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Thursday, August 27, 2020

The L.B. Williams Playwriting Contest for BIPOC Writers

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Deadline: November 1, 2020
NYC

In furthering the company’s mission to, in part, “foster diversity and parity,” on August 1, 2020 we announced a new play contest for playwrights of color (including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, etc.) This contest is different from many out there in that we are seeking not so much new plays as potential new members of our company who wish to work with us continuously in the future to develop their new plays.

The contest is named to honor the memory of L.B. Williams, an actor in our company who passed away in 2017. He loved working on new plays, whether as an actor, or in his wise critiques, and regularly attended our Monday night readings to do so.

Our development process includes a reading of new plays at company meetings on Monday nights, followed by a developmental workshop with a director and cast, and finally, an Equity Showcase production of the play in our small theatre space on West 44th St in New York City upon approval of the Leadership team. The goal and focus are to allow the playwright to achieve the best possible version of their script.

For this particular contest, the following rules apply:

1. Plays should be suitable for or even specifically written to be performed over Zoom or equivalent digital technology. (We hope to produce the plays live in our performance space in 2021 should health conditions permit.)

2. Plays should run no longer than 10-minutes.

3. Plays may be on any theme and in any style, but should not rely on complicated production values to make them work.

4. No musicals, children’s shows, or adaptations accepted.

5. New work only that has not been produced (staged-readings okay).

6. Deadline: November 1, 2020. Plays should be sent via email as a PDF only to nctcsubmissions@gmail.com, with the writer’s last name and L.B. Contest in the subject line. (Ex: “Smith L.B. Contest”). Winners will be announced in January.

7. Winning plays selected for production will result in a royalty payment to the writer of $100. Writers maintain full copyright of their work.
8. Winning plays will follow our development process: a Monday night reading, followed by a workshop, followed by production. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that process will be online. By submitting your play, you agree to participate actively in that process.

9. Questions regarding the contest should be sent to the email address in #6 above.

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