Howdy, Playwrights! Here’s a list of 29 play submission opportunities with May 2020 deadlines. This is just a taste of all the opportunities in our full list — if you subscribe to our service as a full member, you will get immediate access to all 48 opps with May 2020 deadlines, plus the rest of our list of 400+ opportunities currently accepting play submissions!
Note: What’s written below is just a quick rundown of what the theaters are looking for. For complete submission guidelines, please go to their websites by clicking the theater’s name.
| Name | Length | Nature of Opportunity | Deadline | Location | Add’l Info |
| A Light in Dark Places | 5-15 pages | The plays must explore the themes of suicide prevention and mental health conditions with a focus on community, connection, hope, resources and healing. | 5/1/20 | Los Angeles, California | Fee: $20 Prize: $75 |
| Actors’ Playhouse | max 8 mins | Monologues/stories either in 1st person or storytelling form. No multi-character plays. Theme: “COVID-19 Pandemic.” Must be original, unpublished, unproduced. Playwrights/creative writing aficionados residing in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. *Playwrights must perform their own works, or find a replacement actor to perform their work. | 5/1/20 | Coral Gables, Florida | n/a |
| Aurand Harris Memorial Playwriting Award | Full Length | Plays for young audiences. Must be unpublished and not have been previously produced by a professional or Equity company. | 5/1/20 | Hamden, Connecticut | n/a |
| Feels Blind Literary | One Act (max 20 pages) |
New and emerging writers who identify as women. Submissions must be previously unpublished, original works. Must pass the Bechdel Test. | 5/1/20 | n/a | n/a |
| Foglifter | max 20 pages | LGBTQ+ writers. Accepts drama submissions. Must be unpublished. | 5/1/20 | n/a | $25 honorarium |
| National Black Theatre | Full Length | 18-month residency. Black playwrights only. A stipend will be provided. | 5/1/20 | NYC | n/a |
| SPARK Creative Works | One Act (10-20 mins) |
Pieces must be ORIGINAL but can be previously produced. Women writers only. Must fit one or more of the following criteria: features a strong female lead; features a predominately female cast OR; addresses a topic important to women that is rarely touched. Writers in the Long Island/NYC area will be considered first, though out-of-state submissions will be accepted. | 5/3/20 | NYC | n/a |
| Cutting Ball Theater | Full Length | Seeking unproduced and unpublished experimental plays. Opp for a week-long developmental workshop that will culminate in one public reading. | 5/8/20 | San Francisco, California | Fee: $5 |
| The Chameleon Theatre Circle | Any length | Original works, unproduced. Workshops and other readings are ok. All styles and genres ok. | 5/8/20 | Burnsville, Minnesota | No Fee Prize: $25-100 |
| Weathervane Playhouse | max 10 mins | The play must include a take out container — a prop that must be incorporated into the play. It must be seen on stage. No characters under the age of 16. Must be unproduced anywhere and un-performed outside of readings or workshops. | 5/8/20 | Akron, Ohio | Fee: $10 Prize: $350 |
| Austin Film Festival | Full Length | Full-length plays, original or adapted. | 5/15/20 | Austin, Texas | Fee: $30 |
| Carlo Annoni International Playwriting Prize | Any length | Plays on any topic affecting the LGBTQ+ community, and the promotion of diversity in love, society, politics and culture. | 5/15/20 | Italy | No Fee Prize: € 1000 |
| National Alliance for Musical Theatre | 15 mins | 15-min musical or 15 min of a new full-length project. It can be about anything and everything. Must be written after March 19, 2020. Int’l submissions ok. | 5/15/20 | NYC | “cash prize” |
| Playing on Air | 10-25 pages | Comedic play. Must be original, unpublished and unproduced. Special consideration will be given to the script’s suitability for audio recording and public radio broadcast. | 5/15/20 | NYC | Fee: $5 Prize: $6,000 |
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| Theatre Nerd Podcast | 10 mins | Plays that can easily be translated to a podcast style. Any genre and content. Must be unpublished. Previous productions ok. Offers a one-time royalty payment of $30. | 5/15/20 | n/a | n/a |
| Theater for The New City | Any length | Prefers works that have gone unproduced in NYC, but will consider an updated version of previously produced NYC production. Theme: “Dream Up: Invent, Concoct.” | 5/17/20 | NYC | Fee: $30, $40 |
| Book Pipeline Adaptation Contest | Full Length | Plays for film and television adaptation. Any genre. Must have been published and/or produced. Applicants outside the US are welcome. | 5/20/20 | Santa Monica, California | Fee: $55 Prize: $10,000 |
| WordWave One-Act Play Competition | One Act (max 60 mins) |
Plays must be written within the last five years. Drama or comedy. | 5/22/20 | South Lake Tahoe, California | Fee: $25 Prize: $500 |
| Marion Thauer Brown Audio Drama Scriptwriting Competition | max 30 mins | All genres considered. The script should be “family friendly.” | 5/28/20 | n/a | No Fee Prize: $250 |
| Headlands Center for the Arts | Full Length | Fully sponsored residencies of four to ten weeks. Apps from playwrights accepted. | 5/29/20 | Sausalito, California | App Fee: $25 |
| Emerald Theatre Company | 10 mins | Theme: “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.” An empty photo or picture frame of any size must be incorporated into the script. Must be original and never before produced. | 5/30/20 | Memphis, Tennessee | Fee: $10 “cash prizes” |
| Golden Thread Productions | 10-30 mins | Plays by playwrights of Middle Eastern heritage on any topic OR plays about the Middle East by playwrights of any ethnic background. | 5/30/20 | San Francisco, California | n/a |
| Playhouse on the Square | Full Length | Original, unproduced or unpublished plays or musicals. | 5/30/20 | Memphis, Tennessee | Fee: $15 Prize: $750 |
| A is For Playwriting Contest | One Act (max 60 mins) |
Plays about Reproductive Justice, including (but not limited to) the topic of abortion. | 5/31/20 | NYC | Prize: $5,000 |
| Seoul Players | max 10 mins | Scripts selected will have two or three performances in Seoul, Korea. | 5/31/20 | Korea | Fee: $5 or 5,000 won |
| The Q Collective | max 15 mins | The play should be based on a fairy tale, myth, legend, or classic literature. Previously produced but unpublished works and well-developed works in progress are welcome. | 5/31/20 | St. Louis, Missouri | $50 stipend |
| FORGE Fuel | “sample” | Writers retreat. Open to writers of all kinds, including playwrights. | Year Round | Danbury, Connecticut | Fee: $80 |
| Playwrights Offering Free Feedback | Full Length | Full-length trade program. You must read a play and give feedback, and in return will have an opp to send a play and get feedback from other playwright. | Year Round | n/a | n/a |
| Trade A Play Tuesday | 10 mins | Send in 10-min play and get same-day feedback. You must also read 10 pages of another playwright’s work, and give thoughtful feedback. Runs every Tuesday. | Year Round | n/a | n/a |
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