Folks, this March has an insane number of playwriting submission opportunities. It’s like an embarrassment of riches, with 26 playwright submission contests, many with cash prizes, listed below:
Theater Name / Festival Name | URL | Length Accepted | Genre(s) Accepted | Deadline | Location |
Bloomington Playwrights: Woodward/Newman Drama Award | Full Length (75-135 min) | Full-length drama, Fee: $10, Prize: $3000 | 1-Mar-13 | Bloomington, Indiana, USA | |
Barter Theatre: Appalachian Plays and Playwrights Festival | Full Length “Preferred” | Play must be written by an Appalachian playwright or set in the Appalachian region. Prize: $250-$500 + transportation. | 1-Mar-13 | Abingdon, Virginia, USA | |
Endstation Theatre Company | Full Length | All Genres. “We bring three playwrights to Sweet Briar College during Endstation’s Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival to write, workshop, and develop new plays. | 1-Mar-13 | Sweet Briar, Virginia, USA | |
Horizon Theatre Company | Not Specified | Plays about the South, by writers who live or have roots in the South. Women and African Americans particularly encouraged to submit. | 1-Mar-13 | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | |
HRC Showcase Theater | Full Length | Accepts any form, style or genre. Fee: $10, Prize: $100-$500 | 1-Mar-13 | Hudson, New York, USA | |
Minnesota Shorts Play Festival | 10 Minute Playwriting Festival | Prefers plays for the general audience (no profanity, etc). | 1-Mar-13 | Mankato, Minnesota, USA | |
The Brick Theater: Game Play Festival | Full Length | Accepts cutting-edge works that lie at the intersection of video gaming, technology and performance art. You must produce/stage your own play. | 1-Mar-13 | New York City, New York, USA | |
Trustus Theatre: Annual Playwrights’ Festival | Full Length | Looking for innovative comedies and dramas on any topic, raw or polished, profane or polite. Prize: $750 | 1-Mar-13 | Columbia, South Carolina, USA | |
Swivel Theatre Company | One Act | Accepts submissions with a theme “Arab Women in the Arab Spring.” These stories can be told through comedy or drama, satire or gritty realism. | 4-Mar-13 | London, United Kingdon | |
Subversive Theatre Collective: 2013 playwriting competition | 30-Minute max | Plays of a political nature that raise consciousness on socially relevant issues | 5-Mar-13 | Buffalo, New York, USA | |
Red Bull Theater: 10 Minute Play Festival | 10 – Minute Play | Accepts short plays that contains heightened language, verse, classical themes, or is an adaptation of a classical story. Theme: Greed. | 8-Mar-13 | New York City, New York, USA | |
Theatre Southwest: Annual Readers Theatre | 5-15 minutes | Accepts any form, style or genre except monologues. $100 Prize. | 8-Mar-13 | Houston, Texas, USA | |
Mckinney Repertory Theatre: Annual MRT Playwriting Competition | Full Length | Does not accept Adaptations, translations, musicals and children’s plays. | 10-Mar-13 | McKinney, Texas, USA | |
East Valley Children’s Theatre Aspiring Playwrights Contest | 60 – 90 Min | Plays must be suitable for children to perform for children. Unspecified cash prize. | 15-Mar-13 | Mesa, Arizona, USA | |
Orlando Shakespeare Theater – Playwriting Festival | Full Length | Plays exploring important, challenging, and crucial social. Topics can range from current events to interpersonal issues in the bedroom. Both comedies and dramas welcome. | 15-Mar-13 | Orlando, Florida, USA | |
Silver Spring Stage: One Act Playwriting Festival | One Act | Accepts any style or genre. $100 prize. | 15-Mar-13 | Silver Spring, Maryland, USA | |
The Driftwood Players: Annual Festival of Short Plays | 15 minutes max | Centered on the theme “Aftermath,” no X rated scripts | 15-Mar-13 | Edmonds, Washington, USA | |
The Neil Simon Festival | 80 – 150 Minutes | Prefers character-driven American comedy; plays should not be overtly political. Musicals are accepted. Fee: $25 ($55 if you’d like a critique). | 15-Mar-13 | Cedar City, Utah, USA | |
Young Playwrights Festival | Full Length | Original plays and musicals on ANY subject. Playwrights must be 19 years old or younger | 15-Mar-13 | Hollywood, California, USA | |
Newborn Theatre: Odds and Ends Playwright Festival | 30 minutes max | Playwrights must be younger than 30 | 1-Mar-13 | Toronto, Canada | |
Piper Theatre: Annual Festival | One Act (10-40 minutes) | Looking for one-act plays that investigate the complicated lives of young people. Prize: $500 | 29-Mar-13 | New York City, New York, USA | |
Ohio State University: Newark New Play Contest | Full Length | Accepts any form, style or genre. Prize: $100-$500 | 30-Mar-13 | Newark, Ohio, USA | |
Sky Blue Theatre Company Playwriting Competition | 10-30 minutes | Accepts any form, style or genre. Winners will be produced. Also, up to 10 scripts will be given written assessments, and considered for publication. Fee: 15 British pounds. | 30-Mar-13 | Cambridge, United Kingdom | |
Theatre Conspiracy Playwriting Contest | Not Specified. | Any Genre except musicals. Fee: $5 (free for Dramatist Guild members). Prize: $700 | 30-Mar-13 | Fort Myers, Florida, USA | |
Tipping Point Theatre: Sandbox Playwriting Festival | 14 minutes max | Playwrights or plays must have specific ties to Michigan. | 31-Mar-13 | Northville, Michigan, USA | |
Women Theatre Project: GIRL PLAY | 5-12 minutes | Accepts plays written by women with a lesbian theme. | 31-Mar-13 | Boca Raton, Florida, USA |
If you found this post useful, you’ll love the 2013 Play Submissions Helper, which lists & organizes 400+ play submissions opportunities in one easy-to-use excel file, including more information on the opportunities listed above!
Author: Dave Berns