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Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Native Voices at the Autry Call for Scripts 2018-2019

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*Please note that we only accept submissions written for the stage or theatre by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations artists.

For Short Plays

Deadline: July 20, 2018

Short plays submitted by July 20, 2018 will be considered for Native Voices’ 8th Annual Short Play Festival, to take place in November 2018 at the American Indian Arts Marketplace at the Autry in Los Angeles. Read more about the theme for the Short Play Festival below.

The 8th Annual Short Play Festival

Whet your appetite for clever, funny, dramatic, and thoughtful 10-minute scripts – the theme of this year’s short play festival is FOOD. It brings us together as families, it can be both a commodity and a lack. Frybread… delicious, disastrous, or both?

FOOD… culture is delicious.

The theme of the 8th Annual Short Play Festival is FOOD. Native Voices invites playwrights to answer the question: what’s on the table in Native country? Like music or dance, food is a cultural expression. Food can be as simple as what’s served for dinner, as complicated as the legacy of frybread, or as devastating as water shortages and climate change on subsistence hunting and traditional ways of harvesting a living from the land. Plays can be fun-spirited or political, funny or dramatic. Scripts that are longer than 15 pages or read aloud at longer than 10 minutes will not be accepted. Fresh, surprising perspectives are welcome, and unique theatricality is a must.

Selection Process: Short plays (15 page maximum) that are related to the theme and are received by July 20, 2018 will be read and evaluated by a national reading panel comprised of Native American theatre artists and community members along with nationally-recognized theatre artists. The panel will select 5 to 8 plays for the festival based on the creative use of the theme, originality, theatricality, structure, and execution.

Selected plays will be given a staged reading on November 11, 2018 as part of the Autry Museum of the American West’s American Indian Arts Marketplace.  A panel of judges will select the 2018 Von Marie Atchley Award for Excellence in Playwriting, a $1,000 cash prize!

Plays that are longer than 15 pages will not be considered for the Short Play Festival. Please note that the Short Play Festival is only open to Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations Playwrights.

Plays must be submitted using our online submission form and in the correct format. Please see our “Checklist for All Submissions” below for further details.

For Full-Length Plays

Deadline: August 10, 2018

Native Voices is currently accepting submissions of full-length plays (60+ pages) by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations playwrights addressing all themes and topics.

2019 Playwrights Retreat and 25th Festival of New Plays

The Retreat and Festival bring artists to Los Angeles to work on 3–5 plays through a rigorous directorial and dramaturgical commitment for 8–10 days in May/June. The retreat culminates in public presentations of the plays at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles and La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Selected playwrights receive directorial and dramaturgical support as well as an honorarium; out-of-town artists receive roundtrip airfare plus lodging in Southern California.

Selection Process: Full-length plays (60+ pages) received by August 10, 2018 will be read and evaluated. A select number of playwrights will be invited to submit formal proposals detailing their developmental goals should their play be chosen for the short list. Scripts will then be sent to a committee of nationally recognized theatre artists for further evaluation. With their help, Native Voices selects up to five plays for the Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays. Playwrights will be notified in December 2018.

2019 Submission for Production Consideration

Do you have a full-length script that has been developed and produced that you’d like us to consider for a future Native Voices production in Los Angeles? Please follow the Checklist for All Submissions below and in the Native Voices Script Submission form check the box for 2019 General Submission for Production Consideration.

A Note About the Native Voices Distance Dramaturgy Process

Months prior to residencies at the Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays, selected playwrights participate in dramaturgical conversations with an assigned director and dramaturg. Workshops with these creative teams and a cast of professional actors commence once the playwright arrives on-site. It is important to note that these conversations and workshops are playwright driven, allowing the writer to shape his/her own developmental path. Selected playwrights should be prepared to dedicate adequate time to this process prior to arriving on-site.

Checklist for All Submissions

Please label script attachment as follows: PlayTitle_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: MyNewPlay_Doe, J.doc).

All submissions must conform to a standard play-script format (one-inch margins, #12 Times or Courier font, all pages numbered).

Include a title page with full contact information (mailing address, phone numbers, e-mail address) and a draft or revision date.

Include a character breakdown at the beginning of your script.

Provide a biography of 75–100 words. Please label attachment as follows: Bio_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: Bio_Doe, J.doc).

Provide a press ready photo of at least 300dpi.  Please label attachment as follows: Photo_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: Photo_Doe, J.doc).

Provide development history for the play. Label attachment as follows: DevHistory_PlayTitle_Author’s Last Name, First Initial (Example: DevHistory_MyNewPlay_Doe, J.doc).

To submit, fill out our online form and upload your submission materials here: Native Voices Script Submission Form

Please do not send treatments or outlines. Previously submitted plays should only be resubmitted if the play has undergone significant dramatic changes. Previously produced plays should be submitted under the 2019 General Submission for Production Consideration. Plays that are not selected are kept on file for consideration for future opportunities. Playwrights are encouraged to make multiple submissions (up to three per event), but selection will be limited to only one play per playwright, per event.

Where to Send Submissions

We now only accept electronic submission (preferably PDF format).

To submit, fill out our online form and upload your materials here: Native Voices Script Submission Form

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