Howdy, Playwrights! Here’s a list of 35 play submission opportunities with January 2026 deadlines. This is just a small sample of what is in our mega-list available to paid members. Join now to get access!
| Name | Length | Nature of Opportunity | Deadline | Location | Add’l Info |
| Millay Arts Steepletop Residency | max 15 pages (sample) | Works in progress, published pieces, excerpts from longer works, selections of short works. | 1/1/26 | Austerlitz, New York | App Fee: $45 |
| Nomad Theatre | 10-12 mins | Plays must take place in a cedar barn on a real Central Illinois farm: Honey DEW Acres. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/1/26 | Normal, Ilinois | $25 honorarium |
| The Secret Theatre | One Act (10-15 mins) | Solo shows or 10-15 min excerpts of a longer play. Playwrights must produce. | 1/2/26 | NYC | n/a |
| Apricity Magazine | max 15 mins | Publication opp. Short play accepted. | 1/3/26 | Austin, Texas | No Fee |
| Mosaic Theatricals | Any length | Musicals, straight plays, or devised theatre. | 1/4/26 | Escondido, California | n/a |
| Lake Shore Center for the Arts | One Act (8-12 mins) | Comedy and drama (including mystery, thriller or monologue). Int’l submissions ok. | 1/5/26 | Westfield, New York | Fee: $10 Prize: $500 |
| National Alliance for Musical Theatre | Full Length | New musicals. Must be complete and ready for readings, workshops and/or productions. | 1/6/26 | NYC | Fee: $40 (late deadline) |
| One Night Stand Theater | short play | Plays that explore love in all its phases. | 1/6/26 | Aurora, Colorado | “small honorarium” |
| Lambda Literary | max 15 pages (sample) | Writers retreat for emerging LGBTQ voices, including playwrights. | 1/8/26 | Los Angeles, California | App Fee: $30 |
| Palace Theatre | 8-15 mins | US residents only. Playwrights must produce. | 1/9/26 | Manchester, New Hampshire | Fee: $100 if selected |
| James Madison University | Full Length | Pref. plays that address contemporary issues, stories and questions, and include characters that are suitable for college-age actors. | 1/10/26 | Harrisonburg, Virginia | $1,250 honorarium |
| King’s Theatre | max 10 mins | Any genre. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/12/26 | Canada | Fee: $20 |
| The Leah | Full Length (see right) | Women, trans, and non-binary playwrights who consider themselves emerging. Int’l submissions ok. One-acts, two-acts (even four-, five-, six- acts), monologues, adaptations, and any other format will be considered. | 1/12/26 | NYC | No Fee Prize: $5,000 |
| Good Luck Macbeth | Full Length | Any genre. | 1/15/26 | Reno, Nevada | n/a |
| Ivo Review | max 10 mins | Publication opp. Dramatic works from emerging and established writers from around the world, particularly writers from historically underrepresented communities. Theme: CONFESSION | 1/15/26 | n/a | n/a |
| Jentel Artist Residency | max 20 pages (sample) | Send your best writing completed in past two years. | 1/15/26 | Banner, Wyoming | App Fee: $30 |
| Liminal Space Productions | One Act (6-30 mins) | Fully cast short plays. | 1/15/26 | NYC | No Fee “small stipend” |
| Live & In Color | See right. | Dev’t opp for early-career women/femme and/or non-binary storytellers. *This opp will culminate in a 60-90 minute 2-person play that will be workshopped and presented as a reading. | 1/15/26 | Salem, Connecticut | $3,000 commission |
| Marine Corps Heritage Foundation | Full Length | Plays dealing with US Marine Corps heritage or Marine Corps life. See Categories in Letters and the Arts > Dramatic Work | 1/15/26 | Dumfries, Virginia | n/a |
| Molecule | n/s | Publication opp. Accepts prose (fiction & non-fiction) plays. | 1/15/26 | n/a | No Fee (optional tip) |
| Qu Literary Magazine | max 4,000 words | Publication opp. Excerpts or full pieces written for stage. Int’l submissions are accepted with a caveat. | 1/15/26 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Fee: $2.50 Payment Upon Publication: $100 |
| Soapbox Stageworks | One Act (max 30 mins) | Theme: Romance With a Twist | 1/15/26 | Carmel, California | Fee: $15 |
| The New American Theatre | One Act (max 15 mins) | The plays must not have been previously produced in Los Angeles, CA. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/15/26 | Culver City, California | Fee: $12 |
| Ucross Foundation | Full Length | Residency. There is no charge for a residency. | 1/15/26 | Ucross, Wyoming | App Fee: $40 |
| Vassar Review | max 30 pages | Publication opp. Scripts accepted. Theme: Temper & Testimony | 1/15/26 | Poughkeepsie, New York | n/a |
| Virginia Center for the Creative Arts | n/s | Residency. | 1/15/26 | Amherst, Virginia | App Fee: $30 |
| Theatre Revolution | max 10 mins | Plays must be written by female or female identifying playwrights. Monologues ok (max 3 pages). Playwrights must produce. | 1/17/26 | Garrison, New York | n/a |
| A is For | One Act (max 90 mins) | Plays about reproductive justice, including (but not limited to) the topic of abortion. Int’l submissions ok. | 1/18/26 | NYC | Prize: $5,000 |
| Arizona Theatre Company | Full Length, One Act (50+ pages) | Latine playwrights residing in the US, its territories or Mexico. Scripts may be in English, Spanish, or a combination of the two. Any subject. | 1/18/26 | Tucson, Arizona | n/a |
| Valhalla Tahoe | One Act (max 45 mins) | Plays must be written within the last five years. | 1/19/26 | South Lake Tahoe, California | Fee: $30 Prize: $500 |
| Ivo Review | 10 mins | Publication opp. Monologues. Any theme. | 1/30/26 | n/a | n/a |
| Equity Library Theater of New York | max 10 mins | Seeking short plays from playwrights from around the globe. Also seeking monologues (max 5 mins). Musicals ok. | 1/31/26 | NYC | No Fee |
| Many Hats Collaboration | max 10 pages (sample) | Short-term, paid performance residency program with a public-facing workshop performance. | 1/31/26 | Portland, Oregon | n/a |
| Masque & Spectacle | 10 mins | Publication opp. Plays accepted. Theme: Storms | 1/31/26 | n/s | n/a |
| St. Louis Actors’ Studio | One Act (max 45 mins) | Professional, new and previously unproduced plays. | 1/31/26 | St. Louis, Missouri | n/a |
Want to see more opps just like those listed in this blog post?
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- The full, up-to-date listing of 500+ theaters that are looking for new plays
- Regular emails of new play submission opportunities with year-round and hard deadlines
- Access to over $10,000 in prize & content money
Here’s what your fellow playwright have to say about PSH:
“PSH was recommended to me by a playwright I looked up to when I was first starting out. The price was reasonable, and it has been a great tool. I found a few opportunities that I could take advantage of with the few plays I had written at that time. Later in the summer I found out I had won a national contest, collecting many hundreds of dollars. The opportunities are varied and specific, with links provided so time is not wasted frolicking through websites to get to the information you need. PSH also gives a quick overview of what kind of material people are looking for out there. It helps me prioritize my work so that I’m offering plays with a better chance of seeing a stage. I’ve written to PSH with questions, and they were more than responsive, obviously passionate about the playwriting community. Yes, I highly recommend subscribing to PSH.”
– Dave Durham, Michigan Playwright