In order to honor this auspicious woman, Hunger & Thirst will present TELLING TRIFLES, a festival inspired by Susan Glaspell, American drama’s best-kept secret. The cornerstone of the festival will be performances of Glaspell’s most recognized work, Trifles (featuring artistic associates Natalie Hegg and Emily Kitchens, directed by artistic director Patricia Lynn).
Along with Trifles performances, Hunger & Thirst is excited to announce that we will be hosting a series of readings, workshops, and/or performances of new short works inspired by Trifles or Susan Glaspell’s life, all of which will be written by current female playwrights and directed by female directors. We feel the best way to honor such a pioneering female theatre artist like Susan Glaspell is to give voice to our current female theatre artists.
If you are a female or female-identifying writer who wishes to submit a piece for us, please view the PDF below for a list of guidelines and submission information. Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2018.
If you are a female or female-identifying director who wishes to be involved, please submit a resume to hungerandthirstglaspell@gmail.com by January 15, 2018. You will be contacted if we wish to interview you.
If you have any questions about the festival, please contact us at: hungerandthirstglaspell@gmail.com
GENERAL INFORMATION
- SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS JANUARY 15, 2018 AT 5:00PM EST. No submissions received after that time will be considered. You will be notified by early February if we would like to invite you to participate.
- All submissions should be sent to hungerandthirstglaspell@gmail.com as a PDF.
- Presentations/performances would take place April 4-14, 2018 at the West End Theatre on the Upper West Side. Rehearsals would take place in mid/late March and scheduled based on artist availability. Playwrights are welcome to be as involved as they wish in the rehearsal/workshop process.
- Works will be considered to be presented as a reading, workshop, and/or full performance within the festival. Each work will receive a minimum of 10 hours of rehearsal and have at least one presentation with an invited audience
- Playwrights may submit multiple submissions, but in order to involve as many artists as possible, only one will be selected.
- If selected, Hunger & Thirst will take care providing the needed artists (actors, director, designers if need be), necessary materials (scripts, any needed design elements, etc), booking and scheduling rehearsal space, and invite audiences for the event. No additional compensation is being offered at this time.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Playwright must be a female or female-identifying artist.
- Shorts or one-acts are preferred, but will consider any full-lengths you may wish to submit. Please note that full-lengths would not be considered for a full performance.
- All works must fulfill at least one of the following of the criteria
- Are clearly inspired by the themes and relationships in Trifles
- PDF available here: http://www.english.unt.edu/~simpkins/Trifles.pdf
- Clearly honor or relate to Susan Glaspell’s life
Link to biography written by the International Susan Glaspell Society: http://blogs.shu.edu/glaspellsociety/about-susan-glaspell/
Honor Hunger & Thirst’s mission to bring classic stories to modern audiences. Our definition of a classic story is one that has timeless themes and universal emotional resonance and relevance. Learn more about our mission by visiting www.hungerandthirsttheatre.com
Looking for another prompt to get you started? Feel free to use any of our favorite lines of text from Trifles as a launching point!
- "I know how things can be--for women...we live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things--it's all just a different kind of same thing."
- "I never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow and you don't see the road...it's a lonesome place and always was."
- "She was kind of like a bird herself--real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and--fluttery."
- "Wright wouldn't like the bird--a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too."