Deadline: June 10, 2024
May close the window for submissions once 500 ten-minute plays have been received.
The “OOF! On One Foot Contest” is part of the Jewish Plays Project and the Berkshire Theater Group’s first ever Festival of New Jewish Theater, to be held August 15-17, 2024 at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, MA.
Four selected 10-minute plays will receive cash prizes, and their plays will be produced by the JPP in the Festival alongside 2 established JPP writers.
The Contest is inspired by Hillel the Sage’s teaching, given when he was asked if he could summarize the whole of the Torah while standing on one foot: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Now, go and learn.”
Eligible plays: must contain significant Jewish themes, characters, content, or points of view.
must contain a moment of healing between characters of different backgrounds.
will have 6 or fewer actors
Plays submitted can be on any topic, with any characters, but readers will be evaluating the ten minute plays in relation to these teachings, and the ways they inspire healing in the world.
JPP Contest Dramaturg Heather Helinsky will be accepting submissions of ten minute plays that qualify with the prompt, and will lead a Selection Committee of plays2gather community members and JPP professional readers. Please note that while we accept plays in many formats, we prefer the Dramatists Guild Standard Format. Please direct all questions for contest to literary@jewishplaysproject.org
We reserve the right to extend or shorten the deadline or revise the number of plays accepted and will communicate this prior to the deadline for submissions.
Four selected 10-minute plays will receive cash prizes, and their plays will be produced by the JPP in the Festival alongside 2 established JPP writers.
The Contest is inspired by Hillel the Sage’s teaching, given when he was asked if he could summarize the whole of the Torah while standing on one foot: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Now, go and learn.”
Eligible plays: must contain significant Jewish themes, characters, content, or points of view.
must contain a moment of healing between characters of different backgrounds.
will have 6 or fewer actors
Plays submitted can be on any topic, with any characters, but readers will be evaluating the ten minute plays in relation to these teachings, and the ways they inspire healing in the world.
JPP Contest Dramaturg Heather Helinsky will be accepting submissions of ten minute plays that qualify with the prompt, and will lead a Selection Committee of plays2gather community members and JPP professional readers. Please note that while we accept plays in many formats, we prefer the Dramatists Guild Standard Format. Please direct all questions for contest to literary@jewishplaysproject.org
We reserve the right to extend or shorten the deadline or revise the number of plays accepted and will communicate this prior to the deadline for submissions.
The JPP strives to be a joyous, creative, collaborative, democratic, and safe organization. See this link for some of the ways that we are working to make the theater – and by extension the world – a graceful place to live.
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN TO ARTISTS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS, DENOMINATIONS, FAITHS, CREEDS, RELIGIONS, and other IDEALS. We believe that Jewish identity and culture are specific manifestations of universal human cravings for spiritual, ethical, moral and worldly joy. “Matrilineal descent” is neither important nor necessary.
The key question that every JPP selection process centers around is “Is a Jewish question at the heart of this play”? By this, we mean we are seeking a narrative that engages deeply with Jewish ideas and meaning in a contemporary, 21st-Century way. We are seeking the places where strengthening the Jewish content of the play makes the story stronger.
The OOF Contest is a new endeavor for the JPP and plays2gather, but you may learn more about our values and preferences here:
https://jewishplaysproject.org/guide