Deadline: June 1, 2023
To encourage the development of quality theatrical materials for the educational, community and children’s theatre markets, Pioneer Drama Service is proud to sponsor the annual Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest.
This is an ongoing contest, with a winner selected by June 1 each year from all eligible submissions received the previous year. All eligible plays accepted for publication will be considered contest finalists, from which the winner will be selected. The contest winner will receive a $1,000 royalty advance in addition to publication.
Contest entries must meet all general guidelines and submission requirements.
Individuals currently published by Pioneer Drama Service are not eligible for this contest. Pioneer Drama Service employees and their families are also excluded.
If you are a faculty member at an accredited K-12 public or private school in the US or Canada, you may also qualify for our A+ Playwriting Contest for Teachers.
Check out our list of past contest winners for examples of desirable submissions.
What we most look for...
- We will only consider manuscripts with a running time between 15 minutes and two hours.
- Submissions must be family-friendly in both subject and language. Cursing and explicitly adult content should be kept to a minimum. Playwrights should also be open to editorial expertise and oversight on these points.
- We seek casts that are either balanced or favoring females. The more gender-neutral roles, the better.
- We favor plays and musicals with large casts, where more than just a few have a chance to shine. Flexible cast sizes are also highly desirable.
- Plays with elaborate set, costume, or technical requirements are not appealing because of the limited resources of many of our customers. Pictures, sketches, or descriptions of your vision are always helpful, as is a video of a past performance.
- Though not required, we strongly prefer plays that have had at least one production or table reading. We feel this fundamental field test is highly beneficial before a play is considered for publication since plays are created for the purpose of performance.
Preparing your manuscript...
- Manuscripts accepted for publication must be made available digitally and are also strongly preferred for submission. We accept both Microsoft Word and PDF formats.
- We also accept hardcopy manuscripts. You must include a self-addressed stamped envelope for material you wish returned. Note that all hardcopy submissions will be scanned for purposes of digital review.
- We do not require specific formatting. Your efforts to ensure your script is free of misspellings and typos is greatly appreciated more than any specific format.
Please follow the directions on this page to submit your manuscript.