Jersey City Theater Center seeks plays on the theme of resilience

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Deadline: December 10, 2022

Interested playwrights should submit their play to Dr. Catalina Florina Florescu, curator of the festival (fflorescu@pace.edu) no later than December 10th. 

Jersey City Theater Center is thrilled to invite local and international playwrights to think about writing a new short (one act) or long (full length) play on the theme of resilience. 

Along with your play, your submission must include: 

1.) your name, place of residence, e-mail info; 

2.) a brief synopsis of the play; 

3.) a declaration that the play has never been read/produced before; 

4.) a short statement about how the play fits the theme of resilience and how its values match ours 

(Before you submit, please inform yourselves about JCTC, its mission, and past and current events: https://jctcenter.org/)

• The piece has to be new. 
• It has to speak beyond any borders, whether they are real or imaginary or (self-)imposed. 
• It has to have the audience in mind and connect with people’s needs first and foremost. 
• It has to be witty and make us laugh and cry and be together – all at the same time. 
• We are not looking for a play that is perfect, that has had substantial revisions, that had staged readings, but an honest, heartfelt play on the theme of resilience. 
• We are also not interested in plays with a big cast (no more than 6-7 characters, please). 

Plays that do not adhere to the above guidelines will not be considered. 

Also, as a firm reminder, please keep in mind that we can only accept one play per playwright. Submit the play that truly speaks on the theme of resilience. 

All submissions will be read carefully, and the best 3-4 will be staged read next spring. 

More, JCTC will request that all selected playwrights make the commitment to attend the festival during its entire duration (over a weekend in May, date TBD). In return, JCTC will host the staged readings in a professional setting, provide a small stipend to playwrights, and open their new play not only to the public but also to industry people (Broadway producers and directors, and possibly a guest speaker). 

Selected playwrights will be notified by February 10th. For additional questions, please contact the curator of the festival and Olga Levina, the co-founder of JCTC (olga@jctcenter.org). 

The world at the end of 2022 is still not fully recovered from the pandemic and its long-term consequences, from millions of families being displaced because of war and violence, or naturally caused disasters, and the examples could continue. 

At JCTC, we believe in strengthening our communities and we do that through the help of the arts. We have proved on more than one occasion that we are here to listen to your stories, experiences, hopes and aspirations – and we are here to offer you our stage to make these narratives visible to others. Each year, the festival, like our theater, grows stronger and stronger, and we thank past, present, and future collaborators for doing that. All stories matter and we are particularly interested in those underrepresented voices.

Before you submit, please familiarize yourselves with our guidelines. Whether you decide to submit a short or a long play, that is up to you. Think about your best work on the theme of resilience and submit that. We know you are very gifted, but please submit only one play. More, the piece has to be new. It has to speak beyond any borders, whether they are real or imaginary or (self-)imposed. It has to have the audience in mind and connect with people’s needs first and foremost. It has to be witty and make us laugh and cry and be together – all at the same time. We are not looking for a play that is perfect, that has had substantial revisions, that had staged readings, but an honest, heartfelt play on the theme of resilience. We are also not interested in plays with a big cast (no more than 6-7 characters, please).