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Sunday, December 27, 2015

East Village Chronicles, Volume 12 April 2016


Deadline - Thursday, December 31, 2015


Metropolitan Playhouse, New York's OBIE Award-winning explorer of America's Theatrical Heritage, is currently accepting submissions for new plays inspired by the life and history of New York's Lower East Side. 
 
Submissions will be evaluated by Metropolitan's artistic staff, and we will produce up to 10 of the submitted plays in April 2016, as part of our 7th Annual East Village Theater Festival.

Subject - Very Important:

Please DO NOT submit plays that do not conform to this simple guideline. We are eager not to waste your--and our--time.

Plays must pertain specifically, though not necessarily exclusively, to the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan. Plays that do not in some way illuminate life and/or conditions in that neighborhood--past, present or future--will not be considered. The subject or theme may well pertain to other places as well, but they must be quite specifically applicable to the East Village/Lower East Side.

As a secondary consideration, and as in prior years, the plays selected will pertain to a chosen theme. For Volume 12, plays should respond to Hope as it relates to life in the East Village of today and in eras past. (See below for more information.)

Submission Deadline:
Completed scripts must be RECEIVED, by mail or e-mail, by 5:00 pm Thursday, December 31, 2015.

By Mail:
Metropolitan Playhouse
220 E 4th Street
New York, NY 10009


By e-mail
PLEASE SUBMIT as ".pdf" files to EVC12@metropolitanplayhouse.org

The Festival
East Village Chronicles, Vol. 12 is the 12th seasonal festival of new, one-act plays that celebrate and explore the varied history and eclectic culture that have defined Manhattan's Lower East Side (in all its permutations). Combined into two, distinct evenings of short plays, which run on alternating nights over three weeks, the presentations will include a variety of styles and tones, unified by their being clearly related to life in the theater's neighborhood.

Metropolitan Playhouse will produce the plays on our 3/4 thrust stage in our 51 seat theater at 220 E 4th Street.

The plays will be directed by directors engaged by Metropolitan to coordinate and rehearse the entire festival.

The plays will be performed by a core company of actors, cast specifically for the festival, each of whom will perform in at least two festival plays. The cast of any given play will be drawn from this core company, and therefore anyone cast must be suitable for more than one play. Because we are forming a company, while playwrights' input is highly desired, final decisions remain with Metropolitan's artistic staff.
The Theme for 2016: Hope

The Chronicles plays have been connected each year in that they have focused on a certain topic, theme, or timeline. Selecting plays that are inspired by some such organizing principle helps to give the festival shape and to enrich the experience for audience members. (See * below for further discussion of the theme idea.)

This year, the Chronicles will be devoted to Hope. We believe this theme is especially resonant within the context of our national conversation and the particular history and character of the neighborhood. In our neighborhood, particularly with its history of immigration and challenges to mainstream lifestyle, every day life has long been grounded in aspiration, even while just as many ambitions are dashed as realized.

  • Playwrights are encouraged to respond directly, indirectly, and creatively to this idea; how the plays relate to the notion of "Hope" is up to the playwright. 
  • Technical Guidelines
  • We are seeking plays of no more than 30 minutes that can be played by 5 or fewer actors.
  • The plays will be presented with at least three others in a given evening, and as a consequence, should not require elaborate set or properties. 

Performance Dates (subject to change): April 11 - May 1, 2016

Theater: Metropolitan Playhouse
220 E 4th Street

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