8th Annual Columbus Black Theatre Festival

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Mine 4 God Productions is accepting plays for the 8th Annual Columbus Black Theatre Festival (CBTF) held in downtown Columbus, Ohio from November 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 midnight. 

US citizens 18 years or older are eligible to submit up to two original works.

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• Submit in MS Word format to columbusbtf@aol.com 
• The length of plays wanted are One Act Plays (30 minutes)
• Full-Length Plays (60 to 90 minutes)
• Monologues (5 to 10 minutes) with a theme based on inclusion.
• Plays submitted must be from the original playwright or have legal rights from the original playwright to submit and/or produce.  Plays that have been previously produced or published are eligible.

The playwright will have the opportunity to self-produce their one act plays and/or monologues or have M4GP provide the actors and director to present it at the festival.  The playwright is responsible to self-produce (cast/director, etc.) their full-length play if selected.

We will also select one act plays to present as readings that we will produce.

• Submitters will be notified through email by March 30, 2020 (earlier if possible.)
• Plays shall be full complete works, not a scene or act from a larger work or work-in-progress.  
• The playwright’s name should not appear anywhere in the script.
• Include two title pages: One title page should contain a) the name of your play, and b) your name, address, phone number, and email address. The second title page should include only the title of your play, as this will be a blind read. The document should contain no identifying information about the author in any way on any page except the one title page, which will not be revealed until the plays are selected.
• Plays should run no less than 30 minutes, or more than 90 minutes in length.
• Plays must be typed in standard play format.
• Please include a synopsis of your play in 50-100 words.
• Production criteria include scripts able to be produced with open staging and minimal design/ technical support for a 175-seat black box theater with a 36’ wide and 24’ deep, equipped with an ETC Express 24/48 light board, Mackie 1202, 12 Channel mic/line and a monitor system to the booth.
• Play must be able to be performed with no more than six actors (double casting is okay) and the story line must involve people of color with 50% of the characters/actors being a person of color. Note that younger actors may be difficult to cast.  The CBTF is a family friendly event.
• Manuscripts will not be returned and playscripts will be deleted from our server after use. Please do not send return envelopes with postage.
• Playwrights retain full rights to all works submitted. However, Mine 4 God Productions shall be named as “first produced” if first production of original works.
• Selected plays will have a production mounted July 10-12, 2020 at The Columbus Performing Arts Center with at least three performances for the One Act plays selected (30 minutes) and two performances for the full-length plays (60 to 90 minutes) selected.
• Playwrights who have plays selected (One-Act 30 minute) to be performed by CBTF actors are encouraged to attend at least one rehearsal and collaborate with the director – the purpose is to both help the playwright to fine tune the script and the director to collaborate on a new script.
• Playwrights are requested to attend and participate in a post-show discussion after each performance if available to attend.

 For direct submissions, please email the MS Word format files to: columbusbtf@aol.com with CBTF 2020 PLAY SUBMISSION in the subject heading.