
We provide a board op, box office, and venue management.
There are no fees. The SPL keeps the door.
Tickets are $20. Each playwright and director gets to watch his/her show for free. There are no other comps.
There will be a tech rehearsal in the daytime on Saturday, Oct. 25. The production dates are Saturday, Oct. 25 - Sunday, Oct. 26.
Every play gets 2 performances, 1 on Sat. and 1 on Sun. Each play will be part of 1 of 2 programs: Program A or Program B, but not both. Program A takes place at 7 pm Sat. and 4 pm Sun. Program B takes place at 9 pm Sat. and 2 pm Sun.
We don't do staged readings. Be off-book, please! Plays not off-book during tech will be removed from the line-up. 

THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTION IN EACH PROGRAM RECEIVES A CASH PRIZE OF $75. Winners are determined by polling patrons after the performance. We reserve the right to break ties.

*12 pt Times Roman; character names in the middle on their own line; line spaces between speeches and between speeches and stage directions; indented stage directions.

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, so you can recruit people for later productions.

To submit a script, send it as an attachment, in Word format, to john.chatterton@gmail.com. Any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me an E-mail!

Thanks,

John Chatterton
Executive producer, Short Play Lab


MadLab Theatre Roulette

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THEATRE ROULETTE is MadLab’s annual shorts festival. In its first year, THEATRE ROULETTE began a tradition of an annual shorts festival that has lasted more than 10 years. The first year was an “invitation-only” festival, from there expanded to taking local submissions to taking submission from across the United States to now, receiving almost 1000 scripts every year from every corner of the world.

To maximize your chance of selection, please read all the guidelines carefully before submitting.

All submissions should be send to andy@madlab.net


Please put “THEATRE ROULETTE SUBMISSION” in the subject line.

Theatre Roulette is a juried festival.

Submissions must arrive no later than October 1st, 2014. We will not start accepting submissions until June 1st, 2014.

Submission will be chosen and applicants informed if his/her piece was chosen on/or before January 2nd, 2015.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Scripts should be between 5-30 minutes in length. Scripts of greater lengths will be considered, but due to time constraints, it is unlikely that unsolicited full-length plays will be selected for the festival, unless you are a Nobel or Pulitzer winning writer, in which case, your script will automatically be accepted for production as long as you waive your standard royalty, which would probably be more than the budget for the entire festival. If you are not sure whether or not you have won a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, please find out through the glory of the world wide web and let us know.

You may submit multiple scripts. If you are submitting multiple scripts, please include them all in a single email.

Please include your name, address, phone number, and email address in the body of your email message.

MadLab will also be accepting full collections of shorts. This would be a group of plays that are meant to be performed together and would constitute a complete night of plays.

You may submit multiple scripts.

Script submissions WILL NOT be returned to the applicant; MadLab will destroy all evidence of your creative instincts upon a funeral pyre at an undisclosed location in order to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Ashes will NOT be returned to you unless you purchase a commemorative urn from MadLab at the bargain basement price of $999.95.

Due to our environmentally conscious president, you must email your script to us. Please send your script attached as a Microsoft Word document or PDF format. Scripts should be emailed to andy@madlab.net. Please put “THEATRE ROULETTE SUBMISSION” in the subject line. If “THEATRE ROULETTE SUBMISSION” is not in your subject line, your submission may not be received. All submissions will receive a reply email to ensure that your submission was received.

For ROULETTE, MadLab pays $50 to each playwright.

If you’ve made it through all of this, congratulations. At least you’ve got the potential patience to deal with the travails of theatrical production. If you have any questions, please email them to Artistic Director Andy Batt atandy@madlab.net

Thanks for your interest. Good luck with your submission, and regardless of the outcome here, be sure to keep writing and producing new works.

Fourth Annual New Voices Play Reading Series


The Landing Theatre Company invites you to submit to their fourth annual New American Voices Play Reading Series

Submissions will be accepted August 1-September 30, 2014
The 2015 New American Voices Play Reading Series will be presented March 13-15, 2015

The Landing Theatre Company is now accepting full-length plays for the 2015 New American Play Reading Series in Houston, Texas. Four plays will be selected for staged readings directed and performed by professional local talent. Selected playwrights must attend the readings in Houston. A $100 reward will be granted to each of the 4 winning playwrights. Playwrights must cover their own travel expenses.

Fees
There are no fees for submitting. Submit the play via the play submission form online to landingtheatresubmissions@gmail.com

Details
Selected playwrights must attend the festival.
Each playwright will be paired with a local director prior to the festival to prepare for the event.

Directors will cast each play prior to the festival.

Each production will receive at least two rehearsals prior to the official reading.

One rehearsal will be scheduled when the playwright can attend.

The play will then be read in front of an audience, with a moderated discussion of the play afterwards.

Play submissions must meet the following criteria:
Playwright must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States of America.
Play must not have been produced.
Play must not have had a public reading in the Houston area.
Submission must be received on or before September 30th.
Submission must be a minimum of 30 pages long and have a minimum run time of 45 minutes.
Submission must be in .doc, .pdf or .rtf format.


Plays are given blind reads, so there should be no playwright identifiers anywhere on the script. Your name and/or contact information should only be in the email.

Only one play per playwright per submission period.

No musicals, children's plays, or one-person plays. 

Playwrights will only be notified if your play is selected.

More submission criteria found online: http://www.landingtheatre.org/#!submissions/c59z

Saturday, September 27, 2014

LIFT-OFF NEW PLAY SERIES

The Navigators are now accepting submissions for our first annual LIFT-OFF NEW PLAY SERIES. Please submit one play (either full length or ten-minute) with Science Fiction themes to navigatorstheater@gmail.com for consideration.

Deadline: October 1, 2014

Our Mission:

To produce new Science Fiction and Fantasy inspired theater that departs from the traditional theater going experience. We seek to engage new audiences, realize new and daring realities, and expand the boundaries of what theater can achieve by fully exploring these genres on stage. Please check out our website at www.navigatorstheater.com

Omi Writers Residency

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The online period for 2015 residencies is now open.

Each applicant is required to provide 4 (four) separate items in total:

1. A cover letter, which provides the following details: country of birth, country of residency, the language in which you write, your preferred Writers Omi session (Spring or Fall or both), and your preferred dates. Additionally, please let us know how you heard about Writers Omi at Ledig House, why you want to come to Writers Omi and what you expect to get from the experience.

2. A brief (2 pages, maximum) statement about your work history, referencing publications, performances and writing credits. This can be submitted in CV format.


3. A writing sample, no more than 50 pages. (Please be sure to indicate if the writing is published or unpublished; if it is published please provide details.)


4. A one page description of the work to be undertaken while at Ledig House.



Your writing sample does NOT have to be an English translation; please submit your writing sample in your mother tongue. All other documentation must be submitted in English.



Your cover letter should be provided in the designated Cover Letter field. Items 2-4 should each be provided as separately uploaded files.

In addition to these requirements, every applicant must arrange to have a letter of recommendation submitted online separately. The letter can be provided by a fellow writer, teacher, editor, literary agent, or any informed individual who can speak to your character and work.



The individual submitting your letter of recommendation will need to establish a Submittable account in his or her own name. The referee must upload a letter with the accompanying title section filled in as follows:

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FOR (YOUR FULL NAME)



The letter of recommendation should be uploaded directly by the individual who is submitting the recommendation and NOT by the applicant. Letters uploaded by the applicant will not be considered and the application will be considered incomplete.


To be considered for a 2015 residency, your application (including separate letter of recommendation) must be received electronically by the end of the day, October 20, 2014 (11:59 p.m. EDT).

 We look forward to receiving your application.

We look forward to receiving your application.

2015 Y.E.S. Festival seeks full-length plays

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Northern Kentucky University is seeking full-length plays and musicals for its 2015 Y.E.S. Festival.

1. Scripts must be standard sized, legibly typed, and bound. Standard Dramatist Guild form is preferred.

2. Submissions (ONE per playwright) must be full-length and should include a one-page synopsis and a cast list with brief character descriptions.

3. A play may not have had a previous professional or university production.

4. Scripts are not returnable (unless specifically requested and accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope).

5. Enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard if you wish the project director to acknowledge receipt of your script.

6. All rights must be fully owned by the author.

7. No children's theatre, one-acts, or reader's theatre pieces will be considered. Adapations will be considered only if the adapted work is in the public domain.

8. In deciding which play to subit, a writer should know our actors will be students ranging in age from 17-30. Some faculty members or guest artists may be available for the festival. However, a play with especially strong demands for mature character roles would not be as likely for selection as one of equal quality with roles for young adults.

9. Musicals with small orchestra demands will be considered. Musicals should be submitted only if a vocal score and piano conductor score is available.

10. A Y.E.S. entry form must accompany a submitted script.

11. Scripts may be submitted from May 1 until September 30, 2014 to this address:

Northern Kentucky University
Sandra Forman, Project Director
NKU Y.E.S. Festival of New Plays
Department of Theatre and Dance
Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY 41099

12. Selections will be made and winners nortified no later than December 31, 2014. Returnable scripts will be mailed back after the winners have been notified.

13. An honorarium of $500 will be awarded to each selected playwright as well as travel expenses and housing while attending the festival.

14. It is important that selected playwrights be available to visit the festival about a week before opening so their visit can be arranged to include late rehearsals and the premiere of their play. Festival dates are Aprili 16-26, 2015. The visiting dates are at the discretion of the festival. Playwrights and the directors of their plays will participate in one post-shouw question-and-answer session with the audience.

15. In audition to the three plays selected for full productions, one script may be selected for a staged reading during the festival. The playwright of this script will also be brought in for late rehearsals and opening.

PlayPenn accepting applications for its 2015 new play development conference

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The 2015 conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 7 – 26 at the Adrienne Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg, designers and Philadelphia-based, professional actors over a 20 day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time along with ample time to reflect and write.

Beginning September 2, PlayPenn will be accepting applications for its 2015 new play development conference; we are pleased to request your full length, unproduced script for consideration. Please review the guidelines carefully and completely before making application. Application materials will be accepted between September 2 and September 30, 2014. Your application must be uploaded and complete by September 30, 2014 or it cannot be considered.

Currently, PlayPenn is not considering musicals or plays for young audiences.

The 2015 conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 7 – 26 at the Adrienne Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg, designers and Philadelphia-based, professional actors over a 20 day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time along with ample time to reflect and write. The work will be preceded by a three-day pre-conference retreat (July 7 – 9) that will help in laying the collaborative groundwork for the development time ahead. Playwrights will have the opportunity to hear their plays read aloud in three distinctly different scenarios: 1) by collaborating artists during the retreat; 2) in a first public reading before an audience after 3 rehearsals; 3) in a second reading at the end of the process before an audience. The two public staged readings are intended as a part of the process, giving playwrights an opportunity to measure the efficacy of their work and to provide an opportunity to gauge the work ahead. PlayPenn will provide travel for casting for both writer and director, travel to and from the conference, housing, per diem and a stipend.

Applicants should be aware that we are a development conference rather than a festival or showcase for new work. The distinction is important and meaningful to us in the current climate of the increasing commercialization of play development. We work to avoid participation in what has become known as “development hell” by fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is provided and encouraged. TO THAT END, WE FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF THE TEXT. THE MID AND END-OF-CONFERENCE READINGS ARE INTENDED TO PRESENT A GLIMPSE INTO HOW THE TEXT LIVES OFF THE PAGE RATHER THAN HOW THE PLAY MIGHT BE STAGED IN PRODUCTION.

TO APPLY, CLICK HERE

Please follow the instructions to upload your play into our system.

Because the database identifies you through your registration, NO NAME SHOULD BE INCLUDED ON ANY DOCUMENT, INCLUDING YOUR RESUME. Please submit the following:

1. An original script in .pdf format with no identifying information (no name anywhere on the document). Applications that are submitted in non-pdf format will not be considered.

2. Your current resume (pdf) (no name on the document)

3. A casting breakdown and the number of actors required (pdf) (no name on the document)

4. The play's development and production history (pdf) (no name on the document).
Plays that have had readings are eligible.
Plays that have been produced or that have been through an extended development process are not eligible

5. An articulation of your goals for the development process using the resources offered by PlayPenn. (pdf) (no name on the document). Please be specific with regard to what aspects of your text you would like to focus on during the course of the conference.

PlayPenn does not accept applications by agents.

Your application must be uploaded and complete by midnight September 30, 2014 or it cannot be considered.

Heartland Theatre Company is seeking short original plays

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Heartland Theatre Company is seeking eight short original plays to be considered for production in June of 2015 as part of our 14th annual 10-minute play festival. This year, the theme is CLASS REUNION.

The competition is open to all playwrights who wish to submit a play. Eight plays will be selected and performed from among all the submissions
RULES & GUIDELINES

1. Your play must fit the theme – CLASS REUNION – or it will not be considered.
2. Your play must fit our theater and its performance space.
3. We require internet submissions in MS Word. Please note that we do not accept pdfs.
4. When formatting your play, we ask that you follow our style sheet.
5. We are looking for NEW plays. Please do not send us anything that has previously been produced.
6. Your play may contain no more than four (4) characters and no less than two (2).
7. Heartland Theatre Company has a pool of actors ranging in age from 18 to 70. Make sure that your characters can be played by actors within that range.
8. Your play should consist mainly of dialogue, not monologues. Please note that our requirement for dialogue also means mimed or mute plays are not what we are looking for.
9. No children’s plays, musicals, or plays which were previously chosen as winners in any Heartland Theatre playwriting competition will be considered.
10. Do not put your name on the play itself, as submissions are judged blind. Make sure your title appears on every page of the play, however.
11. If your play cannot be considered for any reason, we will notify you as soon as possible. If, in the judges’ opinion, the problem is easily fixable and the play otherwise has merit, we may ask you for revisions. Asking for revisions is completely up to the judges and depends a great deal on timing. No plays submitted after January 1 will be considered for revisions.
12. Those plays which win and are staged will be videotaped for archival purposes.
13. No contracts beyond the guidelines mentioned here will be offered.
14. Only one entry will be accepted from each playwright.
15. Your play must be written in English.
16. Keep your play under ten minutes in length.
17. Remember that something has to happen in those ten minutes.
18. MAKE IT GOOD!

All entrants must complete and submit
Heartland Theatre 10-Minute Play Entry Form.

You must attach your script in MS Word format when you send the entry form.

***Deadline for entries considered for revisions is January 1, 2015. If you want the opportunity to do revisions, your play must be entered by January 1.***

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS FEBRUARY 1, 2015.

Finalists will be notified approximately March 15.

Winners will be announced approximately April 10.
If you have any questions, please email playfest@heartlandtheatre.org

COE COLLEGE PLAYWRITING FESTIVAL

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(Biennial Contest: Deadline Nov. 1, even years. Residency: April, odd years)

We seek a new, full-length, original, unproduced and unpublished play in its final stages of development that would benefit from a week-long workshop at Coe. No musicals, adaptations, translations or collaborations will be considered.

This is an excellent development opportunity for emerging, professional playwrights. Spend a week in residence workshopping your play with a professional director, faculty, students and community theatre artists.

INTENT
For the playwright: We want to provide you resources, time and space with which to develop and experiment with your work. In addition to helping you take your play to the next level, we also will give you some teaching experiences, as you will conduct master classes with our students. Finally, you'll have some networking opportunities to learn about and connect with theatre professionals in eastern Iowa.
For our students: This is an opportunity for our students to meet and interact with a working playwright, and to observe how plays evolve. Our students will be involved with the workshop either directly as participants, or indirectly as observers.

AWARDS
One new play will be selected for a week-long rehearsal and workshop that will culminate in a public staged reading by students, faculty members, or individuals from the community. The winning playwright will receive an award of $500 plus travel, room and board for a week-long residency at Coe.

GUIDELINES
Any playwright with U.S. citizenship is encouraged to submit plays for consideration. Only one entry per playwright, please. To submit, please send the following:
One clean, bound script
A resume
The play's development history
A statement of development goals for your play (one page)

DEADLINES

Scripts will be accepted between October 1 and November 1. Notification by January 10.

SEND ENTRIES TO:

Susan Wolverton
Chair, Dept. of Theatre Arts
Coe College
1220 First Avenue NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

American Renaissance Theater Company (ARTC) is seeking new playwright members.

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ARTC is a 39 year-old membership organization of theatre professionals. Each week, in a Chelsea area studio, our workshop provides uniquely specific and supportive feedback to our members - actors, writers, and directors - as they present their works in progress. We also produce several public presentations each year as well as occasional Equity Showcases. There are no dues or fees except for a suggested donation at meetings.
Membership is via application and interview.

If interested, please submit a professional resume and a 10/15 page writing sample to: artcorg@gmail.com

Please be sure to put Playwright Submissions in the subject line.




Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Seeking never produced before original short 1 ACT PLAYS

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Seeking never produced before original short 1 ACT PLAYS ! (cast, directed and ready to perform)! and DANCE PIECES !
7 minutes to 25 minutes in length for:
Manhattan Repertory Theatre's
THE NOVEMBER EVENT

November 5 and 6
at Manhattan Repertory Theatre,
303 West 42nd St. (at 8th Ave) NYC

PLEASE NOTE:
We are only accepting 1 act productions and dance pieces from the TRI-STATE area.

As part of our Community producing program we are offering another EVENTS program as a service to playwright/producers and choreographers in the TRI-STATE AREA.

This is an opportunity to bring your NEW short 1 act play or dance piece to life! !

THERE IS NO SECURITY DEPOSIT, SUBMISSION FEE, PARTICIPATION FEE or any Manhattan Rep based Fees. We are just looking for passionate playwright/producers and choreographers from the Tri-State area who wish to participate and try out a new short play or dance piece in front of a live audience. We are looking for NEW short plays and dance pieces, never produced before, 7 - 25 minutes, cast, directed, choreographed, off book, put on their feet and manifested for the first time from playwright/producers in the Tri-State area.

In order to submit, you must be available on:
MONDAY NOVEMBER 3
from 5:30 pm to 11 pm
for TECH REHEARSAL 
(A short 20-30 minute Tech will be schedule for you during this timeframe.)

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4
from 6 pm to 11 pm
for DRESS REHEARSAL 
(A 2.5 hour Dress rehearsal will be schedule during this timeframe.)

and for
THE PERFORMANCES:
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5  
at 6:30 pm or 9 pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 
at 6:30 pm or 9 pm

(Your performance time will be scheduled once all the plays have been accepted.)

PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT IF YOU ARE UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE TIMES.

We will supply a technician to run your sound and lights for your production.

Please know this Event is NON-EQUITY ONLY.

These Events are wonderful fun! Please come and join us. We put up a slick professional show at our theatre on 42nd St and 8th Ave in the heart of the Theatre District.

To submit your NEW, never produced before short 1 act play production or dance piece please email:

The complete play or synopsis of the dance piece,
a synopsis of the play,
the running time of the play or dance piece,
the set and lighting requirements,
the play or dance piecesʼs history 
(workshops, readings if any, when it was written) your mailing address,
and a creative team leader contact email address to: manhattanrep@yahoo.com

by FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014 at Midnight.

Please put "THE NOVEMBER EVENT" in the subject heading.

1 act play productions will be considered on a first - come first-served basis. (The earlier you submit, the better your chances of being accepted.)

If we fill up all production slots early on, we will end submissions earlier than OCTOBER 10, 2014. Once submitted, we will get back to you within one week as to your acceptance.

Again, there are no Manhattan Repertory Theatre based fees of any kind.

If you have any questions about THE NOVEMBER EVENT please drop us a line at: manhattanrep@yahoo.com

THIS WEEKEND: Jumpstart a Play in 2 Days with LUCY THURBER

Sometimes writer's block is inevitable: we just get stuck. The stories inside us won’t come out and we desperately need a jumpstart. This class is designed to bypass intellect, harness spontaneity, and get those emotions flowing. This weekend at Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts (ESPA), LUCY THURBER will help you unleash your story so you can hit the ground running.

Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28 from 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Day 1: Stimulating writing exercises and sharing ideas aloud in class
Day 2:  Build on these exercises and start to develop them into a play

By Sunday, you will be well on your way to creating a new piece of theater all your own.  


Register now and save 10% with discount code NYCPhttp://primarystages.org/jumpstartanewplay 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting Contest.

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The City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting furthers the Company’s mission to identify, acknowledge and award excellence in short form dramatic writing. Known for developing and producing ten-minute works by established talents and promising new voices, City Theatre will select up to twenty-five plays from among its annual Contest submissions for special recognition. The National Award is valued at $2,000: the Winning Play will be produced in the annual Summer Shorts festival; the Winning Playwright will earn royalties, a cash prize of $1,000 and be invited to Miami for the festival. Finalists are awarded a certificate, and invited to Miami to attend theCityWrights Weekend for Playwrights (fee waived) and hear a reading of their Finalist Script (*subject to scheduling).

Note:
The Summer Shorts Festival is produced annually in Miami during the month of June. Not every play in Summer Shorts is a contest Finalist. Finalist plays are not guaranteed City Theatre productions, but receive preferred consideration in the current or future Summer Shorts festivals, and/or other City Theatre programming, including Summer Shorts, Shorts Gone Wild, Shorts 4 Kids, and its Readings Series. Winner and Finalists’ plays are also submitted to the annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival Contest.

City Theatre Play Submissions Rules and Information.

City Theatre is looking for wonderful short plays (ten minutes) for Summer Shorts and other programming. Having produced hundreds of plays, we want scripts that are lively and timely, hilarious and provocative, poignant and surprising. We look for plays that span style and genre. We will consider bilingual scripts and ten-minute musicals. We have no restriction on the age range of the characters. In other words, we are seeking compelling plays that rise above the ordinary.

Please review the criteria thoroughly before sending your submission.

Plays will be accepted yearly from August 30th – September 30th.
Scripts won’t be considered sooner or later!

Playwrights can submit only one script – send us your best!

No scripts will be returned – save postage by submitting electronically. No SASE required.

Each script must be no more than ten pages long. We start counting when the actual play begins.

Electronic submissions can be sent via www.citytheatre.com as a PDF and must include contact info, synopsis, and bio and production history. Mailed manuscripts must be typed and individually bound or stapled. Title page must include contact info, synopsis, and bio and production history.

Previously submitted plays, children’s shows, longer one-acts or full-length plays won’t be accepted or returned.

City Theatre will consider previously produced works with a production history included with submission.

The volume of scripts submitted prevents us from providing feedback or criticism.

NOTE: City Theatre will only contact playwrights with scripts the company considers for the National Award for Short Playwriting Contest, or we are interested in producing in its various programming. ONLY those playwrights will be contacted in February-March by e-mail or a phone call.

Deadline for Submission Must be Postmarked or submitted
electronically to Literary Manager by September 30th, 2014.

Submit your play electronically: to Literary Manager by clicking here, or cut and paste the link to your browser:
http://www.literarymanager.org/submit_step_one_u.php?t=366
*NOTE: This is a 2 step process.The 1st link will take you to a page to confirm your e-mail address (this is step one). Once you have confirm your email, Literary Manager will send you an e-mail with a submission link (which has your email address included in the link, this is step two). Use this link to submit your play.

Please submit script saved as a PDF.

For questions email susan@citytheatre.com


OR:

Mail Submissions to:
Susan Westfall,
Literary Director / City Theatre, 444 Brickell Ave., Suite 229, Miami, Fl 33131
or submit your play electronically through our website www.citytheatre.com and clicking on Play Submissions and using LiteraryManager. Please submit script saved as a PDF.

For questions email susan@citytheatre.com

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The ninth annual Six Women Playwriting Festival

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The ninth annual Six Women Playwriting Festival will be held the weekends of: April 9 and April 16, and April 23, 2015.

The theme of this year’s festival is:
SIGNS, OMENS & FORTUNE COOKIES, Hints of Things to Come

Submission Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

GUIDELINES

Open to women 16 years or older; limited to one play per playwright.

Your play must be unpublished and not previously professionally produced. Previously submitted plays will not be accepted and will not be returned or receive a response.

Your play must be submitted electronically in the following format:

1. One file with your name as the file name (last name first). This must be one page including the play name, your name, address, phone number and email and short personal bio (60-word max).

2. One file with the title of the play as the file name. This file will include your play (with the play name at the top of the page) which must be a maximum of ten pages (numbered), double-spaced between dialogue.

Email your play by Tuesday, September 30, 2014 to:

Lnicholos7@gmail.com

If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact Linda Nicholos at the above email address.

Your play must follow the above theme and appropriate for our community and theatre. The reading committee and producing theatre are seeking scripts with the potential for “dynamic staging of richly established characters in original dramatic and comedic relationships.” Please no “television sitcom situations” or “talking heads.”

Awards

$100 to each winning playwright
$100 stipend to those playwrights attending April 16-17th Festival Weekend

Winner Notification

The six winning playwrights will be notified in February 2015.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Abstract Sentiment Theatre Co. is accepting 10 minute plays

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Abstract Sentiment Theatre Co. is accepting 10 minute plays for their monthly "Block and Talk" 10 minute staged reading series which will take place in late October.

Your play will be rehearsed and performed with the same day.

If interested in submitting, please follow these guidelines:
  • The theme of this month is BROKEN PROMISES.
  • Your play must be no more than 10 minutes long.
  • Preferably comedic but will accept drama.
  • It must have a minimal set requirement.
  • No more than four characters.
  • The plays must contain an age range of 20-40.
  • All submissions must be submitted electronically.
  • Please send a MAXIMUM of two ten-minute plays. 
Please send your submissions to submissionsatastc@gmail.com.

The subject of the email should read: PLAYWRIGHT-BLOCK/TALK

*Note: The deadline for submissions is October 2nd

www.abstractsenimenttheatre.org

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Queer Scare seeks short plays

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The Village Playwrights will celebrate Halloween with "Queer Scare," an evening of short play readings at the LGBT Community Center.

Five to eight plays will be selected to be read from 8 pm to 10 pm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th Street, NYC. We are looking for plays that are LGBTQ themed as well as scary, supernatural, or have drag themes. The Village Playwrights will produce your play or you may self-produce. There is no fee to submit. By producing we shall cast the actors, supply a director and hold a rehearsal. Authors may choose to rehearse their play more than once. The play will be minimally staged.

October 1 is the deadline for submissions.
To submit, email your 10 to 20 minute play to villageplaywrights@gmail.com

Sunday, September 14, 2014

2nd Annual Insomniacs 24 Hour Play Festival

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The Grex Group Theatre is pleased to announce our 2nd Annual Insomniacs 24 Hour Play Festival set for October 17th and 18th in at Theatre 54 in New York City!

How Does It Work?

Friday night, October 17th, at 6:30pm we will meet for our Insomniacs orientation meeting. Directors, playwrights, and actors will be introduced and assigned to a groups. The groups will have time to meet and briefly get to know one another before the writing begins!

The playwright will then seclude themselves somewhere in the city as they compose the most brilliant script ever written! As soon as the play is complete, the actors will be called in for an all-night rehearsal process with their director. The next morning (Saturday the 18th), tech rehearsals will begin at Theatre 54 and evening performances will be given in front of live audiences at 7:00pm and 8:30pm.

What Are the Insomniacs Festival Rules?

Participants must be available for a full 24 hours prior to the performance. NO EXCEPTIONS. If accepted, there is a non-refundable $15.00 participation/registration fee. This fee is payable online and must be paid to secure your spot in the festival. Participants will be able to see the performance for free if audience availability allows. Each team agrees to have a fully memorized and rehearsed play to present for our live audience!

*Registration fees help cover the costs of the Theatre and administrative costs of the festival.

How Do I Apply?

Please send an email to grexgrouptheatre@gmail.com with the following information:

WRITERS - a brief writing sample (no more than 10 pages). Please put "Insomniac Writer" in the subject line.


How Does Casting Work?

The Grex Group Team will contact you after receiving your application! The Grex Team will contact you if you are selected as an actor, director, or writer, and you will have 48 hours to accept the offer!



Saturday, September 13, 2014

The Edgemar Center for the Arts is seeking one-act and full-length plays

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The Edgemar Center for the Arts is seeking one-act and full-length plays for our upcoming 2015 season. The Edgemar has developed and premiered works like Dale Stamos Griffith’s One White Crow and Terry Jastrow’s Jane Fonda in the Court of Public Opinion starring Anne Archer.

Deadline: September 15, 2014
We accept submissions by mail at:

Attn: Literary Dept.
2437 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Electronic submissions are also accepted at edgemarcenterliterary@gmail.com in PDF format.

Looking for a comedic playwright

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TRUFFLES:
A New Dinner Theater, Murder Mystery Experience

Created by The Girl Behind The Curtain, and set in a unique venue in Chelsea, TRUFFLES is the "new" dinner theater experience, with amazing food, music, and a complete immersive experience. We are changing the way people view dinner theater, and murder mystery in New York.

We are looking for a comedic playwright, that can take our mix of serious subjects, and indie-music, and take it to the next level. The story, concept, and acts are in place, and the producer and songwriter are ready to work closely with a playwright who can pull it together.

We are on a tight turn around for the venue, and are looking for someone asap.

- The full immersive experience will be 3 hours long
- The script will fill 45 minutes + music.

Pay is $250 upon completion of script, + a percentage (payment) per each live, ticketed show. We are starting with 1 show a week for the first month, then moving to 2-3 shows per week before the end of the year.

I would like a playwright with experience, & credits to his/her name, but I am open to working with an up-and-coming professional if they are right for the job.

TO SUBMIT:
Please email 2-3 short comedic samples of your writing, plays, work.

contactsoniacarrion@gmail.com

If you are chosen to move to the second round of interviews, more information will be send on the script, concept, venue, songwriter, etc!

We need to start next week, so the process will go quickly.

Thank you and good luck!

Testimonial

Thanks to Stephen Kaplan for writing to NYCPlaywrights:
“ I love being a member of this blog and checking every week, so thank you!”
You can learn more about Stephen and his work at www.bystephenkaplan.com

Friday, September 12, 2014

Theater Three Festival of One-Act Plays

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ONLY UNPRODUCED WORKS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
PLAYS THAT HAVE HAD STAGED READINGS ARE ELIGIBLE.
NO ADAPTATIONS OR CHILDREN’S PLAYS.
CAST SIZE MAXIMUM: 8
LENGTH: 40-MINUTES MAXIMUM. NO MINIMUM.
SETTINGS SHOULD BE SIMPLE OR SUGGESTED.
PLAYWRIGHTS MAY MAKE MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS. (THESE NEED NOT BE MADE UNDER SEPARATE COVER.)
PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT WORKS THAT HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED.

SCRIPTS MUST BE POST-MARKED BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2014.


PLEASE SUBMIT A COVER LETTER, A SYNOPSIS, AND A RESUME ALONG WITH ONE COPY OF THE PLAY. COVER-SHEET OF PLAY SHOULD HAVE TITLE, AUTHOR, AUTHOR’S ADDRESS, AUTHOR’S TELEPHONE NUMBER, AND AUTHOR’S E-MAIL. PLAYS SHOULD BE NEATLY BOUND OR STAPLED ON THE LEFT HAND CORNER. (NO LOOSE PAGES AND NO BINDERS, PLEASE.) IF PLAYWRIGHTS WISH TO HAVE THEIR WORKS RETURNED, AN APPROPRIATE SASE MUST ALSO BE INCLUDED.

SELECTED PLAYS WILL BE PRESENTED FOR TEN PERFORMANCES IN MARCH 2015. PLAYWRIGHTS WILL RECEIVE A SMALL STIPEND.

PLAYS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE 18TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF ONE-ACT PLAYS, ATTN. JEFFREY SANZEL, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, THEATRE THREE, PO BOX 512, PORT JEFFERSON, NY 11777-0512. WE DO NO ACCEPT ELECTRONIC (E-MAIL) SUBMISSIONS). PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR STOP BY THE THEATRE.

FINAL SELECTION OF PLAYS WILL BE IN LATE 2014.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Yes Plays seeks musicals

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Yes Plays, LLC is a theatrical licensing company. Yes Plays supports and promotes emerging and established playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in all genres.

Yes Plays is seeking musicals to add to its catalog. Please submit a one page synopsis of the musical, a bio of the creative team, a sample of the sheet music, and an audio recording (if available) to submissions@yesplays.com.

Seeking short plays about women in history

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365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project is an open writers group that seeks female identifying playwrights who wish to join in our quest to write one acts about 365 women in history.

DETAILS

365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project is an open writers group that seeks female identifying playwrights who wish to join in our quest to write one acts about 365 women in history.

The project will be reaching out to theaters around the country and world for March productions and readings. We will also be seeking opportunities for publication in the coming year.

Plays should not exceed 60 minutes or 60 pages. There will be separate sections of the project: 10 pages and under, 11-20 pages, 20+ pages, 30-60 pages, and musicals. Set and props should lean towards simpler and limit for the characters is 1-8.

Please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/429235263876823/ for more information.

Ask to join the group. Once you are accepted then you may post the name of the woman your play is about. The quota on Caucasian women has been reached, so we are now accepting only plays on women of color.

Deadline is December 31, 2014.
Contact Jess Eisenberg Chamblee at j.e.chamblee@gmail.com

Monday, September 8, 2014

Proscenium Journal Now Accepting Submissions for Winter Issue

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Proscenium Journal is the first quarterly journal dedicated to publishing high-caliber theatrical works (the fall issue is available at www.prosceniumjournal.com). Proscenium publications are free of charge and readily accessible online, allowing playwrights to share their work with newer and larger audiences. 

Proscenium accepts original plays of any length and style, original adaptations (as long as the rights for the adapted work are secured) and musicals. We also accept articles about playwriting and theatre.

We only accept submissions via email. Please email your original play or article to submissions@prosceniumjournal.com with the subject “Submission: [Title], [Author]” We would like you to submit your play as both a Word Document and PDF file. In addition, please submit an approximately 100-word author bio. If your play has been produced, please send us information about production history. There is no submission fee, and anyone is allowed to submit.

The deadline to be considered for the fall edition of Proscenium is December 5th, 2014. However, we accept submissions year-round and will consider them for future editions.

Please allow us four to six weeks to review your play. Due to the large number of submissions we receive, we regret that we cannot acknowledge all submissions.

Proscenium has has one-time, non-exclusive publication rights to plays published in the journal. The playwright retains all other rights.

For more information about Proscenium Journal, go to www.prosceniumjournal.com. If you have any questions about our submission process, please contact editors@prosceniumjournal.com.

Investigative Theater Field Research Team

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The Civilians, center for investigative theater, is looking for creative, inquisitive individuals to form our first Field Research Team. This Team will work in residence with our company for the 2014/2015 season and contribute directly to The Civilians shows and artistic programs and have the unique opportunity to get hands-on training in The Civilians’ method.

The Team will research project/interview ideas, conduct interviews, transcribe and edit interview material and help in the general creation of unique performances, events, and online media projects for our upcoming season. This Team will join The Civilians company as Artists-in-Residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Key components of that work will be conducting interviews and creating content based on the topics of death and dying in contemporary America and ancient Egypt for the show The End and The Beginning to be performed in the Temple of Dendur and for a new piece called The Way They Live based on The American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Team will also potentially help create content for and have their work published on The Civilians’ upcoming online journal Extended Play, that will serve as a hub for investigative art and performance.

Members of the Team will receive training in The Civilians’ method and interviewing techniques from Artistic Director Steve Cosson, The Civilians’ Artistic Team and Associate Artists. Training with The Civilians will begin in September.

This is an unpaid, volunteer opportunity to become a part of The Civilians’ artistic community. This requires a season-long commitment (6-10 months). Schedule is flexible but 8-10 hours a week is preferred. Must be in NY or able to commute easily.

The ideal candidates will be open-minded and naturally curious. He/She should have experience in researching and interviewing.

To apply, please send a cover letter and current resume to The Civilians’ Director of Artistic Programs Ian Daniel projectmanager@thecivilians.org. Please tell us about any experience that might be relevant, that may include work in theater, journalism, and/or documentary.

Led by Artistic Director Steve Cosson, THE CIVILIANS creates new theater from creative investigations into the most vital questions of the present. Last season saw two highly successful Civilians shows in New York: MR BURNS: A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY at Playwrights Horizons, which was included in eight Top 10 of 2013 Lists, as well as THE GREAT IMMENSITY at The Public Theatre. This season, the company is the Artist-in-Residence of Met Museum Presents at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since its founding in 2001, the Obie award-winning company has been produced at numerous theaters in New York, including BAM Next Wave, Vineyard Theatre, Barrow Street Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public; nationally at Center Theatre Group, the TED Conference, HBO’s US Comedy Festival, A.R.T., Actors Theatre of Louisville, and more; and Internationally at London’s Gate Theatre and Soho Theatre. The Civilians’ popular podcast Let Me Ascertain you is available through www.thecivilians.org and iTunes.

Orange Tea Theatre Company seeks short plays

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Orange Tea Theatre Company is an exciting English language theatre company based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  We are appealing for submissions short plays, between 10-30 minutes long to be performed in December. 

Deadline is Monday, 15th of September.

Please read our guidelines carefully before submission.

Guidelines:
  • The plays should have between 2-6 actors. Please visit our Ensemble page at www.orangeteatheatre.com/ensemble to get an idea of casting.
  • Plays must be completed, and run between 10-30 minutes.
  • We favour contemporary plays in modern day settings.  These will likely be performed in an unconventional theatre space, so lighting/sets must be minimal and creative.
  • Keep in mind that our demographic has a young, urban, and international outlook.  Our audience is a mix of Dutch natives and expats.
  • submissions@orangeteatheatre.com no later than 1 December 2013.  No need to send us a biography or reviews, your plays should speak for themselves. 
  • We acknowledge receipt of all plays and we will make further contact with those whose work we’re interested in taking further. 
  • More information about our company may be found at www.orangeteatheatre.com.

First Laugh One-Act Play Festival

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First Laugh returns to Piccolo Theatre in February 2015! This two-weekend festival of one-act plays premieres the original work of local and regional playwrights, and joins comedy writing and performance to answer the question, “What was your first laugh?” This juried festival will feature a fantastic prize awarded to the audience favorite. The festival’s second weekend will showcase Gregory Luick, grand prizewinner of First Laugh 2014 by presenting his full-length play Work In Progress. Join us as we explore the unique origins of what people find funny.

Submission Guidelines
Incomplete submissions cannot be considered until are materials received.

To be considered for entry into the festival, playwrights must provide:
  • 1 one-act script inspired by the first thing you found funny, no longer than 25-minutes in length
  • 1 vision statement detailing the script’s usage of the theme “The first thing I found funny.”
  • 1 synopsis of the one-act script
  • 1 ground plan and scenic design conducive to sharing the playing space with two other companies
  • (please contact Tony Lawry for a pdf of the playing space)
If your play is selected for the festival, we will notify you by email; we then will require a $50 production deposit, which will be held and returned to you after the festival is over.

Playwrights must also include:
  • A production team, director, and actors. (Piccolo cannot provide artistic staff for your one-act)
  • A production contact list of cast and crewmembers including name, phone number, and email address.
  • A list of cast and crewmember program bios (each bio must be no more than 100 words in length)

How to Submit:
For email submissions, please send PDF files of all materials to Tony Lawry at tony@piccolotheatre.com, Subject Line the play’s title, by no later than September 12, 2014

For postal submissions, mail to:
Piccolo Theatre
c/o Tony Lawry, One Act Festival
600 Main Street
Evanston, IL 60202

Must be postmarked by September 12, 2014

Sunday, September 7, 2014

University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance 10-minute Play Festival

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The University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance is excited to announce our second annual 10-Minute Play Festival for spring of 2015. We will begin accepting submissions for this festival on July 1, 2014; the submission period closes on September15, 2014. Eight selected 10-minute plays will receive productions as part of a multi-evening festival, produced in the newly upgraded José Quintero Theatre on the University of Houston campus. This festival is open to all applicants, amateur or professional.

Submission rules:

Scripts will only be accepted during a submission window of July 1 through September 15, 2014. Scripts received outside this window will not be accepted. The list of winning plays will be announced in November.

We will accept only one play per playwright.

Scripts should fall in the range of 8-12 pages and run roughly ten minutes. (Page count does not include the title page.)

Characters in submitted plays should fall between the ages of 16-30 or else there should be no specific restrictions on the ages of the characters.

Previously produced plays are not eligible.

Musicals and plays for children are discouraged.

Submissions will be acknowledged via email, but we do not offer critiques.

Please staple hard copies of the script. Do not use binders, covers, or folders of any kind.

Eight winning plays will receive productions in the José Quintero Theatre at the University of Houston in spring of 2015.

There is no financial compensation for winning entries.

How to submit:
Plays must be submitted via both regular mail *and* email

. Plays not submitted in both ways will not be considered. Hard copies will not be returned. Plays should include a cover page with all of the following information:

play title
your name
your mailing address
your phone number
your email address

Mail hard copy to:

University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance
Dr. Robert Shimko
Ten-Minute Play Submission
133 CWM Center
Houston, TX 77204

Email identical duplicate copy to: 
 uhplayfest@gmail.com 

Investigative Theater seeks writer

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The Civilians center for investigative theater is launching an online journal EXTENDED PLAY to serve as a platform for socially-engaged theater artists and audiences, exploring process, community, new innovations, performance and more. EXTENDED PLAY will feature documentation, essays, interviews, video, and audio in order to share more of The Civilian’s investigations and process and also talk to other artists in the field of investigative performance. We are looking for an Editorial Associate, a stipend-based position, who will work closely with the Director of Artistic Programs to expand and cultivate original content from a variety of artists and writers. He/She will be responsible for researching, commissioning, creating, and editing content for the site.

The Editorial Associate will work closely with writers and editors and function as a liaison between the Civilians artistic team and contributors. He/She will also be responsible for responding to pitches and submissions; fact-checking content; assisting in publicity for web articles; building opportunities for online discussion and community engagement.

Requirements:
  • Experience in journalism or related field and/or theater a plus
  • Knowledge of investigative theater/performance and social practice a plus
  • Excellent writing and editing skills
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Knowledgeable about and active on social media platforms
  • Experience with Word Press, video/audio editing skills a plus

Start date: Late Aug/Early September for a commitment of six months to a year.
Required 15-20 hours a week

Small stipend is provided.

To apply, please send a cover letter and current resume to Director of Artistic Programs Ian Daniel ian@thecivilians.org

EXTENDED PLAY is a new online platform for theater work and performance that creatively engages the most vital questions of our time. Capitalizing on the open accessibility of online media, and the potential for sharing text, audio, image and video with a broad public, EXTENDED PLAY brings the live experience of theater online. The EXTENDED PLAY website offers a context for the work of socially-engaged theater artists, exploring process, community, new innovations and more. Centered on the artistic community of The Civilians, EXTENDED PLAY also features artists and companies both national and international who work at the dynamic intersections of art and life.

Led by Artistic Director Steve Cosson, THE CIVILIANS creates new theater from creative investigations into the most vital questions of the present. Last season saw two highly successful Civilians shows in New York: MR BURNS: A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY at Playwrights Horizons, which was included in eight Top 10 of 2013 Lists, as well as THE GREAT IMMENSITY at The Public Theatre. This season, the company is the Artist-in-Residence of Met Museum Presents at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since its founding in 2001, the Obie award-winning company has been produced at numerous theaters in New York, including BAM Next Wave, Vineyard Theatre, Barrow Street Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public; nationally at Center Theatre Group, the TED Conference, HBO’s US Comedy Festival, A.R.T., Actors Theatre of Louisville, and more; and Internationally at London’s Gate Theatre and Soho Theatre. The Civilians’ popular podcast Let Me Ascertain you is available through www.thecivilians.org and iTunes.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Online playwriting courses in NYC…from anywhere!

Whether it’s your first play or your hundredth, it’s not always easy to get the creative wheels in motion. Maybe you just can’t commit to a weekly class meeting time. Maybe you’re going out of town. Or maybe you don’t live in NYC at all. That’s why we’ve taken our most popular class, THE FIRST DRAFT, and put it online!

In THE FIRST DRAFT, taught completely online by Obie Award-winning playwright CARIDAD SVICH, you’ll create a draft of your new play through weekly assignments and written lectures. These assignments are designed to give playwrights the necessary structure and deadlines to succeed. Students will have access to their instructor and classmates via a virtual classroom, including virtual office hours, an online discussion board, group chats, and enhanced file-sharing capabilities.


THE FIRST DRAFT starts September 15. Open to writers everywhere! 

Use discount code NYCP to save 10%

Manhattan Repertory Theatre seeking one-act plays

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Seeking never produced before original short 1 ACT PLAYS
(cast, directed and ready to perform)
and DANCE PIECES 
7 minutes to 25 minutes in length for:

Manhattan Repertory Theatre's
THE OCTOBER EVENT
October 16 and 17, 2014 
at Manhattan Repertory Theatre, 
303 West 42nd St. (at 8th Ave) NYC


PLEASE NOTE:  We are only accepting 1 act productions and dance pieces from the TRI-STATE area. As part of our Community producing program we offer our EVENTS 4 to 6 times a year as a service to playwright/producers in the TRI-STATE AREA. This is an opportunity to bring your NEW short 1 act play or dance piece to life!  THERE IS NO SECURITY DEPOSIT, SUBMISSION FEE, PARTICIPATION FEE or any Manhattan Rep based Fees.  

We are just looking for passionate playwright/producers and choreographers from the Tri-State area who wish to participate and try out a new short play or dance piece in front of a live audience. 

We are looking for NEW short plays and dance pieces, never produced before, 7 - 25 minutes, cast, directed, choreographed, off book, put on their feet and manifested for the first time from playwright/producers in the Tri-State area. 

In order to submit, you must be available on: 

TUESDAY OCTOBER 14 from 5:30 pm to 11 pm 
for TECH REHEARSAL: (A short 20 - 30 minute tech will be scheduled during this timeframe.)

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15 from 6 pm to 11 pm 
for DRESS REHEARSAL (A 2.5 hour Dress rehearsal will be schedule during this timeframe.)

and for THE PERFORMANCES:

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 at 6:30 pm or 9 pm
FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 at 6:30 pm or 9 pm 
(Your performance time will be scheduled once all the plays have been accepted.)
Each play will get at least two performances.

PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT IF YOU ARE UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE TIMES.

We will supply a technician to run your sound and lights for your production. 

Please know this Event is NON-EQUITY ONLY.

These Events are wonderful fun!  Please come and join us. We put up a slick professional show at our theatre on 42nd St and 8th Ave in the heart of the Theatre District.

To submit your NEW, never produced before short 1 act play production or dance piece please email:
  • The complete play or synopsis of the dance piece,
  • a synopsis of the play,
  • the running time of the play or dance piece,
  • the set and lighting requirements, 
  • the play or dance piecesʼs history (workshops, readings if any, when it was written)
  • your mailing address,


and a creative team leader contact email address to:

by Monday September 15, 2014 at Midnight.

Please put "THE OCTOBER EVENT" in the subject heading.

1 act play productions and dance pieces will be considered on a first - come first-served basis. 

(The earlier you submit, the better your chances of being accepted.) 

If we fill up all production slots early on, we will end submissions earlier than September 15, 2014. 
Once submitted, we will get back to you within one week as to your acceptance.

Again, there are no Manhattan Repertory Theatre based fees of any kind.


If you have any questions about THE OCTOBER EVENT, please drop us a line at: manhattanrep@yahoo.com

Now accepting applications for INKtank Cycle 6

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Guidelines

Applicants must submit the following by September 18, 2014:

One full-length script that you would like to work on during the lab [Please note: we are not accepting one-character plays at this time.]

Resume

A one-page Artistic Statement explaining your personal rewrite goals, what you feel are the strengths of the script, and what you would like to focus on for the piece during the developmental process. Please include the developmental history of this piece, if it has had readings in the past, or if there are any upcoming readings of your work.

Each play must have the following in order to comply with our culminating project vision:

First drafts of full-length scripts. Does not have to be polished. In fact, scripts should be at a very raw and early stage of development.

Five actor maximum. No exceptions. If your play has more than five characters, the text must support double casting.

Be in line with Rising Circle’s mission statement to expand the scope of storytelling on the American stage by giving voice to unheard stories of people of color.

Applicants MUST live in the tri-state area to be considered.
Finalists will be contacted for an interview in mid-October.

Time Requirements

The structure for the lab and culminating event is greatly determined by participant availability

The lab will begin in mid-November and run through late February/early March.

Lab meets for twelve consecutive weeks, unless otherwise specified by the Facilitators.

Each session is three to four hours. Pages are read and discussed. One hour per playwright.

Lab Requirements & Goals

INKtank playwrights are expected to attend all weekly lab meetings, and participate in post-reading discussions by providing constructive feedback for your fellow playwrights.

Each playwright must read the selected scripts prior to the first meeting.

Each playwright is responsible for generating new pages weekly (five page minimum, twenty page maximum)

Each playwright is expected to participate in two midpoint readings. The first midpoint reading consists of reading solely the first act after the first few meetings. After six weeks, there will be a second midpoint reading of the rough draft of entire script with actors. Playwrights will continue to refine their drafts for another six weeks, culminating in PlayRISE.

Culminating Event: PlayRISE Festival of New Plays

A week of public readings of all plays in early-mid February (final date to be determined during lab process).

There will be five hours of rehearsal with director and actors before each reading.

All playwrights will receive an honorarium.

Playwrights are expected to attend each reading to support their fellow lab members, and participate in any panel events that are scheduled during PlayRISE (please see the “What We Do” section of our website for past PlayRISE events).

All submissions must be sent by e-mail only to nancy@risingcircle.org

Application deadline: September 18, 2014

The Nu∙10 Halloween Play Festival “Horrors from the Grave” 10-minute plays

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Building on the success of our first 10-minute play festival this past June, the Nu∙10 returns this fall to host a spine-chilling, hair-raising, bloodcurdling short play festival for performances on October 30, 31 and November 1!

Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2014.
No more than 50 submissions will be accepted for this festival.
Whether an original work, re-imagining a classic horror story or an existing play of haunting proportions, each play should be creepy, chilling, spooky and wickedly entertaining!

Up to 8 plays will be chosen.

Audiences will be invited to vote on the selections at each performance with the 1st and 2nd place winners announced after the last performance and sharing a percentage of the house sales.

Guidelines and Rules for Submission
• Only original plays, never before published, are eligible.
• Plays must be submitted via electronic PDF format to: submissions@desotellestudio.com (Do not mail printed scripts.)
• There is no submission fee.
• Eligible playwrights must reside in the tri-state area.
• Please include the following information on the title page:
o play title, your name, mailing address, phone number, email address
• The play may be no more than TEN PAGES in a font no smaller than 11pt and run no more than 10 minutes in duration.
• The play may not exceed 4 characters and should require minimal set, props and costumes.
• Playwrights or submitting parties are responsible for arranging the directing and acting team, as well as any set needs and props. There will be limited lighting and sound cues.

The John DeSotelle Studio will, in its sole discretion, make production decisions based upon appropriateness of content in keeping with the theme and the practical ability to produce all plays selected by its readers for presentation.

All eligible plays are circulated among a committee of readers selected by the John DeSotelle Studio for their capability and integrity to select plays for inclusion in Nu∙10 Ten Minute Play Festival. The readers are given specific directions for scoring each eligible play and they independently complete this assignment. Scoring criteria includes five or more categories relating to story and plot, dialogue, characters and ease of production.

Festival selections will be announced by September 30, 2014.

For more information call our Festival Coordinator at 212-581-0188 or email submissions@desotellestudio.com.

Centre Stage seeks full-length plays

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  • We are searching for commercially viable comedies and dramas with innovative storytelling that deal with important social issues.
  • We accept only previously unproduced comedies and dramas with a running time of one hour and fifteen minutes to two hours.
  • Playwrights may submit only one play per year.
  • Plays that have received prior readings and development will receive favorable consideration.
  • We do not accept musicals or plays for youth.
  • Plays with excessive violence or profanity will receive limited consideration.
  • Cast size is limited to six.
  • Plays that utilize double (or triple or quadruple…) casting should use this technique for a dramaturgical reason. Double casting should not be an attempt to make a play with a large cast fit the guidelines.
  • Providing playwrights with the highest quality actors is a priority. Plays that can be effectively cast within our market will be considered favorably.
  • Playwrights are encouraged to submit plays that require minimal technical elements and are suited to our thrust stage. Please view the seating chart or our Theatre Accessibility page for images of the theatre.
  • There is no submission fee.
  • Hard copies will be read by at least two readers. However, the following will be rejected:
  • Screenplays or teleplays submitted as theatrical plays
  • Obvious first drafts 
  • Plays with typos and spelling errors
  • Plays that are not formatted according to industry standards
  • Plays that require costly design elements

Submission Process

Mail the UNBOUND full text of the play along with the following required materials by February 1st to:
New Play Festival Literary Manager, Centre Stage
P.O. Box 8451, Greenville, SC 29604

Do not include return postage. Plays that are not accepted into the festival will be recycled. Submissions received after February 1 will be considered for next year’s festival. Semifinalists will be contacted by early June. Finalists will be contacted and posted to our website in early July.

Playwrights accepted into the festival will receive travel and lodging as well as one-on-one time with the playwright-in-residence. Each play will receive at least three rehearsals with a professional director and actors.

If you are wondering if your play is a good match for Centre Stage or if you have any questions about the festival, please do not hesitate to send an inquiry to ellen.jones@centrestage.org.
  • A full description/synopsis of the story including stylistic and thematic content. This description is not a teaser or publicity blurb; it should be approximately half a page long and include all major plot elements including the climax.
  • The complete casting requirements (limited to six actors)
  • The development history of the play (if any)
  • A brief bio (please be assured that past professional experience is not required)
  • Full contact information, including phone number and email address.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

The Dramaturgy Open Office Hour Project

Wednesdays 4-7pm from 9/10 - 10/1, dramaturgs in NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore/DC will will be hanging out, available to answer questions, provide feedback, etc. to any writer or other theater artist who might be interested in stopping by. This is a free event.

Project founder Jeremy Stoller is keeping a blog about what happens

Additional information (including locations) is on The Dramaturgy Open Office Hour Facebook page, and at the blog link above.


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

MITF Starts New Season with Sept. Short Play Lab - Cash Prizes


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Dear Friend in the Theatre,

Whether you've thought about doing a short play in New York but have never tried, or if you're a regular at such events around town, please give a thought to producing a show in the September Short Play Lab. Not only do you rub shoulders with your fellow short-playwrights, but you get to showcase your work to people you don't know yet. (Our Labs are always well-attended, and they can lead to other festivals and events that we produce, such as the Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival and the Midtown International Theatre Festival.) The rules are easy-peasy:
Deadline is Sept. 7. 

Notification will be soon after submission, depending on number of submissions. The sooner you get your script in, the more time you have to prepare. Get that script in pronto!
Plays should be 1 - 10 pp. in standard playscript format.* (The shorter the better; shorter plays get priority.) Include a title page, as the first page of the script, with your contact info (only means of contact is by email).
Submit scripts in MS-Word.
You produce the play whether or not you live in New York. The SPL provides the theatre. This Lab will take place at Roy Arias Studios, 300 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10018.
Productions must be non-union: no showcases please! (And no Equity waivers, either.)
Keep production values to a minimum: costumes and hand props are okay. We provide rehearsal cubes, chairs, and a table. You can't leave your stuff in the theatre overnight.
We provide a board op, box office, and venue management.
There are no fees. The SPL keeps the door.
Tickets are $20. Each playwright and director gets to watch his/her show for free. 

There are no other comps.
There will be a tech rehearsal in the daytime on Saturday, Sept. 20. The production dates are Saturday, Sept. 20 - Sunday, Sept. 21.
Every play gets 2 performances, 1 on Sat. and 1 on Sun. Each play will be part of 1 of 2 programs: Program A or Program B, but not both. Program A takes place at 7 pm Sat. and 4 pm Sun. Program B takes place at 9 pm Sat. and 2 pm Sun.
We don't do staged readings. Be off-book, please! Plays not off-book during tech will be removed from the line-up.
THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTION IN EACH PROGRAM RECEIVES A CASH PRIZE OF $75. Winners are determined by polling patrons after the performance. We reserve the right to break ties.

*12 pt Times Roman; character names in the middle on their own line; line spaces between speeches and between speeches and stage directions; indented stage directions.

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, so you can recruit people for later productions.

To submit a script, send it as an attachment, in Word format, to john.chatterton@gmail.com. Any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me an E-mail!

Thanks,

John Chatterton
Executive producer, Short Play Lab

Monday, September 1, 2014

Alumnae Theatre Company’s New Ideas Festival call for scripts

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Alumnae Theatre Company’s New Ideas Festival (NIF) is an annual, three-week juried festival of new plays, works-in-progress and experimental theatre. Each week a different program of up to four plays, as well as a workshopped reading on Saturday at noon, is presented. The 2015 festival, NIF’s 27th season, will run from March 11 to 29, 2015.

NIF offers dramaturgical support, rehearsal and production space, technical support, access to Alumnae Theatre’s costume and props collections, publicity and sold-out houses.

We are now accepting scripts and proposals for the 2015 festival. The deadline for submissions is September 5, 2014; September 15 for Alumnae members. We invite you to submit your own play or pass this information along to a playwright you think may be interested. Note that there is no submission fee this year.

Submission guidelines
Scripts or proposals should be submitted electronically in PDF or Word format to NIFscripts@gmail.com.

Scripts must be original works that have not been previously performed outside of a workshop. They may be in any genre or style, with a running time of 10 to 40 minutes; one act of a full-length play may also be accepted for production. Submissions longer than 40 minutes will only be considered for a reading, which will showcase the script development done over the rehearsal period.

Please include a cover page with the script/proposal, providing the play title, a list and description of characters (including age), and a short play synopsis. Send a separate contact page with the play title, playwright’s name and contact information, and a short bio (75 words or less). NIF does not provide feedback on submissions or return scripts.

NIF will confirm receipt of submissions within two weeks, and scripts/proposals will be sent to the NIF reading committee. The 2015 festival lineup will be announced in early November, followed by cold reads of all chosen plays in early December.

Preference will be given to scripts that include challenging roles for women of all ages. NIF welcomes voices from diverse communities.

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