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Beginning September 1, PlayPenn will be accepting applications for its 2020 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. Your application must be uploaded and complete by September 30, 2019 or it cannot be considered.
Currently, we are not considering musicals, plays for young audiences or one-person plays. Also, if you were a 2019 Conference playwright we ask you to observe a one-year hiatus from applying.
The 2020 Conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 7-26, 2020 at The Drake Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg and Philadelphia-based, professional actors over a 20-day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time as well as ample time to reflect and write.
The work will begin with a three-day roundtable (July 7-9) that will help in laying the collaborative groundwork for the development time ahead. The Conference includes two public staged readings that are intended as a part of the process, giving playwrights an opportunity to measure the efficacy of the work accomplished and provide an opportunity to gauge the work ahead.
PlayPenn will provide travel for casting, travel to and from the conference, housing, per diem and a stipend.
Applicants should be aware of the following points about PlayPenn:
· 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 placing authority in the hands of the playwright and fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is encouraged and provided;
· We make a concerted effort to provide an experience that relieves writers of the distractions of the day-to-day world;
· We expect playwrights who accept a place at the Conference to work on their play. The Conference is not intended as an opportunity for playwrights to simply hear their plays in a rehearsed reading.
· We focus on the needs of the text. The public Conference readings are intended to present a glimpse into how the text lives off the page rather than how the play might be augmented or staged in production.
From the time of invitation to participate at PlayPenn, we expect that playwrights will accept no invitations for development that precede the July Conference dates.
For our application process, PlayPenn uses the Submittable platform. Please upload the following with no identifying information in the document or the document name:
1. An original script in .pdf format with no identifying information (no name on the document). Applications that are submitted in non-pdf format will not be considered.
2. Your current resume (.pdf) with no identifying information (playwright name or agent).
3. A casting breakdown and the number of actors required (.pdf) (no name on the document). Please do not assume that doubling schemes are obvious. We want to know how many actors your play requires in a workshop setting.
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 multiple development processes are not eligible.
5. List three areas of challenge in your play that you’d like to address while you’re at PlayPenn (.pdf) (no name on the document). Please be specific.
***If your files include the playwright’s name, your application will be disqualified***
PlayPenn does not accept agent submissions.
Your application must be uploaded and complete by midnight September 30, 2019 or it cannot be considered.
Because of the number of applications we receive, and the labor intensive nature of responsibly considering your play, we are unable to provide individual feedback.
Thank you for your application. We look forward to reading your work.
Beginning September 1, PlayPenn will be accepting applications for its 2020 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. Your application must be uploaded and complete by September 30, 2019 or it cannot be considered.
Currently, we are not considering musicals, plays for young audiences or one-person plays. Also, if you were a 2019 Conference playwright we ask you to observe a one-year hiatus from applying.
The 2020 Conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 7-26, 2020 at The Drake Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg and Philadelphia-based, professional actors over a 20-day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time as well as ample time to reflect and write.
The work will begin with a three-day roundtable (July 7-9) that will help in laying the collaborative groundwork for the development time ahead. The Conference includes two public staged readings that are intended as a part of the process, giving playwrights an opportunity to measure the efficacy of the work accomplished and provide an opportunity to gauge the work ahead.
PlayPenn will provide travel for casting, travel to and from the conference, housing, per diem and a stipend.
Applicants should be aware of the following points about PlayPenn:
· 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 placing authority in the hands of the playwright and fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is encouraged and provided;
· We make a concerted effort to provide an experience that relieves writers of the distractions of the day-to-day world;
· We expect playwrights who accept a place at the Conference to work on their play. The Conference is not intended as an opportunity for playwrights to simply hear their plays in a rehearsed reading.
· We focus on the needs of the text. The public Conference readings are intended to present a glimpse into how the text lives off the page rather than how the play might be augmented or staged in production.
From the time of invitation to participate at PlayPenn, we expect that playwrights will accept no invitations for development that precede the July Conference dates.
For our application process, PlayPenn uses the Submittable platform. Please upload the following with no identifying information in the document or the document name:
1. An original script in .pdf format with no identifying information (no name on the document). Applications that are submitted in non-pdf format will not be considered.
2. Your current resume (.pdf) with no identifying information (playwright name or agent).
3. A casting breakdown and the number of actors required (.pdf) (no name on the document). Please do not assume that doubling schemes are obvious. We want to know how many actors your play requires in a workshop setting.
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 multiple development processes are not eligible.
5. List three areas of challenge in your play that you’d like to address while you’re at PlayPenn (.pdf) (no name on the document). Please be specific.
***If your files include the playwright’s name, your application will be disqualified***
PlayPenn does not accept agent submissions.
Your application must be uploaded and complete by midnight September 30, 2019 or it cannot be considered.
Because of the number of applications we receive, and the labor intensive nature of responsibly considering your play, we are unable to provide individual feedback.
Thank you for your application. We look forward to reading your work.