Howdy, Playwrights! Here’s a list of 35 play submission opportunities with September 2020 deadlines. This is just a small sample of what is in our mega-list available to paid members. Join now to get access to 125 play submissions opportunities with deadlines + the list of opps that are accepting submissions year-round! Take note that although theaters are dark now due to the pandemic, they’ve found a way to continue presenting plays — via Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Opportunities are still there! We’ve got at least nine from the list below. Check it out now!
| Name | Length | Nature of Opportunity | Deadline | Location | Add’l Info |
| The Starfruit Project | Any length | Works-in-progress by Black LGBTQ artists. Drafts or half-finished scripts. Dramatic monologues, one acts, 10-min musicals. Submissions can be of any length, but only a 10-15 minute segment will be presented. | 8/27/20 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | “stipend” |
| One House, One Heart | 10 mins | Plays that can be easily performed over zoom without stage directions needing to be read out loud. Comedy, drama, eclectic. | 8/31/20 | Seaford, New York | Fee: $10 Prize: $150 |
| ARTemis Arts | Any length | Women writers over the age of 50. | 9/1/20 | n/a | Prize: $250 |
| Feels Blind Literary | One Act (max 15 pages) |
Literary magazine. Plays from new and emerging writers who identify as women. Must pass the Bechdel Test. | 9/1/20 | n/a | n/a |
| Lake Placid Center for the Arts | One Act (15-20 mins) |
New plays written specifically to be performed on ZOOM. Must be non-musicals, but all other genres are accepted. | 9/4/20 | Lake Placid, New York | Prize: $250 |
| Polyphone Festival | Full Length | Original musicals that are in development. Should have a completed first draft and must have been read at least once in a reading, workshop or concert setting. | 9/4/20 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | n/a |
| Trans [Plays] of Remembrance Festival | max 10 mins | Short plays written by members of the transgender community. The play must be able to be performed digitally over Zoom. Theme: The Transgender Day of Remembrance | 9/5/20 | Athens, Ohio | n/a |
| Broadway Bound Theatre Fest | See right. | Black playwrights only. Musicals should be a maximum of 120 mins. Straight plays should be 60-90 mins. | 9/6/20 | NYC | $1000 Acceptance Fee |
| KNOW Theatre | 15-20 mins | The play must be inspired by one of the works of art… (see website for the images) | 9/6/20 | Binghamton, New York | Prize: $300 |
| Strand Theater Co | max 10 mins | Virtual play festival. Playwrights must identify as Black womxn. Short play, choreopoem, monologue, etc. Must include (physical or metaphysical) a Black womxn protagonist, a wig, a sign, a gathering, and brown sugar. | 9/7/20 | Baltimore, Maryland | n/a |
| Italian American Theatre of Chicago | Full Length | Plays with Italian American themes and subject matter. Works about Italian history and historical figures may also be eligible. Note: Submissions will be accepted beginning September 8, 2020, and will continue to be accepted until further notice. | See left. | Chicago | Fee: $25 |
| Left Coast Theatre Co | 10-15 mins | The play must not have been previously produced in the Bay Area. The plot must concern little-known, unknown or forgotten people or events in LGBTQ+ history. | 9/8/20 | San Francisco, California | n/a |
| Blue Pearl Theatrics | 3-10 mins | Monologue. It should be written from the perspective of a person facing personal demons. It should be written in the first person narrative. It can be about any difficult time such as: Covid Lockdown/ Quarantine, Abortion, Family Issues, Addiction, Mental Health, etc. | 9/10/20 | NYC | “monetary compensation” |
| Radcliffe Institute | max 30 pages | Fellowship Program. For Playwriting: Applicants must have a significant body of independent work in the form. This will include, most typically, plays produced or under option. | 9/10/20 | Boston, Massachusetts | n/a |
| The Players Theatre | max 15 mins | Theme: “Boo!” Horror plays and musicals including a great spoof. Playwrights must produce. | 9/10/20 | NYC | n/a |
| Company of Fools | Full Length | Open to all playwrights worldwide. Plays should be written for digital format. Note: Info not available on their website. Submission form link: https://forms.gle/frNRVvyCFmaMEyWY9 | 9/15/20 | NYC | n/a |
| Hambidge | Full Length | 2 to 8 weeks residency. | 9/15/20 | Rabun Gap, Georgia | App Fee: $30 |
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| Hodder Fellowship | 3,000 words (sample) |
Fellowship for one 10-month academic year. Non-US citizens welcome to apply. | 9/15/20 | Princeton, New Jersey | $84,000 stipend |
| Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award | Full Length | Award for lesbian, queer or gay and nonbinary writer who has written at least one play, and is writing plays about lesbians. Accepting nominations. Self-nomination is allowed. | 9/15/20 | n/s | Prize: $5000 |
| Playwrights First | Full Length | Int’l submissions ok. Plays with no prior full scale production. Previous readings, workshops, and college productions are ok. | 9/15/20 | NYC | Prize: $1,000 |
| Princeton Arts Fellowship | 3,000 words (sample) |
Fellowship for two consecutive 10-month academic years. Non-US citizens welcome to apply. | 9/15/20 | Princeton, New Jersey | $84,000/year stipend |
| The Little Theatre of Alexandria | One Act (20-50 mins) |
Original, unpublished and un-produced plays. Must NOT include nudity. Strong themes and language are welcome. | 9/15/20 | Alexandria, Virginia | Fee: $20 Prize: $350 |
| Same Boat Theater Collective | 10-20 mins | Monologues, short plays, and other theatrical works that can be performed live on Zoom. Must be fully production ready. Looking for pieces that raise the awareness of how specific environmental issues affect the lives and communities of the underrepresented and underprivileged among us. | 9/20/20 | Berkeley, California | n/a |
| Going Dark Theatrics | max 10 mins | Short theatrical pieces/proposals designed for non-traditional theater spaces and based on one of the nine circles of hell from Dante’s Inferno: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery. | 9/21/20 | San Angelo and Austin, Texas | Fee: $5 |
| Theatre Viscera | 60-100 mins | Looking for pieces that will read well in a podcast format. Submissions may be full length plays, a collection of one acts totally no more than 100 minutes reading time, or a collection of 10 minute plays totally no more than 100 minutes reading time. Prefers pieces that tell stories of trans and GNC characters, as well as stories at the intersections of oppression; disabled queer characters, BIPOC queer characters, etc. Looking for plays by queer artists, about queer characters, for queer actors. | 9/25/20 | Portland, Oregon | n/a |
| Green Buffalo Productions | max 10 pages | Short plays about oppression. Works in Progress are welcome! | 9/30/20 | Buffalo, New York | n/a |
| Landing Theatre Co | Full Length | Playwright must be a citizen or legal resident of the USA. Must not have had a public reading in the Houston area. | 9/30/20 | Houston, Texas | Fee: $12 $100 stipend |
| Phillips’ Mill Community Association | 10-15 mins | Playwright must currently live within a 100 mile radius of Phillips’ Mill, including NYC. | 9/30/20 | New Hope, Pennsylvania | Fee: $10 Prize: $100 |
| Adirondack Theatre Fest | Full Length | Unpublished plays and musicals only. | 10/1/20 | Glens Falls, New York | n/a |
| New Perspectives Theatre Co | 10-15 pages (sample) | Development lab for emerging and mid-career women playwrights. | 10/4/20 | NYC | n/a |
| Between Acts | 20-40 mins | Podcast. Accepts plays written explicitly for an audio format, as well as those written for the stage. | Year Round | PODCAST | n/a |
| FORGE Fuel | “sample” | Writers retreat. Open to writers of all kinds, including playwrights. | Year Round | Danbury, Connecticut | Fee: $80 |
| Green Buffalo Productions | 10-15 pages | 48-hour writing challenge. Open to anyone who is looking to stay creative and occupied during COVID-19. Requires the playwright to follow a specific prompt and must be written within 48 hours. The play will be showcased in a LIVE READING via Facebook. | Year Round | Buffalo, New York | 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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