Hello, Playwrights! Below is a list of play submission opportunities with April 2019 deadlines.
So read on, submit, and make this your month!
Remember: What’s written below is just a quick rundown of what the theaters are looking for. Don’t forget to check out the submissions pages and read each of the theater’s guidelines carefully.
| Name | Length | Nature of Opportunity | Deadline | Location | Add’l Info |
| Sky Blue Theatre Company | max 30 mins | Open to all nationalities, but plays must be written in English and must be unpublished. | 3/30/19 | London | Fee: £16 |
| Edmonds Driftwood Players | max 10 mins | Original, never before produced script. Theme: “Technology Gone Bad” | 4/1/19 | Edmonds, Washington | Fee: $5 |
| Fade to Black Play Festival | 8-10 mins | Original, not previously produced, unpublished work written by an African American playwright. Open to any theme and subject. | 4/1/19 | Houston, Texas | No Fee |
| Original Productions Theatre | Full Length | Central Ohio playwrights preferred. Musical or play. Must be a premier production (previous staged readings or workshops ok). Comedy or Drama only. Any theme. | 4/1/19 | Dublin, Ohio | n/a |
| Southeastern Louisiana University | Full Length | Open to all playwrights. Original, unpublished plays geared for a university cast and audience. | 4/1/19 | Hammond, Louisiana | Fee: $10 |
| The Theatre School at DePaul University | max 20 pages (sample) | Commission for Youth Theatre. Playwrights from the Chicagoland area and alumni of The Theatre School are eligible to apply. *The writing sample may be from a play of any genre for any audience. | 4/1/19 | Chicago | Fee for the commission: $6000 |
| Apples and Oranges Arts | Full Length | Musical theatre writers, composers & lyricists who have early stage musical theatre material in need of development & potential financing. | 4/3/19 | USA | Free |
| Ground and Field Theatre Festival | See right. | Musicals, full-length, one-act, immersive theatre, adaptations, and non-traditional experimental scripts. Must be unproduced. | 4/5/19 | Davis, California | Fee: $20 |
| Pittsburgh New Works Festival | One Act (15-45 mins) | Plays may have been “read,” but never produced. Workshops and readings are ok. | 4/5/19 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Fee: $15 Prize: $500 |
| City Lit Theater Company | max 20 mins | Playwrights may be located anywhere, but a connection to Chicago is strongly encouraged. The piece must be an adaptation of non-dramatic material—a short story, an essay, a memoir, poetry, an excerpt from a novel, a video game, and so forth; but not material from a play. Must be a world premiere adaptation. | 4/8/19 | Chicago | Prize: $500 |
| Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize | 10+ pages (sample) | Send a dialogue sample and a brief proposal of the writer’s intended treatment of the year’s theme of ‘Identity.’ The Winner will be expected to deliver a completed script by May 31st. Int’l submissions ok. | 4/10/19 | London | Prize: £3000 |
| Artists’ Exchange | One Act (10-20 mins) | Original plays. Previous prods ok. Any genre. | 4/12/19 | Cranston, Rhode Island | n/a |
| Open Space Arts | 15-20 mins | Theme: “Age of Wisdom.” Must be family friendly – no over swearing, violence, or sexual themes. Keep it PG. Must be suitable to be performed outdoors. | 4/14/19 | Reisterstown, Maryland | n/a |
| Athena Project Arts Festival | Full Length | Women playwrights. Previously unproduced plays only. | 4/15/19 | Denver, Colorado | n/a |
| Book Pipeline Fiction Competition | Full Length | Open to unpublished and published plays for film/TV adaptation. No genre restrictions. Open to writers worldwide. | 4/15/19 | Santa Monica, California | Fee: $35 Prize: $5,000 |
| John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award | Full Length | Open to all playwrights. The play must not have been published and produced by a professional or Equity company as of April 15, 2019. | 4/15/19 | Hamden, Connecticut | n/a |
| Rave Theater Festival | at least 1 hour | Plays and musicals. Playwrights must produce. Int’l submissions ok. | 4/17/19 | NYC | Fee: $49 ($995 if selected) |
| St. Louis Actors’ Studio | One Act (max 15 mins) | High school submissions. Non-professional, new and previously unproduced plays. | 4/19/19 | St. Louis, Missouri | n/a |
| The #metoo Plays | 10 mins | Mental Health awareness, dis-ease, suicide, the last taboo! | 4/21/19 | NYC | No Fee |
| The Coachella Review | 10-30 pages | For literary arts journal. Interested in scripts within the 10 to 30-page range, but may also accept shorter pieces. | 4/25/19 | Coachella Valley, California | n/a |
| Haddonfield Plays and Players | max 5 mins | Any genre is welcome. | 4/28/19 | Haddonfield, New Jersey | n/a |
| 5th Wall Productions | Full Length | Development opportunity. Looking for unpublished, unproduced stage plays. | 4/30/19 | Charleston, South Carolina | No Fee |
| Carlo Annoni Award | Any length | Plays on gay themes and on diversity in love. Must not have been published and/or performed. Plays can be submitted in Italian and English. | 4/30/19 | Milan, Italy | No Fee Prize: € 1000 |
| Frostburg State University | One Act (max 40 mins) | New works, not previously produced. | 4/30/19 | Frostburg, Maryland | Fee: $20 Prize: $750 |
| Gi60 | max 60 secs | One-minute plays. Must not have been previously produced. Int’l submissions ok. | 4/30/19 | Brooklyn, New York | No Fee |
| Hand-to-Mouth Players | One Act (max 25 mins) | Play must be previously unpublished. Honorarium of $25. | 4/30/19 | New York | Fee: $20 |
| The Chameleon Theatre Circle | Any length | Original works that have never been produced. All styles and genres ok. Int’l submissions ok. | 4/30/19 | Burnsville, Minnesota | No Fee Prize: $100 |
| 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 |
Want to see more opps just like those listed in this blog post?
Click here to secure your full-membership now!
Remember, as a member you’ll get all sorts of extra benefits, including:
- The full, up-to-date listing of 400+ theaters that are looking for new plays
- Regular emails of new play submission opportunities with year-round and hard deadlines
- Access to over $3,000 in prize & content money
Here’s what your fellow playwrights have to say about their membership:
“Many playwriting groups recommended you! Thanks for the good work.”
-Jack Peterson, Playwright
“The best source I’ve found for contests & information about new play opportunities.”
-Leroy Clark, Author of Practical Playwriting and Writing for the Stage
“What a terrific bargain and time-saver. If you write, you need PSH. Simple. Just do it. It prompts you to keep circulating your labors of love, talent, and insights.“
-F. Lynne, Playwright & Actor
“My membership has been a tremendous help.”
-Tom Parks, Playwright
Trackbacks/Pingbacks