Howdy, Playwrights! Here’s a list of 35 play submission opportunities with January 2021 deadlines. This is just a small sample of what is in our mega-list available to paid members. Join now to get access to 141 play submissions opportunities with deadlines + the list of opps that are accepting submissions year-round!
| Name | Length | Nature of Opportunity | Deadline | Location | Add’l Info |
| Centenary Stage Company | Full Length | Developmental program for women playwrights. | 12/31/20 | Hackettstown, New Jersey | Prize: $1,500 |
| Editorial DALYA | 30-120 mins | Open to all writers worldwide. Plays for young audiences only; can be written in any official language of the world. | 12/31/20 | Spain | No Fee Prize: 2400€ |
| New World Theatre | Any length | Open call to black writers to submit monologues that reflect their personal experience of living while black. The monologue may be part of a larger work or a stand-alone piece. | 1/1/21 | Londonderry, New Hampshire | n/a |
| Funky Little Theater Company | One Act (10-15 mins) | Plays focusing on issues surrounding, embracing or showcasing individuals of the LGBT community. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/2/21 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | No Fee Prize: $100 |
| Urbanite Theatre | Full Length | Emerging and established female-identifying playwrights residing in the US. Quality, female-identifying roles must be well-represented. | 1/4/21 | Sarasota, Florida | Prize: $3,000 |
| Paramount Theatre | 45-60 mins (proposal) | Commission. Open only to writers of color residing in the US. | 1/5/21 | Aurora, Illinois | Commission of $3,000 |
| Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble | 10-15 mins | Womxn writers. Theme: “Do-Over.” *The Festival will be performed live on Zoom. | 1/7/21 | St. Louis, Missouri | n/a |
| National Alliance for Musical Theatre | Full Length | New musicals. Any subject matter, style and concept. | 1/8/21 | NYC | n/a |
| Sesame Workshop Writers’ Room | max 11 pages (sample) | Writing fellowship. Looking for fresh new writing talent from underrepresented racial backgrounds. Sessions will take place virtually. Original script sample should NOT contain Sesame Street elements. It can be an excerpt from a larger piece. Must be kid-friendly content for viewers up to age 12. Open to US citizens or permanent residents only. Submissions must be in a script format – script for a play, television, film, etc. | 1/8/21 | n/a | No Fee |
| James Merrill House | max 10 pages (sample) | 4 and 6-week residencies. Includes a stipend of $1,100/month. | 1/10/21 | Stonington, Connecticut | App Fee: $30 |
| Leah Ryan’s Fund for Emerging Women Writers | Full Length (see right) | Women, trans women, and non-binary playwrights who consider themselves emerging. One-acts, two-acts (even four-, five-, six- acts), monologues, adaptations, and any other format will be considered. | 1/11/21 | NYC | Fee: $10 Prize: $2,500 |
| Theatre Now New York | max 10 mins | Musicals only. Accepts musicals across all styles and genres, as well as consider foreign language and/or bilingual scripts. | 1/12/21 | NYC | n/a |
| B8 Theatre Company | Any length | Original plays, to be presented on-line in a readers’ theatre format. Seeking works that inspire action, change, speaking out, growth, empowerment, hope, courage, and love. | 1/15/21 | Concord, California | “stipend” |
| Hambidge | Full Length | 2 to 8 weeks residency. | 1/15/21 | Rabun Gap, Georgia | App Fee: $30 |
| Molecule | max 50 words | Publication opp. Accepts play submissions. | 1/15/21 | n/a | n/a |
| Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award For Playwriting | Full Length | Plays addressing the question “What does it mean to be a human in a computerized world?” | 1/15/21 | New Hampshire & Vermont | $5,000 honorarium |
| Obsidian | max 20 pages | Publication opp. One act or a collection of short scenes. Excerpts of longer works ok. Translations ok. | 1/15/21 | Normal, Illinois | n/a |
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| Qu Literary Magazine | max 4,000 words | For literary magazine. Excerpts or full pieces written for stage. | 1/15/21 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Fee: $2.50 Payment Upon Publication: $100 |
| Some Scripts Literary Magazine | 10 mins / One Act (max 45 mins) | Scripts for either Zoom, the radio, the stage, screen, or other kinds of plague plays. Theme: “Outbreak!” This can refer to COVID-19, fascism, etc. | 1/15/21 | Literary Magazine | n/a |
| Teatro Vivo | Full Length | Original scripts that speak to the diverse Latinx experience. Plays can be monolingual or multilingual. | 1/15/21 | Austin, Texas | n/a |
| Helene Wurlitzer Foundation | Full Length | 10 to 12 weeks residency. | 1/18/21 | Taos, New Mexico | App Fee: $25 |
| Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs | 10 mins | Comedy or drama plays of all types accepted. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/19/21 | Bonita Springs, Florida | Fee: $15 Prize: $100 |
| Playwrights’ Center Core Writer Program | Full Length | Play development workshop. Available to emerging and established writers in the US. | 1/21/21 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | n/a |
| The Literal Challenge | Any length | Playwriting challenge – complete a playwriting challenge every day in February. Int’l submissions ok. Submissions can be written in any language. Note: Check the website for more information. | 1/28/21 | UK | n/a |
| Blue Moon Plays / HaveScripts | 10 pages (sample) | Publication opp. Plays with casts that reflect the growing and varied American landscape, as well as characters with different skin colors, gender identifications, and mental and physical abilities. | 1/30/21 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | n/a |
| Bucharest Inside the Beltway | See right. | Dev’t opp. Theme: “Radiance.” You do not need to have written a play before. The final plays can range from a short play to one full-length play, as long as it is new work. Accepts plays in all languages. | 1/31/21 | Denver, Colorado | n/a |
| Dubuque Fine Arts Players | One Act (max 40 mins) | Original, unproduced plays. | 1/31/21 | Dubuque, Iowa | Fee: $20/$15 Prize: $600 |
| Hashtag Queer | max 10 pages | Publication opp. Accepts scripts (including plays and screenplays). Theme: By and/or about LGBTQ+ | 1/31/21 | Becket, Massachusetts | n/a |
| Mine 4 God Productions | 10-15 mins / One Act (20-30 mins) | Theme: “Say Something…it might, Change Something.” | 1/31/21 | Dublin, Ohio | n/a |
| The ONE Festival | Full Length, Short Play | Full-length plays (45 mins to 1 hr) and short plays (max 30 mins). | 1/31/21 | Brooklyn, New York | Fee: $50, $100 (see left) |
| Theatre Suburbia | 90-120 mins | Must be family-friendly. No nudity. Profane or vulgar language should be germane to the story and kept to a minimum when possible. | 1/31/21 | Houston, Texas | n/a |
| FORGE Fuel | “sample” | Writers retreat. Open to writers of all kinds, including playwrights. | Year Round | Danbury, Connecticut | Fee: $80 |
| Hominum Journal | One Act | Pulication opp. One-act plays accepted. | Year Round | Literary Magazine | n/a |
| 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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