Deadline: January 17, 2025 at 11:59pm PST
Or the first 250 plays that meet the guidelines
The New Works Festival is designed to bring living playwrights and their words to the center of conversation. All plays are presented as Staged Readings, as to keep the words first.
The New Works Festival is designed to bring living playwrights and their words to the center of conversation. All plays are presented as Staged Readings, as to keep the words first.
Held in sunny San Diego, our annual New Works Festival solicits global submissions for new works, but uses the talents of local actors and directors, which allows for local and international discourse.
Seeking all lengths - the festival will feature 3 full length and 6-9 one acts OR 10-minute plays over the weekend.
In preparation for the weekend of readings, participating playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, actors, and TTC artistic staff gather remotely to read and discuss the plays, supporting the playwrights development of their work. The New Works Festival culminates in a 3-day event of readings, discussions, and social events.
The Theme -- the theme is intentionally vague, as we really just want to see what's "fun" to each playwright. It's one criteria that we use, out of many. So, please don't feel discouraged if it doesn't feel like an "exact" fit.
Target Audience -- this program is a part of our GUS initiatives, which is adult-based. Historically, the new works festival is most popular for our local theatre scholars and most frequent patrons (usually college aged OR 50s+)
Pay -- we do offer all actors, directors, and playwrights involved a modest honorarium (usually $50-100/performance, depending on length of play). First year, each event was hosted once. The second, we did each selection 3 times (with fewer shows). I believe we are aiming to do the same as year one -- a different set of shows each day.
Location - we make a point of selecting at least a couple San Diego plays, out of the dozen we will select. However, that has been between 33-66% of all selections the past two years. That said, we really do want to see what's out there both in our immediate community, as well as our more national (and international) communities. Last year, one of our selected plays from the Mid-West was not only selected, but also given a full commission to be mounted this season!
In preparation for the weekend of readings, participating playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, actors, and TTC artistic staff gather remotely to read and discuss the plays, supporting the playwrights development of their work. The New Works Festival culminates in a 3-day event of readings, discussions, and social events.
The Theme -- the theme is intentionally vague, as we really just want to see what's "fun" to each playwright. It's one criteria that we use, out of many. So, please don't feel discouraged if it doesn't feel like an "exact" fit.
Target Audience -- this program is a part of our GUS initiatives, which is adult-based. Historically, the new works festival is most popular for our local theatre scholars and most frequent patrons (usually college aged OR 50s+)
Pay -- we do offer all actors, directors, and playwrights involved a modest honorarium (usually $50-100/performance, depending on length of play). First year, each event was hosted once. The second, we did each selection 3 times (with fewer shows). I believe we are aiming to do the same as year one -- a different set of shows each day.
Location - we make a point of selecting at least a couple San Diego plays, out of the dozen we will select. However, that has been between 33-66% of all selections the past two years. That said, we really do want to see what's out there both in our immediate community, as well as our more national (and international) communities. Last year, one of our selected plays from the Mid-West was not only selected, but also given a full commission to be mounted this season!
The 2025 New Works Festival will be presented for a public audience April 25-27, 2024.
TTC’s submission process is open to all playwrights, though priority may be given to those residing in San Diego, CA. Please review carefully:
Each applicant will be notified by the end of January 2025 whether or not their play has been accepted into the evaluation process. By February 15, each playwright whose play has been accepted for consideration will be informed of our final decision.
TTC’s submission process is open to all playwrights, though priority may be given to those residing in San Diego, CA. Please review carefully:
- Plays must not have yet had a full professional production, nor be currently contracted for a full professional production.
- TTC will only accept one play by each playwright for consideration
- TTC will only accept plays submitted directly by playwrights. Agents, theatres, and fellow artists are encouraged to share the word with playwrights, but no third party submissions will be accepted.
- TTC will not accept musicals for the 2025 New Works Festival
- Send your play as an attachment in an email to sean@trinityttc.org with “NWF PLAY SUBMISSION” in the subject line.
- Scripts must be sent as a PDF and named in this manner:
- [YourLastName], [YourFirstName], [TitleofPlay], TTC2025
- (Example: Boyd, Sean, The Play, TTC2025)
- Please include the play's title and your name, email, and phone number on the cover page of the script and in the body of the email. Please also list your city and state of residence.
- If there’s any information you’d like to share with us about your play, please include it in the body of the email.
Each applicant will be notified by the end of January 2025 whether or not their play has been accepted into the evaluation process. By February 15, each playwright whose play has been accepted for consideration will be informed of our final decision.
We very much appreciate your interest. Please address any questions to sean@trinityttc.org and we will get back to you as soon as we’re able.