Deadline: March 20, 2025 11:59PM EDT
Every other year Clubbed Thumb invites playwrights to propose plays inspired by a particular prompt. The application is open to all, and the anonymous proposals are read by a panel of theater artists. The winning proposal(s) receive (or split) a $15,000 award and development support. We are pleased to announce our next Biennial Commission.
This year we lost one of our great comic dramatists: Christopher Durang. We’ve been reflecting on how powerful and much-needed savage humor like his is in a world like ours today.
So, for the 10th Biennial Commission, please consider his work, especially from the 1980’s. We read Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, and Baby with the Bathwater, but feel free to engage with any of his work. We highly suggest reading out loud.
Your play should include:
- A dysfunctional family or relationship (but this is a Clubbed Thumb show so anything but a biological family or romantic relationship)
- A mangled version of a song in the public domain
- A kilt
- A series of nicknames (which may or may not be explained)
- A spiritual middle manager
You can have three stage directions total for the whole play, with one exception…
“She/he/they/it throws a __________.”
You can include this one as many times as you want.
You can have three props of your choosing, plus any of the following: a Snoopy doll, a snake-in-the-can, a reward cookie, or a dead baby.
Think about the funniest actresses you’ve encountered. Write hysterical, vicious, and virtuosic parts for them.
As always, please consider the Clubbed Thumb parameters and aesthetic.
TO APPLY: SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING THROUGH THE FORM BELOW
(this is a ANONYMOUS submission, see notes below)
1) A one-page letter of intent describing your proposed project;
2) 10 exploratory pages from the proposed project (either contiguous or from different sections of the proposed play);
3) One of your finished plays, for reference;
4) Your resume
IMPORTANT NOTES
No names please — on the letter, the 10 page sample or the finished play for reference, or in any file names. The panel reads all submissions anonymously — the only place your name should appear is on the info form and on your resume.
The letter of intent should briefly map out the proposed piece and, if need be, orient the reader to the excerpt’s relationship to the whole. You needn’t explain or repeat anything that your 10 page sample makes clear. Then give us an idea of where the piece is coming from and where you think you want to go with it.
We ask you to include one of your finished plays for reference. Note (where prompted in the form) any relationship or similarities the complete play has to the proposed project, and recommend 10 pages for us to start with.
One last thing: this is a commission for Clubbed Thumb. So look around our website at our guidelines and production history for reference, if they are not familiar to you. Many of our plays have been published individually or in our anthologies and are widely available to read.
DEADLINE: THURSDAY, MARCH 20th, 2025 11:59PM EDT
The proposals will be read and adjudicated over the course of the spring/summer, and the commission(s) awarded by the fall. The $15,000 commission — which might be split between writers if the panel so elects — will be paid out in installments, with the first installment following the signing of a contract. Send questions to info[at]clubbedthumb[dot]org