Deadline: April 20, 2026 11:59 PDT
SUBMISSION FORM
In Samuel Beckett's groundbreaking play, Waiting for Godot (1953), Lucky, enslaved by Pozzo, remains silent throughout. But with one exception: when allowed by his master, Lucky utters a long, incoherent monologue that sheds light on his experience with unfreedom. Lucky is no exception in the history of playwriting and theater: Monologues have been used across history to give voice to the unheard and remain one of the most common genres for expressing challenges to free expression.
In the United States, there has been a long tradition of organizing festivals for ten-minute plays that gather actors, directors, and playwrights from across the country each year. This project, funded by the Valuing Open and Inclusive Conversation and Engagement (or VOICE) Initiative of the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, will organize the first festival of this kind in the University of California system.
Three monologues will be selected for staging at UC Irvine in May 2026. Each author will receive a $500 stipend to participate in the in-person event (date to be determined).
The call is open to all, not only members of the University of California community.
Ten-minute monologues can be submitted by April 20th, 2026 (11:59 PST) using the form above.
Guidelines:
1. Length: Length is flexible, but monologues are expected to be suitable for a ten-minute performance.
2. Theme: Monologues should broadly explore the festival's theme, The Voices of Democracy.
3. Formatting: Please follow these formatting guidelines.
4. File: Please submit a .docx or .pdf version of your monologue.
5. Multiple submissions: Each author may only submit one (1) monologue for the contest.
6. Language: Pieces in both English and Spanish will be accepted.
7. Cap: Submissions are capped at 100 monologues. We advise authors to submit their work earlier rather than later.
For any questions, please contact Eraldo Souza dos Santos (eraldo.souzadossantos@uci.edu)
In Samuel Beckett's groundbreaking play, Waiting for Godot (1953), Lucky, enslaved by Pozzo, remains silent throughout. But with one exception: when allowed by his master, Lucky utters a long, incoherent monologue that sheds light on his experience with unfreedom. Lucky is no exception in the history of playwriting and theater: Monologues have been used across history to give voice to the unheard and remain one of the most common genres for expressing challenges to free expression.
In the United States, there has been a long tradition of organizing festivals for ten-minute plays that gather actors, directors, and playwrights from across the country each year. This project, funded by the Valuing Open and Inclusive Conversation and Engagement (or VOICE) Initiative of the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, will organize the first festival of this kind in the University of California system.
Three monologues will be selected for staging at UC Irvine in May 2026. Each author will receive a $500 stipend to participate in the in-person event (date to be determined).
The call is open to all, not only members of the University of California community.
Ten-minute monologues can be submitted by April 20th, 2026 (11:59 PST) using the form above.
Guidelines:
1. Length: Length is flexible, but monologues are expected to be suitable for a ten-minute performance.
2. Theme: Monologues should broadly explore the festival's theme, The Voices of Democracy.
3. Formatting: Please follow these formatting guidelines.
4. File: Please submit a .docx or .pdf version of your monologue.
5. Multiple submissions: Each author may only submit one (1) monologue for the contest.
6. Language: Pieces in both English and Spanish will be accepted.
7. Cap: Submissions are capped at 100 monologues. We advise authors to submit their work earlier rather than later.
For any questions, please contact Eraldo Souza dos Santos (eraldo.souzadossantos@uci.edu)