Fall Writing Classes Online at Primary Stages ESPA!

Fall 2021 online classes at Primary Stages ESPA are now open for enrollment! Here are just some of the classes in our lineup of opportunities in the writing department:

The First Draft

This class will guide you through the development of your first draft, providing concrete deadlines, constructive feedback, and a collaborative environment to get your ideas on the page.

Instructors:

Tasha Gordon-Solmon (Writer and Director; Faculty, NYU Graduate Playwriting Program)

Caridad Svich (Writer, OBIE Winner for Lifetime Achievement)

Crystal Skillman (Writer, King Kirby, Open, Rain and Zoe Save the World)

Michael Walkup (Artistic Director, Page 73) 

Fast First Draft

Instructor: Lia Romeo (4-time Kilroy's List Writer)

Work on generative writing exercises designed to kickstart your creativity to swiftly and decisively embark on a first draft of a new play.

Fundamentals of Playwriting 

Instructor: Dennis A. Allen II (Writer and Director, Atlantic Theater Co, National Black Theatre)

Build a toolbox of the fundamentals, so your first play can be built on a strong foundation.

Rewriting Your Draft: Writer’s Room

Instructors: Stefanie Zadravec (Writer, The Electric Baby at Two River) and Suzanne Bradbeer (Writer, Pulitzer-nominated The God Game)

As soon as you finish your last line of dialogue, the need for rewrites begins. This class will help you tackle the revision process and develop a stronger version of your play.

Comedy Writing for the Stage

Instructor: Kate Moira Ryan (Writer (with Judy Gold), 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother)

Study the specialized set of rules for comedy, which are vastly different from the dramatic form.

Short Form Screenwriting

Instructor: Mêlisa Annis (Faculty, NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Program) 

Apply the concepts of character development, visual storytelling, theme, plot, and dialogue to your own original short film script.

Dramatic Structure

Instructor: Mêlisa Annis (Faculty, NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Program) 

Find the confidence to give voice to character, a foundation for world building, and develop your voice as a writer.

Big D Energy: The Dramaturgy of Playwriting

Instructor: Winter Miller (Writer, In Darfur at The Public Theater)

Through play analyses and writing exercises, look at great works from the outside in to strengthen your own writing.

Tools of Dialogue

Instructor: Matthew Paul Olmos (Writer, so go the ghost of mexico, part one at La Mama)

Hone your skills of dialogue writing in order to engage your audiences in a more meaningful way.

The Artistic Statement

Instructor: Stefanie Zadravec (Writer, The Electric Baby at Two River)

Conquer the overwhelming task of writing about yourself and your work.

Classes begin in September. Start and end dates vary. Click here for the full list of writing classes.

Our award-winning faculty, comprised of working professionals in the field, provides practical skills and expert guidance in a collaborative community atmosphere. 

Primary Stages ESPA provides students easy and convenient payment plans to break up tuition. For more information, call 212.840.9705 x215 or email espa@primarystages.org.

Monthly playwriting contest in collaboration with Bamboo Ridge Press

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Deadline: none provided

SUBMISSION FORM

We’re proud to announce a new monthly playwriting contest in collaboration with Bamboo Ridge Press!

Every month, Kumu Kahua’s artistic director Harry Wong III will select a writing prompt on or by the first day of that month. We’re looking for 5-page monologues or 10-page scenes based on that prompt; the due date for submissions will always be the last day of the month. All entries must be written in traditional play format; instructions on this format can be found here (https://www.dramatistsguild.com/script-formats), courtesy of the Dramatists Guild.

There will be one winner each month. Scripts will be submitted to the judges anonymously. Winners will receive $20.00 and a subscription to Bamboo Ridge Press. Woo!

The prompt for the month of August 2021 is: a confrontation between a person and a cockroach.

Best of luck!

Seeking plays inspired by Edward Hopper

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Deadline: August 31, 2021 11:59 PM

Please note, their submissions were closed but are now open again. 

However, although August 31 is given as the deadline, be advised their web site says: We reserve the right to close submissions at any time.

The details:
Edward Hopper created brilliant works of art that are full of intrigue and possibility.
We are looking for 3-5 original short plays inspired by Hopper paintings for a production in early 2022.

Submission Requirements:
There is no financial compensation if your play is selected.
Plays must be original works.
The Hopper painting must work into the play in some way.

You may select any Hopper work of your choice, but you have greater odds of being selected with one other than Nighthawks.

Your play's content can cover any genre, but should be appropriate for the virtual theatre medium and time period of the artwork.

While many of Hopper's paintings include nudity, it is preferred that is not a part of the play (but may be implied/happen off-stage).

Running time can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 30 minutes.

Only one play per playwright will be accepted.

Submissions must be made by 11:59PM on August 31st, 2021.

Click here to view all 182 Hopper paintings.

To submit your work, click here.

BBC Children’s Animation is looking for fresh, bold, innovative new animation ideas

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Deadline: September 1, 2021 11:59 PM

BBC Children’s Animation is looking for fresh, bold, innovative new animation ideas for a fully funded development opportunity.

You may be taking your first steps into animation, be a long-standing industry professional with something you’ve always wanted to explore or a production company or animation studio with an exciting new idea. Whatever your level of experience, They want to see your proposal with a view to developing it into an Industry Standard proof of concept with living breathing characters in a world that children will love.

Up to three ideas will receive full development funding to create two minute animated pilots which will be considered for a commission by BBC Children’s.

They’re looking for submissions from sole creators over the age of 18, collectives, animation studios, production companies, or anything in-between, where creatives would like to co-develop with the BBC rather than engage with the BBC via the usual commissioning process (where applicable).

If you’re a sole creator they can help you find a creative team to help build authentic and engaging characters and stories for Children in the UK and around the world.

The criteria for selection are wide and could include any of the following: originality, engagement for children, innovation, potential to run to multiple series, reaching an underserved section of our audience, international appeal, relatable storytelling and recognisable characters. But central to any idea must be that the stories, settings and characters represent the British culture and values.

How to submit your idea

Initial ideas must be submitted as a pdf document via the BBC Uploader on a single side of A4. Please note, they will not accept ideas via email or BBC Pitch. Read the BBC Uploader privacy notice (pdf).

In the first instance they would like to see a one-sheet for an animated series, targeting young audiences between 0-12 (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 or any combination of these targets). This should give them a sense of the premise, tone and world you’d like to develop. It can include both illustration and narrative but should be no longer than one side of A4.

Process and key dates

The deadline for submitting initial ideas is 11.59pm on Wednesday 1 September 2021.

All ideas will then be reviewed and shortlisted by the BBC Children’s Animation team and a panel comprising of the Director of Children’s and Education, Heads of Commissioning and Acquisitions for 0-6’s and 7-12’s and the Animation Development Executive will choose up to 20 ideas to receive funding for first stage development. .

This first stage development will comprise of creating a short series bible, a two-minute script, character designs and key background design.

They will then select up to six projects for second stage development.

The second stage will comprise creating a second two minute script, full pitch bible, character and background designs, a two minute animatic and animated test.

Up to three development projects will then be selected to go on to third stage development. This will consist of producing a two-minute broadcast quality animation pilot.

Projects will then be considered for commission by the relevant BBC Children’s Head of Commissioning and Acquisitions.

For more detailed information on how the scheme will work and your eligibility to participate please go to their website and read the Terms of Use (pdf).

Download the BBC Uploader privacy notice (pdf)

SUBMIT HERE

2022 Ecodrama Playwrights' Festival

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Deadline: August 31, 2021

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, EMOS has been postponed until 2022, and the deadline for submissions has been extended.

• Submissions are online. Go to https://www.judgify.me/emosplays
• If you are a first-time user of Judgify, create a profile by clicking the link underneath the “submit an entry” button.
• Upload a PDF copy of your script with NO IDENTIFYING MARKS (beyond the play’s title)
• First Place Award: Cash prize and professional production
• Second Place Award: Cash prize and possible workshop production or concert reading
• Honorable Mentions: Public reading

Guidelines for Playwrights

Scripts must be original works which have not been published and have not had an Equity or full professional premiere production. (Readings or informal workshop productions are okay.)

In general, we are looking for plays that do one or more of the following:

• Engage the personal, local, regional and/or global implications of man-made climate change.
• Put an ecological issue or environmental event/crisis at the center of the dramatic action or theme of the play.
• Critique or satirize patterns of exploitation, consumption, or other ingrained values that are ecologically unsustainable.
• Expose and illuminate issues of environmental justice.
• Explore the relationship between sustainability, community, and cultural diversity.
• Interpret community to include our ecological community; give voice or character to the land, or elements of the land; theatrically examine the reciprocal relationship between human, animal and plant communities; and/or the connection between people and place, human and non-human, culture and nature.
• Grow out of the playwright’s personal relationship to the land and the ecology of a specific place.
• Celebrate the joy of the ecological world in which humans participate.
• Offer an imagined world view that illuminates our ecological condition or reflects on the ecological crisis from a unique cultural or philosophical perspective.
• Are written specifically to be performed in an unorthodox venue such as a natural or environmental setting, and for which that setting is a not merely a backdrop, but an integral part of the intention of the play.

We are looking for full-length plays that are written primarily (though not necessarily exclusively) in English. Submitted plays should address the thematic guidelines as listed above. Deadline: August 31st, 2021.

Please note: we will NOT consider:

• ten-minute plays
• one-act plays (unless they are longer than 30 minutes in length)
• musicals (though we love them, we cannot financially accommodate their production for this festival!)
• We are only accepting electronic submissions in PDF format. Please do not submit paper manuscripts, as they will not be considered.

Evaluation Process

A Reading Committee composed of theatre professionals and Emory University students will read and evaluate each script in relation to the guidelines above, as well as theatricality, and overall quality. Each play will receive evaluation from a minimum of 2 readers. Highly-scored plays from the first round will be read again by the Reading Committee until a short list of 5 finalists are determined.

Those five plays will be read in a blind process by a panel of distinguished theatre artists from the USA and Canada and the artistic director of Theatre Emory, who will choose the winning plays from five final scripts. Our 2022 judges will be announced soon.
​
Questions?

For inquiries about script submissions contact Chantal Bilodeau at chantal1402@me.com

For inquiries about EMOS 2022 contact Lydia Fort, EMOS 2021 Chair, at lydia.fort@emory.edu

General questions, or interested in future hosting, contact EMOS Artistic Director, Theresa May tmay33@uoregon.edu, and/or EMOS Managing Director, Brian Cook brianecook@gmail.com

The Frank Moffett Mosier Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language

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Deadline: August 31, 2021

Monetary award to playwright: $3000 for full-length works, $1500 for one-acts.

Synecdoche Works may support further development of a submitted work at its discretion.

Conditions for Consideration

Submissions must be in a heightened version of the English language in order to provide a meaningful challenge to the actors. This includes, but is not limited to, works using metre, verse, rhyming schemes, pidgins, creoles, and code-switching.

Plays must contain at least 60% heightened language.

Submissions may be translations or adaptations of works in the public domain.

One-act submissions should target a minimum 40-minute final running time. Full-length submissions should target a minimum running time of 90 minutes.

Authors awarded a grant must be willing to participate in a brief rehearsal process culminating in a Zoom reading of their submitted work.

Submitted works cannot be currently attached to a theater or production company.

Submitted works cannot have had a prior development cycle outside of an educational program.

Submission deadline: August 31, 2021

Submission portfolio must include:
The play in standard script format, emailed as an attachment to Synecdoche Works.
A brief author biography, maximum of 200 words.

Please visit synecdocheworks.org for more information.

A is for Playwriting Contest 2021

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Deadline:  August 31, 2021 Midnight EST

Why a playwriting contest?

It’s not just abortion that is stigmatized in our culture, but the entire lived experiences of people who seek to fulfill their promise as autonomous human beings, realize their own dreams, raise their families in safety and peace, pursue their ambitions, and maintain control over their physical and reproductive lives.

The subject of reproductive justice is one too often simplified by our current dialogues, and too often the voices and perspectives of the people most affected by restrictions, legislative prohibitions, and cultural prejudices are excluded from our artistic institutions.

A is For seeks to change that. We believe the theatre is an especially powerful platform with which to share stories, debunk myths, and disempower fears. We believe the theatre can transform. We want to amplify voices which can reframe the conversation, to support and promote artists who can dispel myths and misconceptions. We want to change the way people think about abortion and reproductive justice. We want to hear the stories you want to tell.

In that spirit, the stories we hope to bring to the fore will be diverse in perspective as well as imagination. These plays may be personal and realistic, or they may be allegorical. They may be fantastic, sprung from dreams, or they may be grounded in naturalism. From the surrealist, to the literal. From magical realism, to documentarian. Whatever form or shape they may take, we hope to receive a wide range of works from all over the country, reflecting the great variety of experiences that reproductive justice demands we all recognize.

In highlighting these stories, we’re broadening the emotional vocabulary of the American audience, and opening up our theaters to a fuller and more honest exploration of the human experience.
Dates

Submissions will be accepted through August 31, 2021 Midnight EST.

Winners will be announced at the beginning of November.
Winning plays presented virtually in December


Criteria

Submit one-act plays about reproductive justice, including (but not limited to) the topic of abortion.

• You may not edit your entry after submitting.
• You may submit as many plays as you wish.
• Plays must be no longer than 60 minutes (typically about 60 pages, double-spaced.) Plays longer than 60 minutes will automatically be disqualified.
• Plays do not have to be as long as 60 minutes. They can be shorter. They can be as short as a single page if you feel that’s sufficient to tell your story.
• Please submit your files in PDF only.
• Plays in languages other than English will be accepted as long as an accompanying English translation is also provided.
• Plays should include a cover page that includes the name of the playwright, and all relevant contact information, including representation, if applicable.

Winners

A qualified Jury of accomplished theatre professionals and experts in reproductive justice will read and assess all entries.

Only the winner and runners up will be contacted directly by AisFor once the jury has made its decisions.


Grand Prize will be awarded to one play which will receive $5,000
The Second Place winner will be awarded $3,000, and the Third Place winner will be awarded $1,500.

All three plays will be presented as rehearsed readings during our virtual festival in December 2021.


Support

If you have any questions about the contest or the entry process, please email: contest@aisfor.org

SUBMIT TO CONTEST

23 Miles South submission guidelines

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23 Miles South accepts submissions of full length and one act plays with a focus on female or other marginalized people as main characters and a primarily female cast. We especially need plays for young actors. Send your play, synopsis and character descriptions to 23milessouth@gmail.com with "play submission" in the subject line. If selected for production, playwright will receive a royalty payment.

New Visions seeks full-length plays

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Deadline: September 1, 2021

New York Classical Theatre, an AEA, Off-Broadway Theatre, is expanding its repertoire beyond the classics and launching its first-ever new play competition: New Visions.

The vision statement of NY Classical affirms that we “believe that everyone—regardless of social, economic, or educational background—should have the opportunity to enjoy live professional theatre together as a community.”

We recognize that the historic theatrical canon from which American theatre derives its “classics” has a long history of violence, oppression, and erasure of bodies, identities, and voices that are not white, not male, not cis-gendered, not heteronormative, and/or are not able-bodied.

In an effort to expand our mission to address this erasure, NY Classical is embarking on a three-year initiative to develop two new, original plays for production in our 2024 and 2025 seasons. We are seeking plays that explore new ways of viewing the “classics,” expand our ideas of what “classics” can be, and challenge the power structures that undergird the notion of “classics.”
These New Visions can include, but are not limited to…

Adaptation/Translation. Examples include: Cherrie Moraga’s The Hungry Woman and Herbert Siguenza’s El Henry.

Response/Subversion. Examples include: Branden Jacobs Jenkins’s An Octoroon and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Prequel/Sequel. Examples include: Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2

Plays that engage with history and bring forgotten events to life. Examples include: John Guare’s A Free Man of Color and August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean

Plays that engage with written stories beyond the stage, including novels, poems and poetry collections, and journals that exists in the public domain. Examples include: Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice and Kristin Laurence’s Little Women

Plays that derive from oral histories, rituals, and other forms of creating, knowing, remembering, and documenting the world beyond the written word. Examples include: Ondinnok’s Rabinal Achi and SPAC’s Tenshu Monogatari.
For Phase One of New Visions, we will select 8 quarter-finalist plays.

During 2022, each selected playwright will receive:

An invitation-only studio reading by a professional director and professional actors

A conversation with our Literary Director to discuss the play and determine how to structure feedback to best serve the playwright’s goals

Targeted feedback from our invited audience of the theatre’s board, staff, and community members.

A $200 stipend

A script review by our Literary Director following the reading and revisions by the playwright.

For Phase Two, based on feedback from the invited audience, the development of the work, and the opinions of our Literary and Artistic Directors, at least four of the eight plays from Phase One will be invited to continue developing their work with NY Classical. 

During 2023, each continuing playwright will receive:

A full, public staged reading under Equity’s 29 hour reading guidelines.

Continuing conversations with our Literary Director to further develop the play.

A $300 stipend

For Phase Three, 2 of the plays from Phase Two will be selected to receive in 2024:

A one-week development workshop of their play with plans for a full production in our 2024 and/or 2025 seasons. This workshop will include a professional director and dramaturg chosen in conversation with the playwright.

Round-trip airfare and housing for the workshop.

A $70 per diem.

A $500 stipend.

We invite and encourage playwrights of all backgrounds, experience, and training to apply.

***We are especially interested in plays that engage histories and traditions from outside the European canon.*** 

***We are especially interested in works that challenge and contest the classical canon.*** 

Eligibility Requirements:

USA Based Playwrights Only.

Play must be primarily in English. Bilingual plays, including ASL, are encouraged.

Only plays that have not had a professional production are eligible. Scripts that have had readings, workshops, and university productions are welcome.

Plays must have an estimated run time between 70 and 150 minutes.

Plays must include a minimum of 50% characters from historically excluded groups.

We are not looking to commission a new play. We are looking to develop existing original works.

We are not accepting musicals at this time. However, plays with music are okay.

Please submit the following as one .pdf titled “LAST NAME – TITLE OF PLAY” to literary@nyclassical.org:


Your name

A 100-200 word synopsis of the play

A character breakdown that describes the minimum 50% characters that are from historically excluded groups as defined in the opening paragraphs of this call.

A brief statement (as short as one sentence) of how this play is in conversation with an idea of “classics”

The first ten pages of dialogue from the play you would like considered.

Please put “New Visions - Submissions - (your last name)” in the subject line

Please do not send complete scripts unless requested.

Submissions close September 1, 2021.

We contact shortlisted playwrights for complete scripts by November 8, 2021.

The eight Quarter-Finalists will be notified by January 15, 2022.

We look forward to reading your work.

Ensemble Playwright Lab (EPL) is a residency program for NYC-based playwrights

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Deadline: August 23rd, 2021

The Ensemble Playwright Lab (EPL) is a residency program for NYC-based playwrights to engage with Letter of Marque's (LOM) ensemble of actors, musicians, dancers, designers, and dramaturgs to create, develop, or reimagine a piece of work. This experimental process of creation and development is designed to welcome the playwright into the rehearsal room through active participation in devised and improvisational explorations. The goals and outcomes of each residency are mutually determined by both LOM and the playwright.

Playwrights are chosen using an anonymous submission process. Each entrant is asked to create an alias so as to mask their identity. Entrants are also required to omit all mentions of names of previous collaborators and the titles of their previous work. The anonymized submissions are then read by a panel consisting of Lynde Rosario (Literary Manager of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Lea Marie Heller (Resident LOM Dramaturg), LOM Co-Artistic Directors Nolan Kennedy and Scarlet Maressa Rivera, and Guest Dramaturg, Myjoycia Cezar. Finalists are scheduled for interviews to determine the participants in this year’s Ensemble Playwright Lab.
This season, LOM will be exploring the theme of ADAPTING.

For the second season, LOM will proudly offer a $500 honorarium to each playwright chosen for a residency.

There will be two residencies: Fall (Oct.-Nov.) and Winter (Feb-March). Each residency will consist of 7 consecutive sessions to develop a work with the LOM ensemble. At the end of each residency, there will be a public showing and a facilitated post-showing talkback with the audience, playwright, and cast.

All meetings, rehearsals, and showings will take place in person in Brooklyn, NYC unless otherwise arranged.

LOM is striving to amplify more BIPoC and LGBTQA+ voices. Playwrights from these communities are encouraged to apply.

NOTE: This is an annonymous submission process.
Do not mention your real name, the names of companies or artists you've worked with, or titles of plays you've written in your submission. Doing so will get you disqualified!

If you have any questions, please email: lomsubmissions@gmail.com to contact a non-adjudicating member of the team.

Eligibilty

The EPL is open to playwrights...

-who currently live in NYC
who are able to attend all required sessions
-at any stage of their career
-wishing to work on a previously written piece OR wanting to create something new with the LOM ensemble
-age 21 or older

If you have submitted to the EPL in the past, please feel free to submit again!


What we are looking for:
The purpose of the Ensemble Playwright Lab is to build a relationship between a playwright and the LOM ensemble, and to explore/allow for/create new ways of collaboration. This program is intended for artists who identify as playwrights and want to improve their craft as well as their work. Yes, there will be public presentations at the end of the residency. However, what gets presented will be based on the interest and goals of the playwright. Letter of Marque’s mission is to spread ensemble culture, through responsive, inclusive, and accessible theater, and to engage individuals in collective success and meaningful dialogue.

What Does It Cost the Playwright:
There is no monetary charge or fee to participate in the Ensemble Playwrights Lab. We ask for their time, dedication, talent, and energy!

Important Dates
Due to the intensive nature of this program, only applicants who are able to attend all required dates will be considered. 

SPIDER® magazine for ages 6–9 seeks plays for Outside of the Box

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Deadline: August 15, 2021

SPIDER®, a literary magazine for children, features fresh and engaging literature, poems, articles, and activities for newly independent readers. Editors seek energetic, beautifully crafted submissions with strong “kid appeal” (an elusive yet recognizable quality, often tied to high-interest elements such as humor, adventure, and suspense). 

We have particular interests in stories that explore themes of identity (gender expression, ability, race and ethnicity, family structure including LGBTQAI+ and single parent homes, neighborhoods, beliefs, and traditions); global cultures and languages (current needs include South American, African, and Middle Eastern countries, island nations, and Native American nations); scientific and technological exploration and innovation; magical or interplanetary landscapes; cities and metropolitan areas; real kids doing real things; weird and sometimes gross stuff; and the creative spirit.


Outside of the Box

Deadline: August 15, 2021

At Spider (for ages 6-9), we love contemporary stories and poems, but we are excited to read more material that falls outside these popular categories. This might be plays, science fiction, or historical fiction and nonfiction. It might be simple, but inventive, activities like recipes, games, crafts, magic tricks, science experiments, or silly quizzes. It can be anything that defies categorization. We also enjoy stories or poems with accompanying hands-on activities or nonfiction components. Manuscripts must be 1000 words or fewer. Activities should be one to two pages and include reference photos.

Guidelines

Before submitting, be sure to familiarize yourself with our magazines. (Sample copies are available for viewing at the Cricket Media Store, or you can order a current issue by calling 800-821-0115.) Issues are also available at many local libraries.

Fiction Stories and Plays

We seek fiction of all kinds: fantasy, folk or fairytale, sci-fi, historical, humorous, or realistic. Whether the setting is long-ago or contemporary, or the protagonist is a shy newcomer, clever trickster, class clown, fantasy creature, or superhero, characters and the worlds they inhabit should be complex and believable. Plays should have 2–6 characters so that a child could feasibly perform the play at home with family or friends.

Length: 300–1000 words

The Strides Collective Emerging Playwrights Workshops

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Deadline: September 1, 2021 11:59 PM EDT

The Strides Collective, a new Philadelphia-area queer theatre company, is seeking TWO (2) PLAYWRIGHTS a to participate in separate one-month-long Emerging Playwrights Workshops over the course of November or December 2021. 

This is a REMOTE play development opportunity, conducted entirely over Zoom. The deadline for submissions is September 1st, 2021. Interviews for applicants in consideration will occur in mid-September, with final selections made before September 30th.

The Strides Collective Emerging Playwrights Initiative is a new play development program designed to give a safe and productive environment to “emerging playwrights,” those who have not had their work fully produced before or may not have the resources or means to have their work developed otherwise.

There is an available stipend of $500 for each workshop to be split amongst the creative teams (directors, playwrights, actors, dramaturg, etc.). Selected playwrights will receive personalized dramaturgical feedback on drafts, the opportunity to hear their work read aloud by actors, collaborate with a like-minded director, and be granted the possibility of further development beyond the workshop timeline with The Strides Collective. There will be no culminating, public-facing component of these workshops; they are strictly for developmental purposes.

Additional General Information:

• We will be conducting three (3) one-month-long virtual development workshops with emerging queer playwrights. These workshops will involve an opportunity for playwrights to have their developing works directed, acted aloud, and revised in collaboration with those in the room.

• This workshop will have a maximum of 25 hours allotted for rehearsal time for the month. Rehearsals are not to exceed that allotment in the interest of artists’ time and compensation.

• We will be placing directors with playwrights. Placements will be made as seen fit depending on the director’s comforts and experiences with themes in the plays selected as well as how we believe they will successfully mesh and work with the playwright.

• When selecting additional personnel (actors, stage manager, etc.) to assist in the process, please remember that this is a non-union opportunity.

For PLAYWRIGHTS, we are seeking individuals who:

• Are emerging, queer-identifying writers, age 18+, residing in the Mid-Atlantic Region (PA, NJ, DE, and NY). 

• Have not had their work professionally produced in full and/or published. The Strides Collective believes in creating opportunities for folks who otherwise do not have access to the resources they need to fully develop their work.

• Currently have written a finished, but not final, draft of a full-length work of theatre. (Plays, ideally, not musicals). Plays should call for no more than 5 actors (doubling of roles is fine). Plays should be modern and original in content; no period pieces or adaptations, please. Plays must also be aligned with The Strides Collective mission.

• Are either not involved in other development workshops, or confidently can say they have the availability to commit to this one as well.

• Need a space to do heavy development work on their scripts, not finishing touches or small edits. 

How to apply:

Playwrights are to fill out the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/TkuGmHMsBJAQ6Y7y7

Playwrights are required to provide:

Separate PDFs of a 20 page selection of your full script, the full draft of the same script, your general availability for November/December, and a resume.

Deadline for submissions is 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, September 1st, 2021.

Questions? Visit StridesCollective.com or email us at TheStridesCollective@gmail.com

American Stage’s 21st Century Voices: Emerging Plays

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Deadline: August 19, 2021

We will be accepting submissions for the American Stage’s 21st Century Voices: 2022 New Play Festival July 12 through August 19, 2021.

American Stage is committed to producing powerful and relevant professional live theatre. Our 21st Century Voices is an initiative dedicated to developing and presenting new works for the stage that speak to a contemporary audience in fresh and compelling ways. 21st Century Voices programming includes an annual staged reading festival, workshopping of new scripts, playwriting residencies and fully produced new plays receiving one of their first three professional productions at American Stage.

This year we are seeking submissions of new plays that focus on multicultural storytelling. We are interested in plays which explore a vast landscape of characters, experiences and viewpoints.

Play submissions should align with our 44 year history of productions that celebrate the most powerful stories of the moment, the most defining stories from our past and our mission to reinforce the power of live theatre with high quality productions of compelling, multicultural plays that excite and challenge a diverse audience.

Submission guidelines for the American Stage’s 21st Century Voices: 2022 New Play Festival are as follows:

• Plays must be full-length in any genre: comedy, drama, etc.
• Translations, collections of one-acts, children’s plays, or any play that has received more than two full-scale, professional productions prior to submission are not eligible.
• Plays that have had a full production in the state of Florida are not eligible.
• In order to be eligible as a finalist for our 2022 New Play Festival – you must grant American Stage the right to produce the Florida premiere and one of the first three full productions world-wide if it is selected for production in our 2022-23 Season.
• Plays that have had workshops or readings in the state of Florida or worldwide are still eligible.
• Only one submission per playwright is allowed each year.
• Plays that have been submitted to 21st Century Voices in the past two years are not eligible.
• Local, national, and international playwrights are encouraged to submit.

The Selection Process

American Stage’s competitive selection process consists of two rounds of selection. All 10-page play excerpts submitted during the first round are reviewed by a committee of theatre artists and arts advocates. In the second round, selected playwrights are asked to provide a full manuscript of their play for consideration by the committee. Selections will be made by November 2021. Finally, American Stage invites four to five playwrights to have their work included in 21st Century Voices: New Play Festival in January 2022.

Playwrights invited to participate in our 21st Century Voices: New Play Festival will receive a $250 fee and will be provided a $200 travel stipend and accommodations during the festival.

How to Apply

Email your complete submission package to 21stCenturyVoices@americanstage.org between July 12 through August 19, 2021.

Important Submission Information: Full manuscripts and incomplete submission packages will not be considered. We cannot accept submissions that do not fulfill the above requirements.

2022 Deadlines

For consideration in our 21st Century Voices: 2022 New Play Festival, American Stage is accepting submissions from July 12– August 19, 2021. Requests for full manuscripts will be made in September-October 2021. Festival selections will be made in November 2022.

Only completed submission packages emailed to 21stCenturyVoices@americanstage.org between July 12 and August 19, 2021 will be considered.

Thank you for your interest!

How to Apply

Step 1. Complete the online submission form to provide American Stage with information about the playwright and the play. Submissions will not be considered unless this form is submitted.

Step 2. Email your submission package to 21stCenturyVoices@americanstage.org. In order to be accepted, your submission package must be submitted as a single PDF file that meets the following requirements.

File name must be “Title of Play_Author Last Name”
The first pages of the file must include:
Title of the play;
Character breakdown and description; please include total number of characters
Time and place of the play;
Synopsis of the play that helps to provide context for the 10 page sample (no longer than 1 page);
A concise paragraph (no longer than 1 page) describing the development history of the play you are submitting;
A statement describing how your play is a good fit for the 2022 American Stage 21st Century Voices’ focus on plays with multicultural storytelling that explore a vast landscape of characters, experiences and viewpoints.
A 10-page sample of the play.


Please only include the last name of the author in the submission. DO NOT include the full name of the author on any of the pages.
Please note: Agents submitting on behalf of a playwright may submit following these same instructions.

leave no trace theatre company outdoor reading series

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Deadline: none specified

The outdoor reading series is intended for new work or adaptation in development, particularly works that are not served best by some traditional theatrical avenue, or by zoom. Immersive work or plays written for non traditional theatre spaces are encouraged. Participants may include playwrights, poets, performers, musicians, directors and a select group of invited responder/participants. Readings will be followed by feedback/Q & A with invited participants.

We are seeking work that is a little "out there." Work that connects to outdoor spaces, urban or natural. Work that challenges our expectations of what a play is. A live poem. A ritual. A participatory experience. A song that can't be recorded. A play in conversation with its setting. Language or content does not have to be experimental in the "experimental theatre" sense.

Work can be early in development, as the fire pit is intended to serve the artist in bringing the art to life, out loud. These are informal readings to serve the development of post-COVID theatre in all its forms. 

The 2021 Fall reading series will be held outdoors in Montclair, NJ.

leave no trace theatre is a brand new adventure theatre company creating outdoor & site specific experiences to challenge, transport, and transform participants in hiking, promenade or immersive styles of live performance.

our work is an experiment in what can be theatrically possible outside of a box and instead in symbiosis & synchronicity with the natural world. our work is “out there.” quite literally.

conceived during “COVID times,” we hope to develop work for this new era of live performance, we are currently based in in the New York area with ties to the Southwest.
How to submit:


Email leavenotracetheatre@gmail.com with a copy of the play, brief synopsis or description, approximate run time, and playwright bio. We are ideally seeking full length plays under 90 mins, but are open to those that run up to 120 mins.

Playwrights may submit more than one play.

Plays must not have been previously produced, and are ideally not entirely “finished.”

Submitters will be notified via email if a play is selected.

Furious Gazelle submission guidelines

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Before you submit to the Furious Gazelle, ask yourself the following about your submission: Does it have a good story? Is it compulsively readable? Are you a living human being who has written some words? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, we encourage you to submit.


We consider short fiction, micro fiction, poetry, short plays, novel excerpts, and creative non-fiction.

LENGTH:

Poetry – please submit no more than 5 pages of poetry at a time.

Prose (fiction and nonfiction) – up to 7,000 words. (If submitting flash, please submit no more than 5 individual pieces at a time.)

Plays – please submit no more than 20 pages at a time.


FORMATTING:

Please submit your work as .doc, .docx or .pdf files. We’re flexible on formatting as long as your formatting is clear and easy to read. Please do not paste your story into the body of an e-mail.

Also, please note if you have special formatting as it sometimes does not display correctly in Word. This way we can check with you if something looks incorrect. I.e. if your poem about whales is in the shape of a whale, tell us.

Plays should be in standard play format.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Send your work to submit@thefuriousgazelle.com following the formatting and length guidelines listed above. If you don’t, we’ll find you. And make you.

Just kidding. But we are angry.

The Fifth Avenue Theater of New York seeks 10-minute plays

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Deadline: Deadline: August 30, 2021

The Fifth Avenue Theater of New York is returning for a live performance in October 2021, in Midtown! 

Seeking short plays (no more than 10 pp/minutes), from playwrights from across the five boroughs and Long Island. Also seeking monologues (no more than 4pp/minutes). Musicals welcome! One submission per playwright. No submission fee. 

Please include name, address, telephone number and email address on your submission. 

We do not produce your work, we provide a venue for you to present actors performing your play. There are no costs involved for anyone. Seeking actors and directors, too! 

Email: fifthavenuetheatre@gmail.com.

Echo Theatre's BIG SHOUT OUT 3 International New Play Contest for Women+ Playwrights

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Deadline: August 15, 2021
Dallas Texas

If you are a playwright and self-identify as woman+, you are invited to enter one play or play-with-music (45-minute one-acts to full-length scripts) to Echo Theatre's 3rd BIG SHOUT OUT International New Play Contest.

The Contest Winner receives a $1000 Royalty and Echo will present the winning play either as a workshop production or a mainstage regional premiere* in Echo Theatre's 24th Season, which runs during the 2022 calendar year.

Finalist Honorees each receive a $150 Royalty from Echo to present the Finalist scripts one to two times in our 2022 Echo Reads Performance Reading Series.

* Depending on our assessment of the script's state of readiness for production.

SUBMISSION FORM

Email this form, your bio, and your script to: ShoutOut@EchoTheatre.org.

BIG SHOUT OUT 3 GUIDELINES

• Please submit your script, our submission form, and your bio via Email.
• We are requesting Digital Submissions Only. No Paper copies accepted.
• This is a Blind Reading Contest; please no docs with your name on them.
• Our Contest Staff will log your entry and reply to you that we received it.
• We ask that you please limit your submission to one play per playwright.
• Scripts should be unpublished and past workshop productions are fine.
• Scripts should be primarily written for English-language audiences. 
•             (Other languages may be in the script, as long as English is the primary language.)
• Every submission will be read and assigned points for story/theme, form, language/dialogue, theatricality and aspects unique to itself.
• Please submit full scripts; no synopses or treatments. Thanks.
• All cast sizes are considered. Past Winners' cast sizes ranged from 2 to 13.

​

A Note to Playwrights...

Echo Theatre enjoys plays that encourage learning, growing, and evolving together as people and as an institution. We look for work that cries out to be performed in a theatrical setting. Whether your script is an experiment in form and language, a comedy, a drama, a work about historical characters, or a new translation, we pledge to produce rich and compelling creative work with high quality artistic effort.

ENSEMBLE PLAYWRIGHT LAB RESIDENCY 2021

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Deadline: August 23, 2021

SUBMIT HERE

The Ensemble Playwright Lab (EPL) is a residency program for NYC-based playwrights to engage with Letter of Marque's (LOM) ensemble of actors, musicians, dancers, designers, and dramaturgs to create, develop, or reimagine a piece of work. This experimental process of creation and development is designed to welcome the playwright into the rehearsal room through active participation in devised and improvisational explorations. The goals and outcomes of each residency are mutually determined by both LOM and the playwright.

Playwrights are chosen using an anonymous submission process. Each entrant is asked to create an alias so as to mask their identity. Entrants are also required to omit all mentions of names of previous collaborators and the titles of their previous work. The anonymized submissions are then read by a panel consisting of Lynde Rosario (Literary Manager of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Lea Marie Heller (Resident LOM Dramaturg), LOM Co-Artistic Directors Nolan Kennedy and Scarlet Maressa Rivera, and Guest Dramaturg, Myjoycia Cezar. Finalists are scheduled for interviews to determine the participants in this year’s Ensemble Playwright Lab.
This season, LOM will be exploring the theme of ADAPTING.

For the second season, LOM will proudly offer a $500 honorarium to each playwright chosen for a residency.

There will be two residencies: Fall (Oct.-Nov.) and Winter (Feb-March). Each residency will consist of 7 consecutive sessions to develop a work with the LOM ensemble. At the end of each residency, there will be a public showing and a facilitated post-showing talkback with the audience, playwright, and cast.

All meetings, rehearsals, and showings will take place in person in Brooklyn, NYC unless otherwise arranged.

LOM is striving to amplify more BIPoC and LGBTQA+ voices. Playwrights from these communities are encouraged to apply.

NOTE: This is an annonymous submission process.
Do not mention your real name, the names of companies or artists you've worked with, or titles of plays you've written in your submission. Doing so will get you disqualified!

If you have any questions, please email: lomsubmissions@gmail.com to contact a non-adjudicating member of the team.

Eligibilty

The EPL is open to playwrights...

-who currently live in NYC
who are able to attend all required sessions
-at any stage of their career
-wishing to work on a previously written piece OR wanting to create something new with the LOM ensemble
-age 21 or older

If you have submitted to the EPL in the past, please feel free to submit again!


What we are looking for:
The purpose of the Ensemble Playwright Lab is to build a relationship between a playwright and the LOM ensemble, and to explore/allow for/create new ways of collaboration. This program is intended for artists who identify as playwrights and want to improve their craft as well as their work. Yes, there will be public presentations at the end of the residency. However, what gets presented will be based on the interest and goals of the playwright. Letter of Marque’s mission is to spread ensemble culture, through responsive, inclusive, and accessible theater, and to engage individuals in collective success and meaningful dialogue.

What Does It Cost the Playwright:
There is no monetary charge or fee to participate in the Ensemble Playwrights Lab. We ask for their time, dedication, talent, and energy!

Important Dates
Due to the intensive nature of this program, only applicants who are able to attend all required dates will be considered. 

PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW THE FOLLOWING REQUIRED DATES:

Fall 2021 Section Dates
***Playwrights must be available for all the dates!***
October 11, 2021, (Indigenous Peoples Day) Mon
October 18, 2021, Mon
October 25, 2021, Mon
November 1, 2021, Mon
November 8, 2021, Mon
November 15, 2021, Mon
November 18, 2021, Thurs (rehearsal & tech)
November 19, 2021, Fri (showing & talkback)
November 22, 2021 Mon (wrap session)

Winter 2022 Section Dates
***Playwrights must be available for all the dates!***
January 31, 2022, Mon
February 7, 2022, Mon
February 14, 2022, Mon
February 21, 2022, (President’s Day) Mon
February 28, 2022, Mon
March 7, 2022, Mon
March 10, 2022, Thurs (rehearsal & tech)
March 11, 2022, Fri (showing & talkback)
March 14, 2022, Mon (wrap session)

Where this all takes place: Space is currently being secured for Brooklyn, NYC. Meeting times will happen sometime between 10am-5pm. In past it has been 1:30-5pm, but we will update as space is locked in.

About the Residency

The Ensemble Playwright Lab (EPL) is a residency program in which the playwright engages with Letter of Marque's (LOM) ensemble to create, develop, or reimagine a piece of work; which will be presented to the public at the end of the residency.

There will be two residencies: Fall & Winter. Two playwrights, one for each residency, will be selected to work with our ensemble once a week, for a total of 21 hours of collaboration and discovery.

And the best part? The EPL is FREE to the playwrights!

Each residency is uniquely tailored to provide playwrights with the opportunity to collaborate closely with LOM’s artistic directors and professional multi-disciplinary ensemble.

This experimental process of creation and development is designed to welcome the playwright into the rehearsal room through active participation in devised and improvisational explorations.
​​
The goals and outcomes of each residency are mutually determined by both LOM and the playwright.

For more information and submission guidelines, scroll to bottom of the page.

2021 Playwrights and Artists Festival

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Deadline: August 15, 2021

It is that time of year again. We have chosen our artwork for the 2021 Playwrights and Artists Festival. 

We understand that times right now are vastly different for theatre productions. As of right now we are going ahead with this November’s festival. We will keep you updated via our website if any changes occur. 

We will also be offering our prizes for these categories.

• $300 for Best of Festival.
• $200 for Artistic Merit.
• $100 for Audience Favorite.

The artwork will follow a refresher on the rules. 

1. The play must be inspired by one of the works of art below.
2. The play must be written between the dates June 10, and August 15, 2021.
3. The play length needs to be between 15 - 20 minutes
4. Cast size maximum, 5 characters. Set should be implied.
5. Plays submitted MUST be a complete play and must include a beginning, middle and an end and contain a conflict. Our judges will be adhering to strict parameters during the adjudication process.
6. Playwrights may only submit one play for the festival.
7. The playwright would need to attend at least one of the two weekend performances (which take place in November). In person is preferred but we have in the past skyped with playwrights. As our festival is starting to reach a greater number of people in wider locations, we feel that we must take this into consideration. We always hope our playwrights can attend in person and feel the energy and excitement of having their work performed onstage for the first time, but we understand that sometimes this is not logistically possible.
8. Plays must be submitted by midnight of August 15, 2021. This submission must include 2 copies of your play in either word or PDF, one “blind” version without name but including which artwork you were inspired by and one with a full title page. They must be submitted to binghamtoncitystage@gmail.com. Please submit a play in a fresh email, do not reply to this email. Please use the title of your work in the file name and whether it is the blind or named copy. This makes it easier on the person coordinating the files and sending them on to the adjudicators. We receive many plays and do not want anything to get lost in the mix. 

There are no exceptions to these rules. We love the idea of fresh work based on the inspiration of our chosen art. We choose our artworks carefully. We love to see where it takes our playwrights. Each piece of art has infinite possibilities of inspiration. We wish all good luck writing and cannot wait to see the results.
And now here are this year’s artworks.

Hannah Goldberg – “Eat More Chikin”

Mary Rose – “Stairway to Heaven”

Judy Irwin-Salton – “Family Picnic”

Short Play & Musical Festival - BOO 2021

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Deadline: August 11, 2021

SUBMIT VIA SUBMITTABLE

DATES & LOCATIONS:

October Oct 7-24, 2021

The Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre at The Players Theatre
115 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012 - 3rd floor

3 weeks, 4 performances weekly (Thursday through Sunday),

5 plays featured each week.

ELIGIBILITY:

Short Plays and Musicals with a performance time of 15 minutes or less, no more than 15 pages in length.

Writers are eligible to submit up to 2 plays.

THEME: “Boo!”

Scare us or force us to laugh till we die – horror plays and musicals including a great spoof

All plays submitted must be centered on and revolve around this theme.

** Note **

1) Playwrights are responsible for producing their own play - Host provides Theatre, technicians, marketing and box office

2) If selected, there is a $50 NON-refundable tech fee required

Plays MUST be NO MORE 15 minutes in length and no more than 15 pages

Submissions open: June 11, 2021

Submissions close: August 11, 2021

Play selection announced soon thereafter.


For more festival information visit: www.shortplaynyc.com

Click Here to download a sample contract for the festival - This is a sample of what you would receive IF your play is accepted - please DO NOT sign & send this sample.

brooklynONE productions is always looking for new, bold, experimental and contemporary works

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brooklynONE productions is always looking for new, bold, experimental and contemporary works for our upcoming season of readings and workshops. brooklynONE is committed to help honing emerging playwrights and supporting new works.

Our seasons feature original ONE/act festivals, monthly reading series, workshops, full productions and table reads. The works are performed in our theatre space, at local pubs or our partner acting studio 

We are looking for one acts, full length plays, short films, feature length films, music, poetry, dance and more.

We ask when submitting your play, you please include the following information:

• Brief synopsis
• Production and development history (if any)
• Character breakdown
• An updated biography with current contact information

Scripts should be sent to submit@brooklynONE.org

Thank you for your interest in brooklynONE productions!

Due to high volume we may not immediately respond directly.

Primary Stages New Writers Group - Applications Now Open!

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Deadline: August 16, 2021

Echoes Writers Group at Primary Stages is a year-long, educational program focused on finding, nurturing, and amplifying the voices of women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming artists.

Echoes will be a place for writers to find, develop, and amplify their voice in a supportive and creative community that grows together. Led by the artistic team at Primary Stages, the group is comprised of writers who are just starting to discover their voice and build their craft, particularly those who are interested in learning about the art of playwriting. Examples of potential members may include a high school graduate just starting to discover the joy of writing, a mother who put her craft on hold to raise children, or a retiree who is just getting back to their art.

The Group participates in twice-weekly Mentorship and Sharing Sessions, where writers have the chance to create and develop their own work with professionals who represent a vast array of fields and writing styles. Mentors include Theresa Rebeck, Chisa Hutchinson, Madhuri Shekar, AriDy Nox, Cusi Cram, Brittany K. Allen, and Nikkole Salter (with more to be announced) and will touch on topics such as Playwriting Fundamentals, Adaptation, Short Form Comedy, Solo Work, TV/Film writing, and more.

Each Group member will receive a $500 honorarium and the year-long program will culminate with a weekend-long intensive for participants as well as a public presentation of the Group members’ works in Spring 2022.

We are looking for people who love to write but have not had the chance to fully explore their passion in a professional or academic setting. Women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming writers have faced many barriers to pursuing and developing their writing, and this is meant to be a safe and inclusive space that will offer mentorship, support, and community to those who are seeking to develop their voice. Whether you've stepped away from your writing and wish to reinvest in your passion, want to expand the scope of your writing, are discovering a new creative interest, or anything in between, we’re looking for undeveloped and undiscovered voices who need room to grow.

We are looking at a hybrid model for group meetings, with both virtual and in-person sessions. In order to foster a full and robust group, we are asking members to commit to attending meetings twice a week on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons from October-December, 2021 and February-April, 2022. In-person meetings will be held at a rehearsal space in midtown Manhattan.

Primary Stages strives to reflect the story of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, classes, ages, and abilities, and hopes for this group to reflect the America around us as opposed to what has historically been taught and represented.

All applications are due August 16. All applicants will be contacted by the end of August regarding their selection status, and finalists will be asked for a virtual interview.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY: https://forms.gle/th87JpcYEfdC6N8A8

For additional information, visit: https://primarystages.org/explore/echoes-writers-group

Please direct any questions to echoes@primarystages.org.

This program is made possible by a generous grant from The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation New ERA Women Writers Program.

Free event: RANDY'S DANDY COASTER CASTLE

Randy's Dandy Coaster Castle by Alexander Perez is a dark comedy about a run-down amusement park in the Florida panhandle and the people who run the place. 

It touches on a plethora of topics but mainly the psychological toll of the low wage labor market, employer/employee power dynamics, as well as the differing sociopolitical perspectives between first wave Cuban immigrants and the generation that came after them.

The play runs August 19 - 21 @ 7:30 pm; August 22 @ 1:00 & 7:00 pm; August 25-28 @ 7:30pm; August 29 @ 1:00 & 7:00 pm at IRT Theater, 154 Christopher St, New York City.

Performances are August 19th-29th at the IRT Theater as part of the 3B Residency in partnership with the City Artists Corps Grant from NYFA and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

For tickets RSVP online here.

Broadway on Demand Stage/Screen Shorts

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Deadline: none given

STAGE/SCREEN SHORTS

Calling all creators! Have you found a unique way to translate theater into film? Broadway on Demand is announcing a short film festival to celebrate the innovative ways we’ve given space to theatre in a socially distant world. We’re excited to host creators across different media who have built short films with streaming in mind.

The winning entry will be live streamed on the Emmy® OTT platform this fall.

Films must be no more than 30 minutes in length and should be submitted as a .mp4 file with a brief 2-5 sentence synopsis and any additional materials (trailers, graphics, etc.). 

Submissions should highlight the combination of theatre and film—i.e. theatrical content, films based on scripts, or content filmed in a theater.

SUBMISSION FORM ONLINE

11th Annual National Jewish Playwriting Contest

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Deadline: August 15, 2021

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, but the current review cycle closes on August 15, 2021. Plays submitted after this date will be held for the next cycle.

Full guidelines can be found at www.jewishplaysproject.org/guide. Please note that while we accept plays in many formats, we prefer the Dramatist’s Standard Format.

We are currently seeking unproduced full-length (65+ minutes) plays and musicals that focus on aspects of 21st Century Jewish identity, culture, and ideas, and the complex and intersectional nature of contemporary Jewish life.

While we value history, we will always lean toward plays that tackle vibrant strands of today’s world: social, racial and economic justice; strong women in Jewish life; diverse stories of Jews of Color; LGBTQIA inclusion; new perspectives on Israel, environmentalism, and interfaith relations in addition to deep conversations about our complex and multifaceted identities.

There is no submission fee (because those suck). Writers may submit more than one script. Submissions from previous years are accepted, particularly if there is a new draft of the script.

The following must be true of a submitted play or musical:

1. It contains significant Jewish themes, characters, content, or points of view.

2. It does not deal directly with the history of the Shoah or the World War II period generally.

3. It does NOT fall into the beloved category of "ethnically stereotypical comedy".

4. It is in English, or primarily in English – we love plays that play with languages.

5. It is full length, meaning over 65 minutes or 60-70 pages.

6. It has not had a full production in the NY Metro region, or a major regional theater (LORT C or above).

7. The play has never been published in any form.

Submitted plays and musicals will be considered for:

§ Jewish Playwriting Contest: our national, community-powered search for the most exciting new Jewish plays;

§ Artist Shabbats: small-group, private sessions focused on one new play;

§ Renegade Readings: rapid response readings for new plays in critical stages of development.

§ NYC Readings: public and industry presentations in prominent NYC venues of new plays and musicals that are ready for production;

§ Jewish Musicals Cabaret: a brand new, still-forming celebration of the form.

§ OPEN: Festival of New Jewish Theater: our ever-changing showcase of new work.


For more information, or any writing or submission questions, email heather@jewishplaysproject.org.

Women's Playwrights Circle @ Speranza

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Deadline: August 10, 2021

Or when we've received 100 applications

SUBMISSION FORM

This is the application form for the NJ Women's Playwrights Circle (September 2021 to August 2022). All women-identified playwrights who reside in New Jersey, NYC, NY, Connecticut or Pennsylvania are welcome to apply. To be explicit, BIPOC, trans, cis and gender fluid women and those who identify on the spectrum of woman are welcome to apply.

The first 100 applications will be considered for a spot in this year's Circle. Out of those who apply, 10-12 playwrights will be chosen to participate. Participation consists of attending 36 mandatory weekly (mostly) meetings to share pages, receive feedback and to develop their work. The summer session will focus on readings of full-lengths that may/may not be open to the public, depending on the determination of the playwright and the program's director. After this year's 36-session year, participants will step down to make room for new cohort for the September 2022 to May 2023 season.

The deadline to apply is August 10, 2021 or when we've received 100 applications.

There is no fee to apply and no fee to participate.

Depending on the geography of the group, we will either meet on Zoom, in person or in some combination of the two.

Any questions about the Circle or about this application process should be directed to Pandora Scooter, Founder/Director at pandorascooter@gmail.com.

Every effort will be made to create as diverse a group of writers (based on race, gender identity, class, ability, background, education, etc) as possible. Please be sure to be particularly specific about all the ways in which you identify, to help us with this very important goal.

Speranza Theatre Company's mission is to create thought-provoking collaborative theatre centered on women’s issues, providing an opportunity for artists, particularly females, to share their voices through challenging and entertaining theatre based in honesty and truth.

Speranza Theatre Company is a non-profit women's theatre company and member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. Founded to provide an opportunity for artists, particularly females, to share their voices through entertaining and challenging theatre, Speranza presents professional theatrical performances, free readings of new works, and educational programming. https://www.speranzatheatrecompany.com/about

American Woman playwriting fellowship

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Deadline: August 7, 2021

Submissions for our playwriting fellowship, American Woman, are now open!

American Woman is an on-going theatre development and presentation project comprised of solo shows by and about women in the United States. It has two primary components:

1. Lab – solo pieces conceived and developed from proposal to performance draft.
2. Public Presentation – presentation with production elements for a paying public.

This project speaks to the broad and varying definitions of those two words: American Woman – regardless of whether or not these words are used individually or in tandem. The project aims to examine American women through varying lenses, be it historical, cultural, racial, or political. It’s an exploration that’s especially relevant now since we’re arrived at a moment in our country’s history when there is a clear legislative push to narrow or limit the definition of both the word “American” and the word “woman.” American Woman will include solo shows and plays by women of different races, places of birth, religions, cultures, gender identifications, ages, physical challenges, and classes. Our project will resist narrow definitions, encourage inclusivity, and contribute to positive discourse.

The development phase of American Woman is executed through a monthly four-hour workshop facilitated by the project leader and project dramaturg. Brainstorming leads to text that receives review and critique before graduating to table reads of early drafts. At each session, writers are given dramaturgical notes and encouraged to revise their work for the next session. Emphasis is put on expressing characters through action, dramatic structure, and story theory.

By resourcing playwrights of color and women playwrights from the early developmental phase all the way through to a full production, the DQT realizes its mission to produce work written by playwrights from these underrepresented groups. Additionally, by donating blocks of free tickets to educational enrichment programs including Girls Write Now, Urban Art Beat, TEAK, and Harlem RBI, we continue to encourage diversity in our base audience, which is an equally vital component of our mission.

The application deadline is August 7th, 2021. Interviews will be conducted throughout August, and selected candidates will be notified August 31st. Due to the high volume of applications, only selected candidates will be notified of their acceptance. But on behalf of all of us here at DQT, thank you for sharing your work with us!

Strange Trace Stencils 2022: Thresholds

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Deadline: August 1, 2021 11:59 EDT

Strange Trace is pleased to announce our second annual Stencils Festival! We’re seeking proposals for short (up to 20 minute) works of chamber opera to be workshopped and produced by Strange Trace throughout our 21/22 season for inclusion in the Stencils Festival, to be held in the first weekend of June, 2022. If you’re a composer, librettist, playwright, or theater-maker and you’ve got an idea for us, we’d love to hear from you!
Theme

This year, the theme for Stencils is Thresholds! We’re looking for works that creatively engage with the theme in a variety of ways—literally, figuratively, metaphorically, surreally, metaphysically, etc.—so have fun with it. A threshold can be a door, a limit, a point of no return, a place of change, a veil, a plane of transformation—we’re looking forward to seeing the imaginative ways we can represent this theme through music and theater. 

Who Can Apply

Stencils is open to anyone. Artists of all ages and nationalities are eligible to apply. Proposals can come from composers, librettists or composer/librettist teams—we use those terms as a convenience, simply meaning “music maker” and “word writer”—so even if you haven’t previously considered yourself an “opera person,” or even a traditional composer, we’d love to hear your proposal!

Artists of underrepresented identities are especially encouraged to apply.

Applicants need not be in the Boston area, as there will be the possibility for fully virtual participation from composers and librettists.

We are a small, self-started company gearing up for our second season. All artists selected for Stencils will be given an honorarium. The exact amount is not yet determined, but will be communicated in writing prior to accepting the commission.

What We’re Looking For

We love theatrical works of any style. Proposals should be for works under twenty minutes. A few things to bear in mind:

The exact format of the festival is not yet set—there may be a combination of digital and live presentations (TBD pending practical and safety concerns), so proposals should have a degree of flexibility in that regard

Stencils shows will be cast from Strange Trace’s five singer/actor members

Proposals with casts of 1-3 are especially encouraged

We will work with composers/librettists on casting, but all final casting decisions will be made by Strange Trace

The instrumentation available for the festival is not yet determined, but will be set by Strange Trace before the composition process begins

Works for open instrumentation and unaccompanied works are great, too!

Piano may not be available, but our keyboard player, Greg, has an awesome variety of electronic keyboard instruments!

Use of electronics is possible, with the understanding that the composer should be able to provide us with all the tools we need

We’re looking for shows that engage with our mission and values

You may submit a work that you have already begun working on, with the understanding that it will be tailored to fit Strange Trace through the development and production process of Stencils

Our first Stencils Festival wraps up on-demand viewing July 4-6th; if you didn’t catch it, we will be posting excerpt videos on our website soon. Our website and YouTube channel include other video productions, and applicants are encouraged to take a peek and see what we’re about!
The Application and Review Process

The application process has two rounds. For the first round, please fill out the corresponding Google Form, linked below, which will collect some basic information about you and your idea. The round one form is due by August 1st (at 11:59PM EDT). Artists can apply in one of four ways:

An individual composer/librettist (one artist who will write the words and the music)

A composer and librettist team (two artists who are proposing a work together)

A composer looking to be paired with a librettist (one artist who will write the music, and would like to meet an artist to write the words)

A librettist looking to be paired with a composer (one artist who will write the words, and would like to meet an artist to write the music)

Last year, we produced works from each of those categories, so please don’t hesitate to apply if you’re looking to be paired with a collaborator!

Each application will be read by Strange Trace members, scored, and discussed in group meetings to determine which proposals move to the second round. In the second round, in addition to requesting samples of your work, we will have specific questions for your proposal which came up in our discussion from round one.

From round two, a small group of finalists will be selected for interviews, which will help us determine the shows we will produce. These interviews will be held virtually, and will be scheduled during round two of the application process. We’ll make sure you have everything you need beforehand—we just want a chance to meet you and get to know you a bit!
The Production Process

Each selected work will be paired with a Strange Trace member who will serve as the project lead, and will help guide the show through a workshop process tailored specifically to each show, which will include events like table reads and discussions, brainstorming sessions, semi-staged libretto readings, score readings, rehearsals and coachings, and eventually the production itself! While there may be some in-person participation possible, all events will be able to be fully attended virtually. Below, you’ll find a rough timeline which, while subject to change, will give you an idea of the scope of the development process.
Timeline

Please note that this is our current plan, but it is subject to change—particularly pending safety concerns. We will be very communicative about scheduling.

JULY 1st: Stencils Festival 2022 Call for Proposals opens

AUGUST 1st: Round 1 form closes at 11:59PM EDT

SEPTEMBER 1st: Proposals selected for round 2 are notified and materials are requested

SEPTEMBER 8th: Round 2 materials are due

SEPTEMBER 30th: Finalists are notified and interviews are scheduled

OCTOBER 8th: Winners are selected and notified

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: Libretto writing and workshopping

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER: Score writing

JANUARY: Score draft reading and workshopping

FEBRUARY: Rehearsal score due

FEB/MARCH/APRIL: Music learning, rehearsals and coachings

MAY: Staging rehearsals and/or filming

JUNE: Stencils Festival!
Questions

If you have any questions about Stencils or the call for proposals, please email us at strangetraceopera@gmail.com