Organizations Type : Contests

Since 1995, playwrights from around the world have submitted their scripts to Actors’ Theatre, in the hopes that their piece might be one of those selected to become a full-fledged production at the 8 Tens @ 8 Festival.

A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) is dedicated to producing relevant works on contemporary themes. ACT is where artistic ambition and civic engagement unite. We envision a world where the power of theatre expands our collective understanding of community and our own humanity. One of the great benefits of having a contemporary theatre in our community is that we ensure all artists shaping our culture have a voice in driving the theatre of tomorrow. Over the last 55 years, ACT has supported these voices as they sharpen and grow and has honed its mission around nurturing the theatre makers of the next generation. Our renewed commitment to New Works by local playwrights leads our theatre back to life during this extraordinary time of transition bringing Seattle’s voice beyond our stage into the...

The annual ASF translation competition is awarded for the most outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama or literary prose written by a Scandinavian author born after 1900. The Nadia Christensen Prize includes a $2,500 award, publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review, and a commemorative bronze medallion. The Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award, given to an individual whose literature translations from a Nordic language have not previously been published, includes a $2,000 award, publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review, and a commemorative bronze medallion. The Wigeland Prize, given to the best translation by a Norwegian, includes a $2,000 award, publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review, and a commemorative bronze medallion.

Every June, The Blank Theatre produces the 12 best plays by playwrights ages 9 to 19, chosen from a nationwide competition. In the past 25 years, we’ve produced 308 plays by these young writers. Nowhere else in the nation can young playwrights receive the prize of seeing their vision come to life on stage in a professional production featuring known actors from film, television and theatre.

The prize-winning one-act play winner receives a $500 prize and travel support to attend the prize play production at the Georgia College campus (usually in March.)

To support and advance the study and practice of theatre and performance in higher education.

he award honors a new play marked by sophisticated and nuanced storytelling, with the potential to make a major artistic impact on contemporary theatre.

Congo Square Theatre Company is a professional ensemble based organization who champions the African American experience by producing definitive and transformative theatre, spawned from the African Diaspora, to enlighten, educate, and inspire everyone. Congo Square Theatre Company seeks to establish itself as an institution of multicultural theatre globally.

New England Theatre Conference is the network that connects, supports and provides resources to theatre artists and educators throughout our region, while promoting excellence in the field.

When the Joining Sword & Pen competition opens, the Babes publish an image which becomes part of the submitted scripts. These blind submissions are full length plays which are read by and voted on by the ensemble. The winner will participate in the development process in Fighting Words and then go to full production by the Babes. The winning script’s playwright will also receive the Margaret Martin Award ($1000) sponsored by Babes’ longtime benefactor, David Woolley.

Theatre in the Raw is looking for one act plays - no more than thirty pages and no more than six characters. Important qualities to look out for would be creativity, diversity, and originality.

The purpose of the organization shall be to provide facilities, education, training, and encouragement to all members of the community who are interested in participating in the dramatic arts and further to educate the community to the appreciation of the dramatic arts by providing a variety of dramatic entertainment.

The California Young Playwrights Contest is open to Californians under age 19. Every year young playwrights submit original scripts to the contest. Every writer who requests feedback receives an individualized script critique. Selected writers win script readings or full professional productions in Plays by Young Writers. Distinguished artists from major theatres select festival scripts and write comments to the playwrights. With support from a dramaturg, each winning writer strengthens his or her script and participates in every step of the production process.

The MNJCC strives to be an inclusive and welcoming hub for a healthy and joyful community, anchored in jewish values, where all downtown Toronto feel they belong.

“Connecting You to Opportunities in Theatre Nationwide”

City Theatre's three-part mission is to: Develop and produce predominantly new work, specifically in the short play and short musicals genre. Leverage our theatrical expertise to engage and educate the community. Provide thought leadership to the theatrical industry.

To further interest in community theatre, encourage playwriting as an aspect of community theatre and promote the production of new plays by community theatres, CTAM holds an annual play writing contest open to Michigan playwrights.

The Cunningham Commission was established by an endowment gift from the Cunningham family and is presented annually. The purpose of the commission is to encourage the writing of dramatic works for young audiences that affirm the centrality of religion, broadly defined, and the human quest for meaning, truth, and community. The Theatre School intends to produce the plays created through this commission in its award-winning Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences series.

Presented in association with Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences and sponsored by the National Committee for the Performing Arts, the Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award recognizes the outstanding student-written play or adaptation on a theme for young people at any level between kindergarten and 12th grades. * A $1000 cash prize will be awarded to the playwright. * Dramatists Guild Award. The Dramatists Guild Award provides the playwright with Active membership in the Guild. * The Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices Fellowship. The award recipient receives a fellowship to attend the Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices development laboratory in even numbered years and a professional development opportunity to be mutually determined in odd-numbered years. The Fellowship...

Norton J. “Sky” Cooper established the Calicchio Prize at Marin Theatre Company in 2007, in honor of David Calicchio’s lifelong career as a playwright, and in support of Marin Theatre Company’s commitment to the discovery and development of new and emerging American playwrights. The playwright selected as the Calicchio Prize winner will receive a $2,500 cash award, a professional developmental workshop for the winning play, plus round-trip travel and accommodations during their stay at MTC. The workshop will culminate in an invited or public staged reading at Marin Theatre Company.

Supported by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, The David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award is presented in an effort to promote the writing and production of new plays while honoring and perpetuating the memory of David Mark Cohen, Professor of Playwriting, the University of Texas-Austin. Developed by the Playwriting Program of ATHE and the National Playwriting Program of KCACTF, the award is intended to provide incentive to college and university theatre production departments to foster the growth and development of playwrights through the public presentations of unpublished full-length plays or a collection of shorter works for the stage that have not received a professional production.

Down for #TheCount features six short plays by women of all backgrounds. The purpose of the festival is to amplify the female voice in American theatre. This event will bring exciting, humorous, and heartbreaking stories by local and national celebrated playwrights. Currently, approximately 22% of American theater productions have been written by women, for women of color the numbers are even lower – a dismal 3%. Now in its 3rd year, this event is a call to action to change those numbers locally and nationally and to give a platform to the voices and perspectives of women on the American stage.

At the heart of EMOS is the Ecodrama New Play Contest, which calls playwrights and theatre makers to engage in the global and local ecological issues that face societies across cultures. The concurrent EMOS Symposium fosters dialogue about the intersection of environment, culture, and performance.

The Francesca Primus Prize is an annual $10,000 award honoring outstanding contributions to the American theater by an emerging female playwright, one who has not yet achieved national prominence.

The Fred Ebb Foundation, established in 2005 under the terms of Fred Ebb’s will, has twin purposes. First, it bestows an annual award (with a $60,000 stipend) to an aspiring musical theatre songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success. Second, it makes an annual contribution to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Since its first contribution in 2005, the Ebb Foundation has donated more than ten million dollars to Broadway Cares.

Each region establishes submission criteria for its regional ten-minute play festival. Selected playwrights work with a director, dramaturg, and actors to develop a staged reading of the play, followed by a response session with guest respondents during the regional festival. All colleges and universities with at least one Participating or Associate Entry in KCACTF may enter the Ten-Minute Play Festival at no additional charge. Submissions from schools with no entries in Festival should consult regional websites for entry information.

Up to two submission per writer, unproduced submission preferred, 10-50 minutes in length, exploring a contemporary peace theme (broadly defined). First prize is $500, full production, room and board.

Musical works including, but not limited to, choral, orchestral, chamber, song-cycle, dance, opera, musical theater, extended solo. Accompanied by a prize of $100,000, which is presented in full during the awards ceremony. See website for details.

For the outstanding student-written, full-length play premiering at a college or university participating in KCACTF program.

This $1,000 award recognizes a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. Established in 1976, it is given annually. A noted translator chooses the winning book.

SRT’s Learning & Engagement Programme is committed to bringing meaningful and relevant programmes to students, teachers and emerging theatre talents. We believe theatre has the power to engage and transform. We are collaborating with leading artists and educators in Singapore and around the world to provide inquiry based and experiential learning for young people, skill development in drama as pedagogy for educators and mentorship for emerging talents and on-going skill building for various industries.

The biennial BBC World Service International Radio Playwriting Competition is an opportunity for writers from outside the UK to tell the stories that matter to a world audience. The Open University is proud to co-produce the competition in partnership with BBC World Service and the British Council . BBC is now accepting submissions for their International Radio Playwriting Competition through January 31. First prize winner wins £2,200 sterling (a little over $2900 in USD), a trip to London, and have your play broadcast across the world on BBC World Service.

Est. 1988. In memory of Jackie Pettit White (1947-1991). This contest seeks to encourage playwrights to write quality plays for family audiences. Originally intended to find plays suitable for Theatre School production, the winning entries are produced for CEC's Summer Family Theatre Program, using actors of all ages. Please see website for details.

Award for a student-written play addressing issues of disability (as defined by the ADA). Plays accepted only from college/university participating in KC/ACTF program.

Scripts will be accepted October 2, 2017 through Friday, January 19, 2018. The first 150 scripts will be accepted. The winner will be announced in April 2018, with a cash award of $750. In addition, the season selection committee will consider the play for full production in the 2019-2020 season. Plays should be of a strong ensemble nature with emphasis on character rather than spectacle. There is no censorship of subject matter for the competition.

The John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play recognizes one or more outstanding scripts each year for presentation at the national festival at the Kennedy Center.

Fosters new playwrights and scripts through this important competition established by Molly Gassner, wife of theatre historian John Gassner. The winning script will be given a staged reading at the New England Theatre Conference Annual Convention in October.

This is a national competition to discover and to encourage American dramatists and was established by Neil Simon in 1977 to foster the development of quality plays for the theater. The competition was renamed in 1985 to honor Julie Harris in appreciation of her continuing encouragement to playwrights.

The University of Arkansas Department of Theatre administers the Kernodle New Play Award, a national playwriting competition named for George R. Kernodle, beloved U of A theatre professor and author of "Invitation to the Theatre". The award recognizes full-length plays that invite the audience’s imagination and are inherently theatrical.

To produce classic and new plays with distinction and verve, and to present artists with production opportunities and challenges seldom available elsewhere. To provide a training program in which emerging theater talents collaborate with accomplished mentors in a vital, professional, and educational atmosphere. To create and present programs that serve and engage a diverse community.

The award will be presented to the outstanding student-written play written by a student of Latinx heritage. The national award recipient will receive $1,000. The second place award is a cash prize of $500.

Supported by the Kennedy Center Education Department, The Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, initiated in 1977, is part of the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program. The Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award is presented in the memory of the distinguished dramatist for the outstanding KCACTF student-written plays on the subject of the African-American experience. Hansberry was the first African-American playwright, and the youngest of any color, to win the New York Drama Critics Award for her drama, A Raisin in the Sun, which opened on Broadway in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry died in 1965 of cancer, at age thirty-four, at the peak of her career.

The Castillo Theatre sponsors the Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest and reading series bi-annually. The contest is intended to encourage the writing of progressive plays that engage the political/social/cultural questions affecting the world today and/or historical events and issues that impact on our communities. See website for details.

For the outstanding student-written comedy or play with a significant comic element from college/university participating in KC/ACTF program.

Est. 1990. Named for Maxim Mazumdar (1953-87). Winning full-length receives premiere production in mainstage season, and a royalty/prize of $400. Winning one-act receives premiere in Buffalo Quickies one-act celebration, and a royalty/prize of $100. Full script. Limit of one play or musical per year. Must not exceed more than 10 performers. All submissions of musicals must include an audio CD. Visit website for more information and complete guidelines. Submission fee is $25, or $15 for current DG members.

Est. in 1989, to honor Mike McLaren who was a long-time MCT volunteer. Every August finalists from the competition are presented in Mabee Theatre II as reader theatre productions. The afternoon event allows those in attendance a chance to vote for their favorite and select the winner for the competition.

The Miranda Family Foundation Voces Latinx National Playwriting Competition is to discover, develop, promote and amplify Latinx plays and playwrights. Repertorio Español is now in its 53rd season and 2nd decade of championing new works through playwriting initiatives. To that end, this competition and our theatre will prepare the way for an American Theatre that is reflective and representative of the Pan Latinx Community. An endeavor that becomes increasingly more important.

The award is designed to encourage and stimulate artistic growth among educational and professional playwrights. It provides students and faculty the unique opportunity to mount and produce an original work on the university stage. The playwright will benefit from seeing the work on its feet in front of an audience and from professional adjudication by guest critics. Competition Rules ​A broad theme is selected each year for the competition that entries for that year must adhere to. There is no restriction to style. Our next submission period will be from September 1 - October 1, 2022. Submissions received outside of the submission period will not be considered. The theme for the 2022 competition is rural America. Only one play per playwright may be entered per biennium. The competition i...

The Milken Playwriting Prize is a biennial theater prize for plays that are written for teen actors to perform. The prize is $2,000, with a play development process culminating in a full production at Milken Community Schools. The goal is to encourage skilled playwrights and authors to write extraordinary plays that are suited to teen actors: shorter plays with large casts and more roles for females. Most playwrights today are focused on writing small cast shows for theaters, even though many opportunities exist for larger high school productions throughout the English-speaking world. The Milken Playwriting Prize winner will be widely publicized.

The Mississippi Theatre Association is composed of six divisions targeting distinct groups. Each division sponsors festivals, workshops, and retreats; recognizes excellence in performance and production; advises theatre leaders and educators; shares information on upcoming productions; and advocates to government agencies, business, and the public.

The National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. began in 1979 as the Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop, and is a fully-qualified 501(c)(3) non-for-profit corporation based in Missouri.

The National Latine Playwrights Award has foreshadowed the powerful impact of Latine playwrights in the U.S., celebrating the voice of the playwright and the simple beauty of the word. Latine playwrights must live in the United States, its territories, or Mexico. Scripts may be in English, Spanish, or a combination of the two (Spanish scripts must be accompanied by an English translation). Plays must be unpublished, professionally unproduced, and not currently under option at the time of submission. The winner of the National Latine Playwrights Award will receive $2,500 and a developmental workshop at Arizona Theatre Company. The selection process, for the award, is comprised of two-tiers of readers, including a final panel of national artists.

The Smith Prize for Political Theater, entering its 16thyear, offers a $10,000 commission/award to emerging playwrights who dramatize the pressing socio-political issues of our time. The prize includes a $5,000 commission to write a new play, $2,500 to develop it through workshops and readings, and a $2,500 subsidy to the first theater to give the play a full production. Half the funds come from private donors, and the other half from the National New Play Network (NNPN) which also administers the prize. All together, the prize winners represent a group of playwrights who are transforming the American stage. The Smith Prize supported one playwright who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Martyna Majok). Another (George Brant) had a production at The Public Theater in NYC starrin...

All submissions must be original, unpublished and un-produced (not staged for a paying audience as of date of entry) one-act plays. Time permitting, the Little Theatre of Alexandria intends to produce the winner(s) of our contest in the NVTA One-Act Play Festival, which is held in late June or early July each year. In addition, cash awards of $350 for 1st Place, $250 for 2nd Place and $150 for 3rd Place are presented.

Est. 1978. ALTA only accepts submissions from publishers for this award. Book must be translated from any language into English. Publishers are invited to submit translated works of poetry or prose published in the previous calendar year. Hybrid works and drama are welcome, and may be submitted to either category as determined appropriate by the publisher.

YouthPLAYS publishes a diverse range of talented and original dramatic voices, both new and established, from all over the world, in order to provide a superior, carefully curated collection of plays and musicals for young actors and audiences. The winner gets publication, a cash prize, and copies of Final Draft and Great Dialogue software! See website for details and submission form.

New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest was developed to bring works of social significance to the attention of Producers and Artistic Directors. Winner receives a reading with Q & A in a professional venue valued at $1,000 + $300 cash prize.

The Greensboro Playwrights' Forum is proud to sponsor the NC New Play Project, an annual workshop production.

The Woodward/Newman Award is an exclusive honor offered by Constellation Stage & Screen, started through the support of Joanne Woodward, Newman’s Own Foundation, and the Newman family, celebrating Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward’s tremendous history of work on stage and screen. It presents the best unpublished play of the year with a cash prize of $3,000 and a full production as part of Constellation’s Mainstage season. Please note that there are significant changes to our submission and selection process from previous years. In order to make the Woodward/Newman Award accessible to all, we have eliminated submission fees as well as the contest format. The Woodward/Newman Award will continue to be awarded to an unpublished new play once per year and come with a $3,000 cash prize and...

Supported by the University of Kansas Endowment Association, this award is given to the outstanding full-length or one-act play on any subject written by a student of Asian heritage, in honor of Paul Stephen Lim's outstanding career as teacher, playwright and passionate advocate for new voices in the American Theatre.

This award is offered to the outstanding student-written play that play that explores issues of gender, diversity, and sexual orientation.

PEN confers over $350,000 to writers in the fields of fiction, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, translation, drama, or poetry.

We unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. We support the translation of book-length works of prose, poetry, and drama.

Est. 1998. For Master American Dramatist: ​Candidates are proposed by the judges; nominations are not accepted. For American Playwright in Mid-career and Emerging American Playwright: Any playwright, writer, or member of the theater community may submit a nomination. However, a playwright may not nominate his or herself.

Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival returns on Monday, July 11, 2022. Six brand new short plays will be selected from an open-submission process and presented in live in-person staged readings alongside two new short plays by commissioned writers, STEPHEN ADLY GUIRGIS (Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street) and LARISSA FASTHORSE (The Thanksgiving Play, What Would Crazy Horse Do?). INSPIRATION We are looking for work with classical inspiration. The word ALCHEMY is just a jumping-off point for creative thematic juices. Review our Mission and take a look through our history of Readings and Productions to see the kind of work we have done. Respond to a play we’ve produced or choose a classic of your own to adapt. You might riff on a classical character, borrow a classic...

Kumu Kahua Theatre is a non-profit theatre company that has presented original productions of special relevance to the people of Hawai‘i since 1971. Each year Kumu Kahua Theatre co-sponsors a playwriting contest with the UHM Theatre Department in its effort to bring new and exciting drama to the stage. Although Kumu Kahua Theatre has a strong commitment to producing the works of local playwrights in recent years they have produced several plays pertaining to Hawai‘i that have been written by non-Hawai‘i residents. Kumu Kahua Theatre recognizes that many playwrights who have moved to the mainland, for example, may have valuable insights to offer about their local experiences. The playwriting contest is offered in three separate categories. One prize will be offered in each category. All...

Est. 1984. This annual award was established to honor past member and playwright, Bob Pickering, and to provide a vehicle for playwrights to see their works produced. Prize: $200 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place.

The Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, presented in association with the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, celebrates one of the great Americans of the civil rights movement, and recognizes the outstanding student or faculty-written full-length or one-act play on the subject of social justice and/or civil rights. Must be participating in KC/ACTF program.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Teens in grades 7–12 apply in 29 categories of art and writing.

An annual competition for San Diego playwrights.

Founded in 1948, THE SCRIPTEASERS, a San Diego-based playwrights development group, is the longest continually operating organization in the nation dedicated to helping writers refine their craft. Writers, actors and theater lovers are welcome.

This is an ongoing contest, with a winner selected by June 1 each year from all eligible submissions received the previous year. All eligible plays accepted for publication will be considered contest finalists, from which the winner will be selected. The contest winner will receive a $1,000 royalty advance in addition to publication.

Marin Theatre Company produces world-class theater for the Marin County and Bay Area communities. We pursue a dialogue with our community that addresses our national and local concerns and interests and assists us in finding a new understanding of our lives. We create future artists and arts patrons through innovative programs for youth. he Sky Cooper Prize will be awarded annually to either an established or emerging playwright for an outstanding new work. The play selected as the Sky Cooper winner will receives a $10,000 award and a developmental workshop as part of the theater’s annual New Play Reading Series. The winning play will also be considered under option for a full production at MTC as part of the theater’s annual main stage season.

Welcome to our 10th Annual Inkslinger Playwriting Contest. We are excited to celebrate our tenth year of supporting new works. Our venue, The Vonnie Borden Theatre, is under renovation and all of our productions until it is complete are at nearby theatres such as The Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts and Reimer's Memorial Auditorium in downtown Hammond. Southeastern Theatre is committed to developing emerging voices in theatre by providing full productions of yet-to-be-published winning plays as part of its Mainstage Season. No other undergraduate theatre program in our region dedicates a quarter of its season every academic year to new play development at this level. Our students benefit from being part of the process of developing a new play and our audiences and students h...

The Southern Playwrights Competition seeks to identify and encourage the best of Southern play writing. An annual award of $1,000 will be presented to the first-prize winner, as well as a consideration for production by the Jacksonville State University Department of Drama. Southern Playwrights Competition reserves the right to use the name of the play and the author's name in all publicity and promotions. See website for details.

A cash award of $2,500 is presented by the Sons of the Republic of Texas to the author of a work of creative writing on the Republic of Texas. The purpose of this award is to encourage literary effort and research about historical events and personalities during the days of the Republic of Texas,1836-1846, and to stimulate interest in this period. The judges determine which entry best portrays the spirit, character, strength, and deeds of those who lived in the Republic of Texas.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, established in 1978, is given annually to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. The Prize is administered in Houston, London and New York by a board of directors who choose six Judges each year, three from each side of the Atlantic. The Prize currently awards $70,000 annually to the Finalists:Winner- $25,000, Special Commendation-$10,000, and other Finalists- $5,000. Finalists are the top ten plays. In addition, the Winner receives a signed and numbered Willem de Kooning print made especially for the award. The Special Commendation is given at the discretion of the Judges.

The Kentucky Women Writers Conference awards a biennial Prize for Women Playwrights to bring more scripts by women to the stage, through a collaboration among our program, partnering director Eric Seale, and guest judge Ifa Bayeza. The winner receives a world premier production for a paying audience in November 2019, with royalties, plus a cash prize of $500. The winning script may be workshopped prior to its production. If you would like to receive our bi-monthly listserv with updates about this contest and our other programming, please send your request to kentuckywomenwriters@gmail.com.

The Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP) strives to be a leading artistic force in the production and encouragement of new plays. The BPP provides opportunities for development, education, and production for promising and established writers and theater artists in a professional environment. The Reva Shiner Comedy Award presents an unpublished full-length COMEDY with a cash prize of $1,000, a full production as part of the Bloomington Playwrights Project’s Mainstage season, along with travel reimbursement. The submission fee is waved for Dramatists Guild members.

Play must be entered by a college or university participating in the KCACTF program. A registration fee of $200 (associate level) or $250 (participating) must be paid to qualify.

Annual New Play contest produced by Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts. Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts is no longer accepting submissions for its Annual New Play Contest. The next cycle begins between December 2019 and March 2020. All works submitted will be read and judged by a panel of qualified theatre teachers, directors and performers. Work submitted to the contest must be a full length play with seven actors or less and have simple to moderate technical demands. Play having up to three previous productions are welcome. No musicals please, as we are a tone deaf theatre company. For more information please visit our website.

Theatre Oxford is formed, organized and operated exclusively as a community theatrical group for the purpose of instituting, promoting and maintaining a community theatre for the enjoyment, entertainment and education of the public through the production and presentation of live stage performances and other ancillary and derivative activities. It is a community theatre dedicated to bringing dramatic art to the Oxford/Lafayette/University community through readings, demonstrations, workshops and productions. We are committed to developing new works as well as traditional themes for children and adults. Relying on the expertise of professionals and amateurs in our community who volunteer their services as actors, technicians, writers, producers and directors, we seek to meet community needs...

Est. 1979 with a grant from Alice and Franklin Cooley, the Towson University Prize for Literature is awarded annually for a single book or book-length manuscript of fiction, poetry, drama or imaginative nonfiction by a Maryland writer. The prize is granted on the basis of literary and aesthetic excellence as determined by a panel of distinguished judges appointed by the university.

The ATA will award a grant-in-aid to any student undertaking a written work derived from any facet of translation studies. We present annual and biennial awards to encourage, reward, and publicize outstanding work done by both seasoned professionals and students of our craft. See website for different award opportunities.

David A. Einhorn was the co-founder of Untitled Theater Company No. 61. This prize is to commemorate his work, with a special emphasis on supporting a playwright who has been working independently for a number of years, producing work independently without the support of large institutional theaters.

Our $500 Emerging Playwright Award (coupled with press coverage) is given to playwrights who show excellence and dedication throughout this process from development to the stage.

Since 1995, the USA Songwriting Competition®, the world's leading international songwriting event, has been honoring songwriters, composers, bands, and recording artists everywhere. This is open to all, regardless of nationality or country origin.

Est. 1982. The intent of the award is to promote the theater arts and to encourage and support the creation of original plays by residents of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cash prize: $1,000.

The Verse Drama Prize seeks to bring renewed attention to an under-recognized area of poetry. The prize will honor a living poet who has written a previously unpublished, outstanding original verse drama in English. The award recipient will receive a cash purse of $10,000 and a staged reading of his or her winning manuscript in Chicago. Awards will be named annually or from time to time, as appropriate to maintain the prestige and quality of the prizes.

Est. 1993. HRC Showcase Theatre in Hudson, New York, invites submissions of full-length plays to its annual contest from new, aspiring or established playwrights. Each submitted play should be between 70 and 90 pages in length. No one-person shows, musicals or children’s plays will be considered.

The Whiting Foundation provides targeted support for writers, scholars, and the stewards of humanity’s shared cultural heritage.

The Wichita State University National Playwriting Contest was created in 1974 by Bela Kiralyfalvi, Ph.D., Theatre Professor and Director of the School of Performing Arts until his retirement in 2003. Awards The selected playwright’s script will be workshopped, culminating in either a staged reading or a fully realized production by the WSU School of Performing Arts Program. Active participation by the playwright is required. If selected for production the show may be entered as an associate or participating entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) and the script will be submitted to KCACTF for consideration in playwriting award categories. The “prize” for the winner is travel and lodging so that the playwright may attend the production. Development Process The...

Writer’s Digest’s oldest and most popular competition: the Annual Writing Competition. Writer’s Digest has been shining a spotlight on up and coming writers in all genres through its Annual Writing Competition for over 90 years.

The Yale Drama Series is an annual, international competition for emerging playwrights. The winner is awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of the winning play by Yale University Press and a staged reading.

Contest winners will see their short plays professionally produced on theREP's stage and will receive a series of workshops led by a professional playwright. Playwrights must be at least 13 years old and no older than 19 years at the time of submission, and must reside within a 90-mile radius of Albany, NY.

The Play Competition for Youth Theatre represents grades 6-8 and grades 9-12 and offers two prizes: First prize: $1,200, Second prize: $600.

From eligible submissions, one play shall be selected for production on the main-stage of Nittany Theatre at the Barn (a 99 seat regional summer stock theatre) during Constitution Week. As cast by Nittany Theatre at the Barn's Producing Artistic Director (and designated directors), members of the resident theatre company will perform the play with simple staging, sets, props, costumes, lighting and sound effects. Depending on the size and complexity of the play, performances may be book-in-hand. The selected play will be staged after 6 - 8 rehearsals and receive 3 performances in front of a live audience. Each performance will be followed by an audience talk-back session with playwright, directors, tech, staff, and cast in attendance. See website for updates and details.

Center Theatre Group's $10,000 Richard E. Sherwood Award for emerging theatre artists is given annually to nurture innovative and adventurous theatre artists working in Los Angeles.

The MUT Competition for Musical Entertainment Theatre organised by the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, Germany aims to discover and encourage outstanding artistic personalities in the world of musical entertainment theatre. Creative composers, lyricists and authors with an affinity with musical entertainment theatre are invited to develop dramatic concepts on a theme of their choice and to apply to become competition-winners. From the concepts submitted, an international jury of artistic directors, dramaturgy experts and publishers from the German and international music theatre scene, will select, without knowing who the writers are, a total of six concepts which will be presented to an audience at the final presentation in July at the Gärtnerplatztheater. The winner gets €5,000...

The Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women was founded by Yellow Rose Productions, with permission of Beth Henley, to encourage and recognize the new works of female playwrights. The Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women aims to give voice to the stories of this generation and to bring into the spotlight important works that have been crafted. See website for details.

We celebrate young playwrights and focus on presenting their work in the same way we present that of the professional playwrights we work with.

As Philadelphia’s premier producer of new work, we have been actively involved in the commissioning and development of new plays since our inception in 1988, and are always seeking provocative and dynamic new plays that can be considered for production. To that end, in August 2017 we launched our New Play Development Award, geared toward promising plays that could benefit from additional development and have the potential to be premiered by InterAct in future seasons. The play selected for this award will receive a multi-day developmental workshop at InterAct, along with a $1,000 cash award for the playwright.

The American Shakespeare Center recovers the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education. Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries is a groundbreaking, industry-changing undertaking that is discovering, developing, and producing a new canon of 38 plays that are inspired by and in conversation with Shakespeare’s work. It’s an opportunity for playwrights of every background, perspective, and style to engage with Shakespeare and his stage practices. It’s our chance to bring living writers into the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre: the Blackfriars Playhouse. Playwrights get: a world premiere production of their play; $25,000 prize; travel and housing for...

The QC Theatre Workshop is seeking submissions of original plays that feature strong female lead characters, which focus on gender issues, social justice, and/or current events. The plays will be scored by a panel of judges, and the finalists will be performed at the Susan Glaspell Playwriting Festival, held at the QC Theatre Workshop in February. Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1876. She was a journalist, author, actor and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. She founded the Provincetown Players, one of the first great American theatres, which launched the careers of such luminaries as Eugene O'Neil, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Theodore Dreiser. In her works, Glaspell often challenged gender roles and featured strong, well-written female characters that drove the action of th...

The New Theater Festival competition is for plays and musicals. Productions includes; full length plays, one act plays, shorts, solos and musical theater. The Festival has more than 10 years of continuous production which offered opportunities to more than 1,250 playwrights. Submissions accepted year-round.

The world premieres of four short plays. Winners announced by April 2019.

Butterfly Effect Theatre Company presents profound theatrical stories that inspire our audiences and enrich our community. Each season, BETC selects one playwright through a national competition to join us in Boulder for a one-week residency. During the residency week, the playwright works with a professional director, dramaturg, and actors to develop the selected script. The week concludes with a public reading and post-reading conversation. BETC takes pleasure in supporting our parent playwright residents’ writing careers post-residency, and advocating for production of their plays through connections within the National New Play Network. Competition guidelines will be posted in June on our website and through the New Play Exchange, with a September deadline. See website for details.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cash prizes, and the winning plays are produced the following late summer or fall. This is the oldest one-act playwriting contest in the US.

The Santa Fe Opera's mission is to advance the operatic art form by presenting ensemble performances of the highest quality in a unique setting with a varied repertoire of new, rarely performed, and standard works; to ensure the excellence of opera's future through apprentice programs for singers, technicians and arts administrators; and to foster and enrich an understanding and appreciation of opera among a diverse public.

Grand prize includes $1,500, a professional staged reading at the next Festival, VIP All-Access Festival pass ($600 value) for the next Festival, and publication in Bayou Magazine. See website for all details. We are a five-day literary arts festival held every spring right around March 26, the birthday of our patron saint and inspiration, playwright Tennessee Williams. Our Festival is perfect for readers, writers, theater lovers, and anyone who loves New Orleans’ magical culture.

In 2006 an anonymous donor created the Todd McNerney Playwriting Award to honor faculty member and former Chair Todd McNerney and to recognize the excellence of College of Charleston student playwrights. The initial award was created to be awarded to a student written 10-minute play and continues to this day. In 2009, the same generous donor provided additional resources to create a second award that focuses on full-length plays that is open to playwrights from across the nation. The donor and the award support the development of new plays and raise awareness of the College and its Theatre and Dance Department's commitment to new work.

Each year CSC selects one play from the festival to go on to full production as part of the Susan Glaspell contest. Due to the challenges of COVID, that opportunity may be delayed until theatres have fully recovered. Plays selected for this process receive an additional award of $1500 to the playwright.

Young Playwrights in Process (YPiP) is an annual playwriting competition for Indiana students in grades 6-12. The competition was created in 2005 through the Margot L. and Robert S. Eccles Trust, and sponsored in collaboration with IRT. YPiP encourages junior high and high school students across Indiana to create plays for live theatre that reflect and challenge their world.

New York Stage and Film is a non-profit company dedicated to both emerging and established artists in the development and production of theater and film. Since 1985, we’ve been a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that start with us and continue across the country and around the world. The Founders' Award Recipient receives a one-month residency during the Powerhouse Theater Season, where they work with the rich community of artists, and New York Stage and Film's artistic staff. They receive a professional reading of their latest play at the end of the residency, and a monetary award.

The Firehouse is committed to the development of new work. This festival fosters the growth of New England playwrights while showcasing the talent of local and regional actors and directors. New England playwrights submit their 10-minute, one-act, and full-length plays to an independent panel who select the festival’s shows in anonymous readings. Directors and their casts then work with selected playwrights to produce two weekends of theater.

The Hart New Play Initiative is an ongoing play development program. During its first year, 1243 playwrights (from 43 states and 5 countries) participated by submitting scripts. That led to 23 Semi-Finalists, 8 Finalists, and 4 Bronze Medallions. The Bronze Medallion recipients were Exit Wounds, Confederates, Find & Sign by Wendy MacLeod and Queen by Madhuri Shekar. They all received readings at 59E59 Theaters in New York July 12-15, 2018 as part of our Jeremy Nussbaum New Play Reading Series.

The Leah Ryan Fund helps sustain and support writers facing individual challenges and systemic oppression so they can keep writing, connecting, creating, and thriving. The Fund currently offers an annual playwriting prize (The Leah) and an annual award for writers facing a serious illness (The Vladimir). The Leah Ryan Fund was established in 2008 to honor the memory of Leah Ryan, a woman of letters who wrote plays, poetry, essays, lyrics, adaptations, and collaborated with performance artists.

Est. 2009, the Papatango New Writing Prize was the first – and remains the only – annual playwriting award in the UK to guarantee an emerging playwright a full production on the professional stage. The competition is open to anyone resident in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland only. The winning writer will receive £7000. Their script will be produced by Papatango in a month-long run in The Large theatre at Southwark Playhouse, London, with the writer receiving a royalty of 8% of the net box office. It will also be published by Nick Hern Books.

Playwrights Local seeks original, unproduced plays for our season's programs and events. Approximately fifteen works will be selected for multiple opportunities.

The Chameleon Theatre Circle (located in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota) is seeking original works that have never been produced. All styles and genres are welcomed (i.e. one-acts, musicals, full length dramas, etc.). The winning plays are scheduled to be showcased in a concert-format festival in the fall of 2019. All shows submitted will automatically be placed on the slate of shows in consideration for the 2020/2021 season by the Season Planning Committee.

In this exciting and innovative program, women playwrights collaborate with directors, dramaturgs and actors, to bring brand new work to the public. The Plays In Progress Series has grown to be a vital arena for fostering new work by female writers. This Series is an opportunity for new plays to be developed in one of three models: concert or table readings, and our workshops. Rehearsals and presentation will take place in Denver at a location to be determined over the course of approximately March-April 2020. Three to six new plays will be selected based on a blind submission process and given a dramaturg, director, cast and basic design elements during presentations. Scripts are being accepted from March 1 – April 15, 2019. Please find the detailed submission guide here:...

Barrington Stage is taking their commitment to playwrights and new plays to a new level with a National New Play Award. Barrington Stage is proud to announce the creation of The Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award for an Outstanding Play. The winner will receive $25,000, with two runners-up receiving $5,000 each. Submissions must include a letter of endorsement from a professional theatre, commercial producer, literary agent, playwright development organization, the head of MFA playwriting program or a playwriting professor at an MFA playwriting program.

Citadel Theatre is committed to producing exciting, compelling, emotionally and intellectually rich work of the highest caliber by bringing together gifted professionals from all theatrical disciplines. Awards: First place: $350, second place: $100 and third place prize of $50. The top 10 plays will be included in Citadel Theatre’s 1st Annual Ten Minute Play Festival.

Columbia University, on the recommendation of The Pulitzer Prize Board, annually awards a Pulitzer Prize in drama of $15,000 "for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life."

Award-winning Pantochino Productions Inc, a professional not-for-profit theatre for family audiences in Milford, Connecticut, is now accepting submissions for its “POW" (Pantochino Original Works) Festival of new musicals by early career and emerging playwrights, composers and lyricists. Details at www.pantochino.com

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and nurture the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts, and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. Through a wide range of annual programs, performances, and partnerships with some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions, YoungArts aspires to create a strong community of alumni and a platform for a lifetime of encouragement, opportunity and support. YoungArts’ signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12 from across the United States. Selected through a blind adjudication process conducted by an independent panel of highly accomplished ar...

Black Power Theatre is proud to announce the "FIRST ANNUAL POWER PLAYS COMPETITION". We are excited to showcase stories that depict the essence of such a diverse group while staying true to the times. We are looking for new playwrights to inspire us with amazing new stories and depictions of members of the African diaspora. The plays should be written with fearless intent, true to your own voice and passion. The plays should be raw, honest and take the audience through an unforgettable journey. The "Power Plays" competition will foster and elevate writers work to its fullest potential and reignite the Arts Movement right here in the Caribbean.

11th Biennial One-Act Contest - We're looking for new and fresh one-act plays never before performed or published (plays can be previously work-shopped). We particularly look forward to plays submitted on themes of cultural/social diversity! The winners will Receive: • First Prize: A $200 cash prize. At least one dramatic reading or staging of the play at a Theatre In the Raw One-Act Series or as part of a BC mini-tour. • Second Prize: A $100 cash prize. • Third Prize: A $75 cash prize.

InspiraTO is Canada’s largest ten-minute play festival. The theme of each festival must be an integral part of the play. See website for details. The story can be a comedy, a drama, a parody, absurd or anything in between (in English only). We also accept musicals. The contest is open to anyone, in any part of the world, without geographic or age restrictions. Scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your play.

The Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award will be given to an emerging female composer, or composer-lyricist who compellingly demonstrates outstanding artistic promise in musical theater composing, and who can clearly show how the grant money and mentorship will further her artistic career. The recipient of the Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award will be selected by a committee of industry professionals chosen by the Ziegfeld Club and will be presented at a private reception in New York City in November 2018. The recipient of the Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award will receive a grant of $10,000 in addition to professional, and artistic mentorship for one year.

The Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists is a juried cash and production grant given annually to support the early work and career of a deserving musical theatre librettist. The winner will receive $2,000 to help with cost-of-living expenses. The winning musical will receive development assistance in the 2021 New Works Development Program of Amas Musical Theatre, culminating in an Amas Lab production with New York theatre professionals. Amas, which is administering the award, was the development home for several of Mr. Weinberger’s musicals, and which produced the World Premiere of Wanda’s World and the New York Premiere of Tea for Three.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company uses stage combat to place women and their stories center stage. Through performance, script development, training and outreach, our ensemble creates theatre that explores the wide range of the human experience, and cultivates broader perspectives in the arts community and in society as a whole.

The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation is a not-for-profit organization recognizing the great work of New York City's Off-Off-Broadway/Independent theatre artists, honoring its artistic heritage, and providing a meeting ground for this extensive and richly varied community. The organization, co-directed by Cat Parker, Akia Squitieri and Jazmyn Arroyo, advocates for OOB/Indie theatre and recognizes the unique and essential role it plays in contributing to NYC, American and global theatrical cultures. They believe that publicly recognizing excellence in this sector will expand audience awareness and foster greater appreciation of the New York theatre experience.

Valley Players is a viable, non-profit community theatre. Since 1979 the VP has produced about 4 shows a year and opened its doors to other performing artists and groups and is the home of KidsACT! presenting workshops for children grades 1 through 9.

We invite playwrights from around the world to submit new full length and one-act plays or musicals into competition. The winners of the competition will receive a live reading in front of an audience and the newly founded prestigious Marsha Ann Croyle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting.

The Neukom Institute, the Dartmouth Department of Theater and Vox Theater have once again joined together for the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting. The arts have always had strong creative connections to the sciences, including computational science. Acting as a gadfly for the good, provocateur and satirist when the sciences overreach, but also far-seeing prophets of scientific potential. The arts are among the areas that computational sciences has transformed, not only through its impact on modes of production of artwork, but also as a formative influence on its themes and motivations, notably in the fields of speculative fiction as well as the dramatic arts. To that end, the Neukom Institute is proud to announce three prizes for creative work in the arts. Honorarium...

JETFest is produced by JET Theatre. JET serves as a force for Jewish continuity, a platform for new voices, and a bridge of understanding to the general community.

Cocktails & Classics is an evening of short plays (1-10 minutes) produced by Turn to Flesh Productions. Featuring parodies or homages of classical styles, or well-known pieces of art and literature, with vibrant roles for women.

This is a Play Competition held by Rep Stage. Founded by Valerie Lash in 1993, Rep Stage is the only professional regional theatre in the country in residence at a Community College. Committed to artistic excellence Rep Stage has been honored with several Helen Hayes Awards, and over fifty nominations. The theatre offers its audiences a variety of evocative programming focused on both contemporary American classics, as well as new works, often including regional and/or world premieres.

This is a 10 Minute Play Competition held by Rep Stage. Founded by Valerie Lash in 1993, Rep Stage is the only professional regional theatre in the country in residence at a Community College. Committed to artistic excellence Rep Stage has been honored with several Helen Hayes Awards, and over fifty nominations. The theatre offers its audiences a variety of evocative programming focused on both contemporary American classics, as well as new works, often including regional and/or world premieres.

The 10 Minute Taste at the 4208 Group is a modern take on dinner theater. Instead of sitting through a full-length musical, or Shakespearean classic, five 10-minute plays are presented while guests dine in a contemporary establishment. At The 4208 Group we focus on shining a light on women artists of color. We also work with organizations that showcase and/or empower women artists of color. We are a company that works to cultivate the growth and development of women artists of color.

Andi Matheny Acting Studios wants to give their adult acting students onstage acting experience. They're looking for 10-minute plays and short one-acts with simple staging, specifically from St. Pete writers. They're aiming for students to rehearse over the summer, with a one- or two-weekend fully-staged run in their theatre space in the fall. It's not a paying gig, but they're open to working with playwrights who'd like to use this as an opportunity for script development, and make revisions in the early stages of rehearsal.

StageQ’s mission is to celebrate queer diversity through quality theater written by and about LGBTQ people, building an inclusive community and affecting positive social change.

Scratchpad Series opens The Realm’s doors to early-career playwrights from around the country. Participants will spend a week in New York City for a developmental reading of their play with top-notch professional collaborators—director, cast, and The Realm’s artistic staff. If the playwright is based outside of New York, The Realm will provide travel and housing or per diem.

TNT’s Production of Original PlayS (POPS) takes place every two years. The submission dates for the 2018 TNT POPS! New Play Project were September 1st through 30, 2017. Each play selected will be produced during the 2018-19 season, either on a mainstage or in a second space, by a TNT member theatre company.

Athena Project was set up in 2012 by Angela Astle to close a critical gap in the creative life of the Denver community. Athena began with a series of Plays In Progress – six brand new plays by women playwrights, three local and three from elsewhere in the US. The plays were developed with directors, dramaturgs and actors, and presented as workshop performances in 2012. One play was selected, based on audience responses and feedback from the Athena Board, to be staged as a full production during the very first Athena Project Arts Festival the following March, 2013. March was selected as Athena’s Festival month because it’s also Women’s History Month, and includes International Women’s Day and International Theatre Day.

Est. 2013 by Studio Players. Our 10-Minute Play Festival is presented annually. We present 7 strong, entertaining plays to feature. This competition is open to any playwright. The judges are members of the Studio Players theater community: board members, directors and patrons. The top 7 scripts (as determined by the judges) will be performed by active members of the Bluegrass theater community. Each play will be a fully staged production; each performance showing all winning scripts. The 7 Selected playwrights will each receive $250 in prize money.

8th Annual Valley Beth Shalom Short Play Festival: Plays accepted starting March 1st. Submit only one play. Previously produced plays acceptable. No more than 6 characters. No special effects.

In his cartoons for The New Yorker, James Stevenson told stories about the human comedy with energy and economy. Playing on Air presents the James Stevenson Prize for Comedic Short Comedies: three major prizes that perpetuate Mr. Stevenson's spirit and wit, bringing the finest new American plays to a national audience - for free.

Sky Blue Theatre Company chooses five plays to be produced in a London venue. One of the winning plays will also be chosen to be made into a short film. This year’s performance will take place in October.

The Page Is Printed Creative Writing Competition offers a number of different prizes. Any genre of writing is accepted from script to poetry, but you’re encouraged to be bold, imaginative and contain your entry to one side of A4. The panel will be looking for something that dares to be different and most importantly, something which comes alive when read aloud.

Slackline Stories: a writing night held in London. Slackline wants to redress the balance in the stories being told and who’s telling them - working with female-identifying writers to offer new-writing plays that have female characters at their heart, focusing most specifically on stories of women aged 35+.

Looking for a chance to bring your play from page to stage? Want to see new writing at its freshest? Reading Week connects playwrights and audiences, giving writers the opportunity to hear their scripts brought to life in a rehearsed reading and gain valuable feedback. Join us at Pleasance Islington for a week-long festival of new plays, with a different one every night - you could be sitting beside the next Sarah Kane or Tom Stoppard!

At Austin Film Festival, our mission is to champion all writers across mediums. Our Playwriting Competition (open to full-length plays) gives playwrights a chance to explore our film and television conference. It will also allow film professionals to discover storytellers who have mastered the art and craft of stage drama. AFF has always promoted story as the most important element of film and TV. So giving playwrights their own story exposure and a chance of crossover into film and TV only advances our mission. Plays that make the Final Round will have readings during the Conference. Advancing playwrights will have access to exclusive panels, workshops, roundtables, and unique networking opportunities with professionals in theatre, film, and television.

WRITE A PLAY! Professionals will evaluate your entry, and if you're one of the winners your play will receive a production. This is an educational program focused on the development of new plays - so if you're a winner, be prepared to revise your script with the support of a professional dramaturg (or writing friend), director and actors. Californians under the age of 19 as of June 1, 2019 are eligible.

The annual international competition was founded in 1989 by Alleyway Theatre in memory of Canadian actor/playwright Maxim Mazumdar (1953-1988).

The Stage It! 10-Minute Play Festival at Center for the Performing Arts Bonita Springs is searches for plays that should be staged, need to staged, and that audiences want or need to see.

Fells Point Corner Theatre is seeking original 10-minute plays by Baltimore area playwrights for our critically acclaimed play festival 10x10x10. The 10x10x10 play festival has turned into a staple of local theatre in Baltimore, becoming one of the highest selling productions at Fells Point Corner Theatre for the last several years.

Presented by the Woven Theatre, The Loom is a new works annual festival where new plays are selected for public staged readings.

Walking Shadow Theatre Company is a Minneapolis-based company. We are drawn to shows that are smart, exciting, savvy—and often a little quirky or subversive. Walking Shadow has performed at a variety of theaters in the Twin Cities since 2004, including the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Theatre Garage, Pillsbury House, Red Eye, and others. The company also has appeared several times at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and occasionally produces site-specific, interactive plays with puzzles.

Hosted by the Notre Dame College of Performing Arts, the New Play Festival showcases unproduced plays and musicals for young adults and children. The weekend-long festival will consist of 4-5 staged readings of previously unseen theatrical works, and will take place in the Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College campus. A winner will be chosen through committee/audience voting and will receive a $500 prize, as well as the opportunity to present fully-staged production during the subsequent NDC Spring Semester.

To celebrate 100 years of playmaking at UNC-Chapel Hills, the PlayMakers Repertory Company will award one playwright $7,500. We are looking for unproduced scripts that speak to the rich legacy of one of North Carolina’s most famous writers: Thomas Wolfe. The prize is named after the novelist whom William Faulkner called “the greatest talent of his generation.”  Wolfe’s writings reflect a largeness of spirit and an expansive vision of life, while anchored in what, where, and whom he knew.

A biennial $10,000 prize awarded to one playwright by the Seattle Public Theatre.

The Friends of Bristol Valley Playhouse Foundation, Inc. (doing business as Bristol Valley Theater) is a not-for-profit corporation. It is a professional theatre in the heart of the FInger Lakes.

Local Theater Company discovers and develops world premiere plays through Local Lab, which offers playwrights and audiences the chance to participate in conversations that help move new plays toward full productions.

We're a Houston-based playwright’s theater dedicated to the development of new theatrical works from formative stages through full production.

Accepted plays will be published in a collection of shorts by the theatre and sold beginning on the show dates.

Edwin Wong calls on playwrights worldwide to submit plays to the annual 2022 Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy Competition, juried by an international panel of professionals, anonymous to each other and the public until the winners are announced. The Premise of Risk Theatre: There’s an undercurrent of interest in risk and uncertainty for theatre to capitalize on. We live in an increasingly complex world where unintended consequences abound. More than ever, we have a moral imperative to understand risk. What is risk? What can go wrong? The best place to simulate risk is on the tragic stage. This belief informs risk theatre, which is based on the following premises: 1) tragedy consists of a gambling act in which protagonists wager all-in 2) by wagering all-in, protagonists expose themselves to...

Part of the festival's focus on development of the script. After script selection, writers receive feedback and assistance in further developing plays for production. The Underground team, with new work development consultant, Cavan Hallman, will provide feedback and resources to help make sure writers’ intentions with the piece come through loud and clear on the page. When it’s clear on the page, it’s ready to grow in the hands of a director and performers. Writers should come ready to grow their pieces.

The Crossroads Project was founded in 2000 by Illinois State University (ISU) and School of Theatre and Dance (SOTD) faculty member Dr. Leslie Sloan Orr to promote diversity and inclusion in the theatre at ISU and the surrounding communities. Every other year, the Crossroads Project recommends at least one play to the SOTD production committee that addresses the issues and experiences of underrepresented U.S. ethnic peoples or global cultures. In addition to promoting the work of U.S. playwrights of color, such as Elizabeth Wong, Lynn Nottage, Naomi Iizuka, and Suzan Lori-Parks, Crossroads has invited notable international theatre artists to ISU to work with students and engage with the larger community through guest lectures, public talks, and other events.

The Ingram New Works Project empowers exceptional new voices to write the stories they are most passionate about. Ingram New Works and Nashville Repertory Theatre provide playwrights with season-long developmental support, travel, lodging, hospitality, networking, and audiences, allowing them to focus on what they do best: creating powerful, necessary, impactful new plays. The three pieces of the Project are the Lab, Fellowship, and Festival.Since 2009, the Ingram New Works Project has supported the development of over 60 new plays. We are the playwrights’ home away from home, powered by Nashville’s authentic and radical hospitality.

The Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards discovers and champions youth and emerging composers from around the world. Emerging composers will be able to apply for the following categories: composition for musical theatre, film scoring, classical composition and jazz composition.

Parity Productions champions women, trans, gender-expansive, and intersex writers at the intersection of race, economic status, age, ability, and other identities within our constituency. Every year, Parity presents the Parity Development Award to one woman (cis or trans) and one trans, gender-expansive, or intersex playwright who have both demonstrated a dedication to the craft of playwriting and a singular talent for storytelling and whose work is in harmony with our artistic mission. The selected playwrights receive $2,500 each and extensive developmental support for their play, including one “closed door” reading with the Parity team, and at least one public reading, with an option for Parity to produce the Awarded work. We believe the next great play can come from anywhere; we rea...

Parity Productions is a formidable producer of new theatrical work that as a company always ensures that we will fill at least 50% of the creative roles on our productions--directors, playwrights, and designers--with women and trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) artists. Artistically, we develop and produce compelling new plays that give voice to individuals who rebel against their marginalized place in society.

As a company, we're dedicated to filling at least 50% of the writing, directing, and design roles in our productions with cis women and trans and gender nonconforming artists (TGNC). We also have several advocacy initiatives around this goal, one of which is our Annual Parity Commission. We award a $2,500 prize and a development deal to one cis woman playwright and one TGNC playwright per year, based on the submissions we receive. Our submission period opens October 17th, and runs until we have received 150 applications.

Parity Productions is a formidable producer of new theatrical work that as a company always ensures that we will fill at least 50% of the creative roles on our productions--directors, playwrights, and designers--with women and trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) artists. Artistically, we develop and produce compelling new plays that give voice to individuals who rebel against their marginalized place in society.

The Gregory Awards are a set of honors dedicated to theatre in Washington State. Administered, funded, and produced by Theatre Puget Sound, the Gregory Awards bring together theatre artists and audiences to celebrate, honor the outstanding achievements of local theatre practitioners, and to raise the visibility of the theatre in our region.

Aux Dog Theatre Nob Hill is an Albuquerque NM Laughing Dog Comedy Shorts 10-minute comedies. Submit your script with contact information in pdf format only to info@auxdog.com with LAUGHING DOG in the subject line or use the website link. Submissions are not returned.

USA Fellowships are annual $50,000 unrestricted awards recognizing the most compelling artists working and living in the United States, in all disciplines, at every stage of their career. Each year, individual artists and collaboratives are anonymously nominated to apply by a geographically diverse and rotating group of artists, scholars, critics, producers, curators, and other arts professionals. Applications are reviewed by discipline-specific panels who select the finalists, which are then approved by our Board of Trustees.

It’s not just abortion that is stigmatized in our culture, but the entire lived experiences of people who seek to fulfill their promise as autonomous human beings, realize their own dreams, raise their families in safety and peace, pursue their ambitions, and maintain control over their physical and reproductive lives. The subject of reproductive justice is one too often simplified by our current dialogues. And too often the voices and perspectives of the people most affected by restrictions, legislative prohibitions, and cultural prejudices are excluded from our artistic institutions. A is For seeks to change that. We believe that theatre is a powerful platform through which to share stories, debunk myths, and create lasting change. We believe that theatre can transform. We want to chal...

North Carolina-based playwrights are invited to submit original (new) scripts for the competition. The winning playwright takes home $100.00 cash on SLAM Day! It’s a high-energy evening, and loads of crazy fun and organized chaos. Submissions should be sent by email to: “submissions@caryplaywrightsforum.org”

The Woodward Prize is part of Cultural Stages: The Woodward International Drama and Dance Initiative and is given once every four years. The aim of this program is to broaden and deepen the understanding of international cultures through a competition for plays addressing relevant themes. Plays submitted for this competition should have a primary focus on cultures from countries other than the US. We welcome DG members to submit their work for consideration. Plays must focus on a country/culture other than the US. Plays may also focus on the history and/or politics of the country/culture. Plays must be in English. Plays may be musical or non-musical. If the submission is a musical, a recording of the music must be included with the submission. Plays cannot have been previously fully produ...

Founded in 1993 by Carolyn French, a highly successful literary agent, Playwrights First is an organization which recognizes, rewards and advances playwrights of unusual promise.

The nationally-renown Blue Ink Playwriting Award was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, we’ve named 10 Award winners, 79 finalists, and 109 semi-finalists. Over $6,000 in cash and prizes will be distributed to playwrights in 2020. Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater’s Ensemble. The playwright receives a monetary prize of $1,250. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too. All proceeds of the administrative fee are distributed for playwrights’ cash prizes.

Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries is a groundbreaking, industry-changing undertaking that is discovering, developing, and producing a new canon of 38 plays that are inspired by and in conversation with Shakespeare’s work. It’s an opportunity for playwrights of every background, perspective, and style to engage with Shakespeare and his stage practices. It’s our chance to bring living writers into the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theatre: the Blackfriars Playhouse.

Ten short plays by North Carolina playwrights will be selected for full production in NC 10 by 10. The festival runs July 16-19 at The Cary Theatre in Cary and July 23-26 at The PSI Theatre in the Durham Arts Council building in downtown Durham. NC 10 by 10 has grown to be the most-attended short-play festival in the region, with last year’s show having over 1300 patrons.

Voices explores our human connections to the earth and earth’s connection to us in a time when these connections feel especially pressing.

The Annual Yale Young Native Storyteller’s Contest is sponsored by the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program to support the next generation of Native writers. We invite indigenous writers aged twenty-five years and younger to submit written versions of their plays for consideration.

A 10 Minute Play Competition, launching April 4, 2020, with the deadline April 30, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Month ®. Citizens' Climate Lobby is calling forth and fostering new dramatic works that respond to the ecological crisis caused by climate change. We are searching for new plays that focus on current and historic environmental issues, and new plays that enliven and transform our global experiences and plays that inspire us to listen better and instill a deeper or more complex sense of our ecological communities.

Born out of The Shed’s commitment to supporting early-career artists and a diverse range of voices and experiences, our Open Call program selects, fosters, and presents new work across all forms and media from NYC-based artists who have not yet received major support.

As the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, Premiere Stages actively engages and enhances the specialized training programs at Kean, while embracing and serving a culturally diverse audience, underserved local youth, and a broad pool of gifted regionally-based artists.

Creative Greensboro is proud to sponsor the NC New Play Project, an annual workshop production. Playwrights from across North Carolina may submit their full-length scripts or related one-acts for consideration. The deadline for submitting a play for the 2021 NC New Play Project is Monday, June 1

T|R|S seeks out thrilling new work from writers around the country. To these exciting artists, we provide developmental support through commissions, readings workshops and productions. The Oregon Play Prize focuses this energy on a writer with deep roots in Oregon. Selected through a highly competitive process that gives our audiences and community the ultimate voice in awarding the prize, this writer receives a $10,000 commission.

The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts partnering with the American Theatre Wing and in collaboration with Disney Theatrical Productions and Samuel French, a division of Concord Records. The Songwriting Challenge is a national competition for high school students who have a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production and the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musical theater including hip-hop, rock, R&B, country, jazz, and more. Finalists for the Songwriting Challenge will be selected from six regions across the country and paired with mentors working professionally in musical theatre to develop their songs into Broadway-stage-ready compositions, via both video chats and...

The M. Elizabeth Osborn Award was established in 1993, named for Theatre Communications Group and American Theatre play editor M. Elizabeth Osborn, a fondly remembered ATCA member. The Osborn Award now carries a $1,000 cash prize. It recognizes a work by an “emerging” playwright, one whose plays have not yet received a major production, such as Broadway, nor received other major national awards or occasioned national visibility.

Atlanta's national theater, expanding hearts and minds on stage and off.

Since we can't gather to see extraordinary solo performances, we have created AFO Solo Shorts to bring extraordinary solo performances to you. Do you have an idea for a short solo art piece? Pitch it to us! We typically work with solo theater makers but we're happy to consider artists from all disciplines: designers, painters, sculptors, dancers, wigmakers... anyone with a creative mind! Take us on a virtual tour of a scenic model, or time-lapse yourself painting a self-portrait, or dance in the rain with your camera propped on your windowsill. We want any and all solo ideas that are three minutes in length or less.

Students, high school through college, are invited to submit completed one act plays for consideration in Horizon Theatre Company’s New South Young Playwrights Festival Contest. Twenty playwrights will be selected to participate in the New South Young Playwrights Festival at Horizon Theatre in the trendy Little Five Points area of Atlanta. This week long festival is free and will include playwriting workshops, seminars, and rehearsals with professional theatre actors, directors, and playwrights.

BROADWAY THEATRE STUDIO, creators of the long-running IMBIBLE series of Off-Broadway musicals, will produce its first VIRTUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL for live-online productions. BTS has partnered with theatre media icon PLAYBILL to host the festival, which will run exclusively on Playbill.com. BETERRIFIC, industry leaders in live-streaming productions, to provide the cutting-edge technology and experience necessary to successfully translate the live theatre experience to live-online. BTS is assembling a distinguished panel of judges to choose a winning production, and there will also be an Audience Choice winner selected by festival viewers. Each winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize. PLAYBILL VTF LIVE is currently scheduled to run August 7-9, and Theatre fans looking to view the festival wi...

New World Theatre acknowledges that there is a crisis of understanding and awareness that is deeply rooted in our history of racism, and if we are ever going to fully dismantle the institutions of systemic racism, we need to stop... and listen to those who continue to suffer simply because they are black. We can no longer afford to ignore what is happening to our fellow human beings, which is why we are creating a collection of monologues that will give voice to those who can no longer remain silent. Through the power of writing and theatre, we can do our part to amplify the stories of systemic racism and raise the level of awareness and understanding to effect meaningful change in the human heart.

THESPIAN PLAYWORKS nurtures original student-written plays from the page to the stage. The program staff will choose up to four plays to be developed at the International Thespian Festival, sponsored by Concord Theatricals. Professional directors and dramaturgs will help the chosen finalists workshop and present their plays with student actors. Eligibility Writers must be active members of the International Thespian Society enrolled in high school during the current school year. All finalists must be available to attend the upcoming International Thespian Festival. Finalists will be responsible for the cost of their travel to ITF, but the International Thespian Society will pay the registration fees, which include room and board as well as admission to all ITF events.

Lambda Literary Award submissions are judged principally on literary merit and content relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives. Specific guidelines must be met across each award. Please review the guidelines carefully before submitting a book for consideration. Because a book may be submitted to only one category, it is very important that you read through these guidelines carefully to ensure that your book is eligible for consideration and that you are submitting it to the proper Lammy category.

BROADWAY THEATRE STUDIO, creators of the long-running IMBIBLE series of Off-Broadway musicals, will produce its first VIRTUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL for live-online productions. BTS has partnered with theatre media icon PLAYBILL to host the festival, which will run exclusively on Playbill.com. BETERRIFIC, industry leaders in live-streaming productions, to provide the cutting-edge technology and experience necessary to successfully translate the live theatre experience to live-online. BTS is assembling a distinguished panel of judges to choose a winning production, and there will also be an Audience Choice winner selected by festival viewers. Each winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize. PLAYBILL VTF LIVE is currently scheduled to run August 7-9, and Theatre fans looking to view the festival wi...

The Autry brings together the stories of all peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inspire our shared future. Months prior to residencies at the Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays, selected playwrights participate in dramaturgical conversations with an assigned director and dramaturg. Workshops with these creative teams and a cast of professional actors commence once the playwright arrives on-site.

PCTC is dedicated to strengthening the legacy of the American Theatre with dynamic and essential programming that examines the influences of the past on the present and future of our art form.

Located in the historic U street corridor of Washington, D.C., Spooky Action Theater (SAT) is a dynamic, young theater company that has been recharging the audience's imaginative, intuitive, emotional core by linking artists & audience in a collaborative enterprise. We designed and built a versatile performance space that accommodates multiple seating and staging configurations. Movable walls and audience risers enable us to approach each production with a fresh perspective.

Abingdon Theatre Company is dedicated to developing and producing brave, new American work by emerging and established artists.

The Storefront Theatre is accepting submissions for our 8th annual 10-minute play festival. Like all theatres at this time, we are uncertain as to the future but we’re going to take a chance that by next March, we will be able to present the plays on stage as live concert readings. If that isn’t possible, then we will present online as a video recording or live-stream. A blind panel of judges with broad theatre experience will select 8-10 plays to be presented as concert readings and will choose a first place winner who will receive a cash award of $75.00.

Players Workshop seeks plays for its Ninth Annual International 10-Minute Play Festival. This fully-staged festival will be in English and will take place in March of 2021 in the center of the international arts of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Each playwright whose script is selected and performed will receive a $25 USD cash honorarium and two complimentary tickets to the production. One play will be selected as the Audience Favorite and its playwright shall receive an additional $25 USD cash award. No other remuneration will be provided, and any playwright attending must do so at his or her own expense.

LIS Lab Performing Arts – in collaboration with Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo and Ricola – announces the fifth edition of the ‘International CROSS award’ for artists and companies in the field of performing arts and music, with particular attention to original productions focused on the close interaction between artistic creation and environment, understood as landscape, territory or community. With respect to the profound changes that shake our everyday life, CROSS Award 2020 aims to be an incubator of images and practices which are engaged on the rewriting of the present as well as the re-appropriation of public spaces. The award aims to promote investigation and artistic expressions related to the combination of different styles and genres, considering multi-language practices and the mi...

Our mission is to represent student voices and to let students know they are not alone. It has been made clear where we have succeeded and where we have failed in this pursuit. We want to do better and we want to start with Middle School plays.

The Rose Theatre Co., a DC-based professional organization, is seeking short comedic monologues for the creation of a curated digital film series titled IN CHARACTER. Selected monologues will be produced and released by The Rose for use across digital platforms, including Instagram and You Tube. Writers may make multiple submissions. This is an open-ended project. Writers will retain all rights to their words. The Rose Theatre Co. will retain all rights to the audio-video content and their production of the monologues submitted. Please note that all submissions are voluntary and unpaid.

Same Boat Theater is the Bay Area's first ecojustice theater.

The Public Theater is San Antonio’s largest, most productive professional live theater organization and only Equity Theater. Established in 1912 as the San Antonio Dramatic Club and incorporated on April 6, 1927, as the San Antonio Little Theatre it is the most historic theater in South Texas. The company has had other brands such as The San Pedro Playhouse (1997), and The Playhouse San Antonio (2012). Its most recent brand, The Public Theater of San Antonio, was unveiled on January 7th, 2018 in an effort to align the organization’s new professional vision to the needs of the region. For over a century, The Public Theater has evolved to serve its community as a 501c3 non-profit organization.

In addition to its TYA programming, FTF also offers a robust programming lineup for general populations, featuring something for everyone with its diverse new programs at the Sandrell Rivers Theater, including a bi-monthly film screening series entitled Film@SRT; a bi-monthly live music series entitled Music@SRT; an art exhibition series, which aims to provide South Florida artists with greater exposure and visibility entitled Art@SRT; and a new play competition, where playwrights can have their new works performed as staged readings in front of live audiences, entitled New Year, New Works! (NYNW).

The Cary Playwrights’ Forum’s mission is to provide NC playwrights and aspiring playwrights opportunities to develop as dramatic writers.

Winding Road Theater Ensemble, located in Tucson, Arizona, was established in 2009 by Dramatist Guild member Toni Press-Coffman, among others. Winding Road is dedicated to performing and developing new works along with producing contemporary and classic plays. We are opening submissions for our third annual ten minute play festival.

“MKE MaKEs” is a series to develop and present world premiere music theatre works. The program will encompass a wide range of new musical works from never-before-produced readings to fully produced world premieres. “Made in Milwaukee” is a proud moniker we will apply to all works under the MKE Makes umbrella,” said Michael Unger, Skylight Music Theatre Artistic Director. “Skylight feels that it is critical to the survival of the American music theatre to foster new works and new writers and encourage voices we have not yet heard to take center stage.”

Submissions are now being accepted for the Fifth Avenue Theatre of New York Virtual Fall 2020 Play Festival, to take place in November 2020. Seeking short plays (no more than 10 pp/minutes), from playwrights from across New York City and surrounding areas.

The SITA (Success in the Arts) Award's Show is an event which supports a community of independent artists who embody passion, creativity, uniqueness and innovative original ideas within their works. The SITA Awards recognizes artistic merit in the film industry. We salute excellence in film..The SITA Awards is our Oscars. It is a wonderful way to promote and acknowledge people in the arts who are chasing their dreams. A SITA is awarded by a group of individuals in the Entertainment Industry. There is a lot of talent which deserves to be celebrated and honored for their artistry and expertise. The nominees, and VIPs wiil walk the Gold Carpet and be able to mix, mingle and network at the cocktail hour before the show begins. Then they will be escorted to their special seats and enjoy a show...

We are currently seeking writers for our upcoming project titled, ""Silver Linings"". This project is a theatrical short film featuring a series of monologues. Each monologue should be 3-10 minutes in length, and be written from the perspective of a person facing personal demons. Pieces should be written in the first-person narrative, giving an intimate account of a particularly difficult time in their lives. The narrative must be deeply introspective, take us through an emotional journey, and end with a ""silver lining"". The silver lining will be how this person/character has learned, grew and/or overcome this circumstance.

Irons in the Fire is Fault Line Theatre's year-round reading series of new plays in development. We believe that every play and every playwright requires something a little different, and we want to give our artists the right sandbox to play freely within. So the format for both process and presentation is intentionally malleable. Each public presentation of these works in progress is the culmination of a few hours, a few weeks, or even a few months of rehearsal, depending on what each project requires. These readings are hosted in an environment that appropriately celebrate that particular new script, and are supported by a social event that brings the Downtown Theatre Community together in a fun and meaningful way. A Few Thoughts Before You Apply Applications are due Monday, September 2...

The Main Street Players in Miami Lakes is pleased to announce its New Play Competition. As part of our mission, we want to support local playwrights and bring new plays to the South Florida Theatre Community.

THE JEFF AWARDS has been honoring outstanding theatre artists annually since it was established in 1968. With approximately 55 members representing a wide variety of backgrounds in theatre, the Jeff Awards is committed to celebrating the vitality of Chicago area theatre by recognizing excellence through its recommendations, awards, and honors. THE JEFF AWARDS fosters the artistic growth of area theatres and theatre artists and promotes educational opportunities, audience appreciation, and civic pride in the achievements of the theatre community. The Jeff Awards evaluates over 250 theatrical productions and holds two awards ceremonies annually. Originally chartered to recognize only Equity productions, the Jeff Awards established the Non-Equity Wing in 1973 to celebrate outstanding achieve...

With its roots in the McCarthy Era Blacklisiting, Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum has provided a home in Southern California for professional Shakespeare and the classics in its scenic, outdoor amphitheatre in rustic Topanga Canyon for over 45 years. Theatricum is also committed to finding new works and furthering new voices in theatre through Botanicum Seedlings. Opportunities through Botanicum Seedlings include Playreadings, Festivals, private GreenReads (for a fresh look at early drafts) and Dramaturgy Workshops, culminating in developmental GreenReads. Since its creation in 2002, the program has supported well over 150 new plays.

Eggtooth Editions is an independent press that holds an annual chapbook contest. Winners of the contest are published and receive 20 copies of their chapbook. All genres are accepted. See our Contest Page for more details. We are proudly affiliated with the Northern Arizona Book Festival.

The School of Theatre & Dance at the University of Houston offers high-energy programs and direct connections to the profession, allowing our students to develop their network while getting world-class training. We offer programs in Acting, Dance, Playwriting/Dramaturgy, Production, Stage Management and Theatre Education. Our goal is to prepare all students for success on stage, on screen, in arts education or behind the scenes.

The Rockford New Play Festival is now ROCKFORD NEW WORDS! Why the change? We’re expanding to include all words written for live performance, including: Spoken Word Poetry Choreopoems Plays Zoom Scripts Raps and Spoken Lyrics Storytelling Monologues Six new works will be chosen and presented in a staged performance on Jan 21, 2021. Artists/Writers can choose to perform their own works (Live or on Zoom), or have them presented by professional performers. Artists/Writers each receive $200.

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain received several posthumous awards for his bravery against violent extremism on July 1st 2016 at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka. As a 20 year old Muslim man, he had the chance to leave the café, but he chose to remain behind with his friends. How can we honour his memory without exposing ourselves to harm and persecution? How can we begin to tackle the rise of fanaticism around us? With the theatre production, TERROR, in November 2019, Sohaya Visions and Mukul & Ghetto Tigers have launched a new scriptwriting competition, RAFTA (Rise Against Fanaticism Through the Arts).

The "Snowdance® 10 Minute Comedy Festival" is a competition of original short comedies. Writers from throughout the community, the state, and the country are invited to enter; previous involvement with Over Our Head Players is not a requirement. Scripts will be judged by the Snowdance Selection Committee. The Selection Committee evaluations will include the flexibility of the script to adapt to current conditions; shorter scripts may have an advantage in 2022. Writers are urged to take note of the three character maximum cast and to take advantage of the emphasis on shorter comedy scripts. Traditionally, the selected scripts have been produced together in a complete festival performance. The 2022 Snowdance® format will be adapted if necessary to create a safe, entertaining, and unique cele...

Voices is a poetic performance piece and artistic campaign. We need you! The creative process will be just as crucial as the piece itself. This is an urgent call for submissions of poems and monologues written by Black Women for all women and those who love us. We are also accepting visual art submissions that we will curate throughout the campaign for performance and the solidarity-making toolkit. The performance piece will ultimately be in service of and for women to speak to the complexities of their experiences as well as an inclusive vision for change, justice, compassion, and solidarity. We seek to encourage and establish a world that nurtures radical truth-telling love. We welcome all poems and monologues that speak to our hurt, our hope, and our wisdom. Poems that cast spells and p...

The Latest Draft is a podcast celebrating new works from the next generation of great musical theatre authors. Weekly episodes feature podcast musicals by book writers, lyricists, and composers from around the world. The brainchild of theatre writers Elspeth Collard and Sam Rosenblatt, the podcast aims to promote young theatre-makers and to inspire artists to keep creating during these trying times.

THE ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) is America’s largest and longest running grass roots theatre company, founded by Producing Artistic Director, Dominic D’Andrea , and led by D’Andrea and artist/activist Caitlin Wees. #1MPF is a social barometer project, which investigates the zeitgeist of different communities through dialogue, consensus building and a performance of 50-100 short moments generated by each community. #1MPF works in partnership with theatres and/or social organizations sharing playwright, educational or community-specific missions across the country. The aim is to create locally sourced playwright-focused community events, with the goal of promoting the spirit of radical inclusion. #1MPF represents playwrights of different age, gender, race, cultures, and points of career...

Dragon’s Short Play Clinic is a part of Dragon’s Nest, where emerging artists or artists new to the Bay Area are able to hone their craft, make connections, and rely on the support of the professionals at Dragon Theatre. The Play Clinic’s overall mission: to provide a safe space for under-represented voices to share and develop their stories. We want the process to be about supporting the Playwrights development as well as creating artistic work opportunities for our diverse community of artists while inviting the community to participate with feedback.We will select 2 – 3 plays to be featured every month.

The Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival honors new American plays that provide dynamic performance opportunities for college-aged actors. The festival endeavors both to recognize playwrights for their outstanding work and to provide a resource for universities across the country to identify dynamic plays with robust roles for college-aged actors for production at their institutions.

Since 1946, Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre (FMCT) has provided a wide range of performance and education opportunities to the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo area and surrounding communities. FMCT is the longest running community arts organization in the Red River Valley Region of Minnesota and North Dakota. Season after season, our organization continues to evolve and grow in our community-minded mission as we position ourselves to create exceptional experiences for many more years to come.

Amateur playwrights world-wide are invited to submit unpublished one-act plays. Three winning scripts will be selected for fully staged performances during the Fringe Festival in October. One of the three scripts will be chosen for the £500 prize, judged purely on the writing. Submission deadline is March 5th 2022*. Eligibility Only amateur playwrights* are eligible and only one script per author accepted. Each script must be an original work and not previously published or performed. Criteria Each play is to be between 25 - 35 minutes in length* (although one or two minutes either side is acceptable), to have a cast of no more than six actors, and be suitable for staging in a studio theatre. Plays outside these limits will not be eligible, so please check before submitting.

Opera Kansas brings innovative, affordable and accessible opera to communities and schools throughout Kansas, while providing emerging musicians artistic opportunities in a respectful, professional environment. Opera Kansas introduces the art form of opera to thousands. In 2016, Opera Kansas, with the patronage of Dr. Lyle and Debi Zepick, created the Zepick Modern Opera Competition. This competition has yielded exciting new chamber operas in 2016 and 2018. Opera Kansas and the Zepicks believe that the next step for this program is to collaboratively create a work with a composer to be premiered in 2020.

AITAF’s mission is to use the HISTORY AND MISSION The Bridge Award for Screenwriting is open to all persons who are currently serving or have served in the United States military, regardless of age, experience, or background. This Award seeks to identify and encourage talented screenwriters/filmmakers from the military community. First time screenwriters are encouraged to apply, and the Award is particularly interested in elevating and celebrating underrepresented voices and stories. The Award gives aspiring filmmakers with a military background the resources and mentorship to advance their visions and refine their work. It encourages members of the military community to conceive of themselves as artists and to tell their important and powerful stories. This Award was created as a cinema...

The Lucille Lortel Foundation was created by Lucille Lortel to foster excellence and diversity in the theatre, as well as to faithfully preserve the rich history and support the continued prosperity of Off-Broadway.

The Lucille Lortel Theatre's NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship supports diverse young writers and create an awareness of playwriting as a career. The opportunities provided by this program will encourage NYC public high school students to become the next generation of playwrights. The Fellowship is open to any high school student who is currently enrolled in and attending public high school in one of the five boroughs of New York City at the time of entry.

The Literal Challenge - a social enterprise that brings together a community of writers, wannabe writers and newbies through creative challenges.

The Berresford Prize is an unrestricted $25,000 award given annually to a cultural practitioner who has contributed significantly to the advancement, well-being, and care of artists in society. Introduced in 2019, the award was conceived of by several USA Fellows in response to the lack of acknowledgment for those who have dedicated their careers to the betterment of artists. Named for our co-founder Susan V. Berresford, this prize reinforces our commitment to artists by acknowledging the remarkable administrators, curators, scholars, and producers who are building platforms and creating conditions for artists to thrive. Each year’s recipient is selected by an internal nomination and review process.

Synecdoche Works supports and promotes art education, creation, performance, and/or exhibitions by underrepresented or underserved individuals. By providing funding to playwrights, actors, authors, and musicians, the organization aims to reduce barriers to these individuals’ ability to grow and practice their art. Synecdoche Works is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Donations to Synecdoche Works may be tax deductible.

The Theatre Department’s mission is to provide undergraduate students with a comprehensive education in the practices and processes of creating theatre and live performance. Columbia offer a number of programs designed to suit your particular interests, including Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees as well as minors in Acting, Stage Combat, Theatre Directing, and Writing for Performance. The Musical Theatre Program of the Theatre Department at Columbia College Chicago is looking for a new musical theatre work that we will workshop, rehearse, and present either in-person or virtually (depending on vaccine distribution and mask mandates) in the Fall of 2021. We are looking for a piece (or pieces) that provide(s) a unique perspective on our contemporary moment, shine(s) a ligh...

NADIA is a non-profit organization based in New York City dedicated to coordinating the research, development, and implementation of industry-wide anti-discriminatory practices. NADIA supports a diverse group of project leaders and artists who are looking to think critically and discover new ways to produce culturally conscious art in order to develop practices that are equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. National Arts Diversity Integration Association (NADIA) is accepting script submissions for a new play or musical to be recorded and presented as a staged reading in their Spring 2021 Amplified Currents Festival of the Arts, which will be held online, April 17th-25th, 2021. Please note: There are no submission fees, nor is there a fee to be a part of the festival. This is a paid opport...

"Everyone needs to express themselves well. It's not just what you say, but how you say it.” – Tye Noorda The Theatre for Youth and Education (TYE) Center, originally known as the Noorda Regional Theatre Center for Children and Youth, was founded in 2009 with a generous gift from Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation. The TYE Center is part of the UVU Department of Theatrical Arts for Stage and Screen. Benefactor Tye Noorda was raised in rural Utah, and had few opportunities to perform. It is in the spirit of Tye Noorda’s resilience and commitment to children and youth in which we operate, striving to provide performance and public speaking opportunities for all children and youth while training enthusiastic teachers of the arts, through the operation of the following programs: Provides teach...

Dominion Stage will enrich the local arts community by expressing, through live theatrical productions, the different contemporary, traditional, diverse, and historically under-represented stories in our community. Our company will provide an inclusive place for new and continued education and personal development for participants on the stage, in technical roles, and as leaders/administrators behind the scenes.

Our mission is to connect artists around the world to explore the virtual space between theatre and film. We pledge to seek out stories that explore the truths of today and continue to prioritize a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in all of our work.

Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition.

Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition.

Awardees are selected by an anonymous jury for displaying excellence in three categories: Mastery of Craft, Depth of Artistic Exploration and Unique Vision.

Calling all transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming musical theatre writers and performers! A creative team led by transgender writer/composer Preston Max Allen has announced a Pride Month concert evening celebrating trans voices in musical theatre, featuring new music written and performed by TGNC artists with appearances by Broadway allies. This free virtual event, which will announce a June streaming date shortly, aims to support and give visibility to trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming artists in the theatre community, as well as provide education and resources for continued structural change. More information on concert title, lineup, and affiliations will be released in the coming weeks.

Doric Wilson was a radical, pioneering, innovative, and unflinching playwright and New York theater artist. He was one of the original playwrights of the Caffe Cino, the author of many extraordinary plays, and the creator and artistic director of TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence), New York City’s oldest professional LGBTQ theater. The Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award is given to a playwright of any age, whose writing and commitment to independent theater honors the innovation, uncompromising vision, heart, and spirit that represented Doric Wilson (1939-2011) and his work. In addition, the playwright is also recognized for being a community builder in the independent theater community.

Mixing It Up Productions is a multi-media entertainment company that provides development, production, and license of scripts, music, and digital film. Mixing It Up Productions encourages playwrights to take this opportunity to showcase their work to professionals in the theatre industry. Our company is always looking for plays that show potential in the commercial market as well as in the performing arts.

CineStory runs two retreats a year, one for screenwriters and one for TV writers. To be eligible to attend a retreat, writers must submit to one of our contests. For more information about attending either retreat, please visit our Feature Fellowship & Retreat page or our TV Fellowship & Retreat page. Grand Prize Fellowships Writers who enter our contests also are eligible to win each contest’s Grand Prize Fellowship. A Fellowship consists of a cash prize, free tuition and housing for the retreat, and a 12-month educational mentorship with 2 Hollywood professionals hand-picked to continue to educate the Fellow about the craft and business of writing for the screen in the entertainment industry. A Fellowship winner must attend the retreat in order to receive the cash award and to b...

In 2010, Executive Director Cathleen Young created NEW VOICES with the vision of discovering, developing and launching a new generation of talented writers under the mentorship of Hollywood showrunners and studio partners. Every year, NEW VOICES selects up to six writers through a rigorous selection process. Candidates are asked to submit a script and participate in personal interviews. Once matched with a mentor, the writers have three months to further develop their script under their mentors’ supervision. After the script is honed, HUMANITAS sends it to a partnering studio or network executive. The winning writers are given recognition at the annual awards ceremony and are awarded with a $7,500 grant. We are looking for well-written scripts with compelling stories and developed charac...

Pioneer Drama’s values permeate every aspect of the business, creating long-term partnerships with teachers, directors and playwrights. We share your passion. Like you, we believe theatre transforms lives and builds community.

Aery Theatre Company was founded by Patrick J. Lennon in 2006 to develop and produce original dramas written, directed and performed by local artists. Richard E. Knipe, Jr., was appointed Artistic Director in 2007.

The American Playwriting Foundation will begin accepting applications for the 2025 Relentless Musical Award in honor of Adam Schlesinger on January 15, 2025. The creators of the winning submission will receive $65,000, the largest prize in American theater presented in recognition of an unproduced musical. The Relentless Awards, founded in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman, place special emphasis on works that are fearless in their choice of subject matter, featuring audacious, honest storytelling. ​ The Relentless Musical Award will honor works that: * Are challenging. * Exhibit fearlessness. * Exude passion. * Are relentlessly truthful. Our criteria for submission cast a wide net of eligibility; we encourage submissions by both first-time composers, lyricists, and book writers, a...

Brave New World Repertory Theatre, a Brooklyn-based company, reaches under-served audiences to promote a love of theatre, with re-imagined classics and brave new works that reflect our diverse community. BNW is seeking new play submissions for Brave New Works: Ditmas Park 2022 Reading Series. This season, we are especially looking to feature LGBTQIA+ stories. We are making an active effort to ensure that we cast the largest net possible in seeking talented, new writers from the LGBTQIA+ community. Details are as follows: The submission deadline for the Brave New Works 2022 Reading Series is August 15th, 2021. Due to our small staff, only the first 100 plays submitted will be guaranteed consideration and only finalists will be contacted. Finalists will be notified of their status b...

The Jewish Plays Project puts bold, progressive Jewish conversations on world stages. The JPP’s innovative and competitive development vehicle invests emerging artists in their Jewish identity; engages Jewish communities in the vetting, selecting and championing of new voices; and secures mainstream production opportunities for the best new plays.

Founded in 2019, Write It Out! (WIO!) is a groundbreaking playwriting program and prize for people living with HIV and AIDS. WIO! takes pride in being created by community for community. Understanding the isolation one can feel when living with HIV, WIO! provides community and artistic tools as it amplifies the visibility of people living with HIV in the theatre and beyond. The goal of WIO! is to use the power of imagination and healing to strengthen the voice of those living with HIV and AIDS and transform the theatrical landscape into a more equitable and stigma-free space. The free workshops take place virtually every Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6:30pm EST, from September - December. Write It Out! is only for people living with HIV. All writing levels/experiences are encouraged to...

It's the mission of Echo Theatre to produce the works of women playwrights in order to bridge the gender gap that persists in live theatre.

Founded by actors whose common goal is to provide theatrical performances of quality and substance. Through our dedication to this goal we produce plays that range from drama to comedy, from farce to fantasy, classic to contemporary and everything in between. Our hope is to present our audience with provocative, moving and above all, entertaining theatre.

Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service. The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize is awarded annually to an American librettist who demonstrates exceptional talent and the potential to make a substantial contribution to the opera literature. Conceived and funded by acclaimed librettist and lyricist Mark Campbell, the Prize is the first award in the history of American opera that specifically recognizes the opera librettist. It is designed to highlight the crucial role librettists play in the creation and success of new operatic works, and inspire a new generation of writers to dedicate their pens...

Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service. The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize is awarded annually to an American librettist who demonstrates exceptional talent and the potential to make a substantial contribution to the opera literature. Conceived and funded by acclaimed librettist and lyricist Mark Campbell, the Prize is the first award in the history of American opera that specifically recognizes the opera librettist. It is designed to highlight the crucial role librettists play in the creation and success of new operatic works, and inspire a new generation of writers to dedicate their pens...

Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service. The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize is awarded annually to an American librettist who demonstrates exceptional talent and the potential to make a substantial contribution to the opera literature. Conceived and funded by acclaimed librettist and lyricist Mark Campbell, the Prize is the first award in the history of American opera that specifically recognizes the opera librettist. It is designed to highlight the crucial role librettists play in the creation and success of new operatic works, and inspire a new generation of writers to dedicate their pens...

The Dallas Opera is a world-class performing arts organization producing outstanding mainstage and chamber opera repertoire; attracting national and international attention; committed to extensive community outreach and education; and managed to the highest possible standards of artistic excellence, accountability, efficiency and financial sustainability. The Dallas Opera opened with an unforgettable performance by legendary Greek soprano Maria Callas in November of 1957. Subsequently, the Dallas Opera has presented many international stars in their American debuts, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Jon Vickers and Plácido Domingo, as well as designer/director Franco Zeffirelli.

The Dallas Opera is a world-class performing arts organization producing outstanding mainstage and chamber opera repertoire; attracting national and international attention; committed to extensive community outreach and education; and managed to the highest possible standards of artistic excellence, accountability, efficiency and financial sustainability. The Dallas Opera opened with an unforgettable performance by legendary Greek soprano Maria Callas in November of 1957. Subsequently, the Dallas Opera has presented many international stars in their American debuts, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Jon Vickers and Plácido Domingo, as well as designer/director Franco Zeffirelli.

Zoetic Stage accepts new, previously unproduced full-length plays from literary agents. We are unable to accept unsolicited manuscripts by playwrights who are not represented (lawyers and law firms do not qualify as representation). Florida residents may submit a manuscript without representation.

The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Playwriting Program (NPP) offers three (3) programs for student-written work: ten-minute plays, one act plays, and full-length plays. See below for specific guidelines and awards for each program, but please make note of these overall guidelines for ALL manuscripts: All plays must be blind submissions, which means that the playwright’s name and any identifying information (including school information) must be removed from the manuscript in its entirety. This includes the title page, and all headers and footers throughout the text of the play. All plays will be evaluated by readers from outside Region 3. Playwrights’ names will be associated with their manuscripts through the electronic form submitted via the Submittable websit...

The SETC/Stage Rights Ready to Publish Award is a program dedicated to developing, publishing, and licensing new works. In partnership with the Southeastern Theatre Conference, Stage Rights, one of the leading independent theatrical publishers in the country, announces the opening of submissions for the SETC/Stage Rights Ready to Publish Award. The winning play and playwright will be announced in January. The author of the winning piece must attend the following SETC Annual Convention where a panel reading of the play will be held. One Selected Play/Playwright Will Receive: Publication in the Stage Rights catalog of plays and musicals A panel reading of the play at the 2022 SETC Convention, hosted by the SETC Playwriting Committee Prominent display of the final published play by Stage R...

The Tom Behm Award provides professional development funds to people working or studying in the field of Theatre for Youth to seek professional development — whether to attend a conference or to assist with education credits. Each year’s recipient receives $1000, a one-year membership to SETC, and registration to the SETC Teachers Institute and annual SETC Convention for the award year.

The Coalescence Theatre Project, located in Bloomington Illinois, exists as an educational outreach program to expand interest in theatre and encourage, and develop new talent. Our logo, an abstract representation of the genetic tree of life, reminds us that we all come from one common Ancestor. We focus on unheard stories and offer a place where the silent and the underrepresented have a voice. We aspire to be a home where learning is key, play and discovery are celebrated, and our audience reflects all of the people we serve. Coalescence Theatre Project is committed to teaching our audience, actors, and talent new and established plays from underrepresented communities such as LGBTQIA+, BIPOC – the global majority, and women playwrights.

The SETC Convention Grant is intended for non-academic professional theatres that are not yet organizational members of SETC. The grant provides a trial membership and convention registration, and funds to assist theatres with lodging and related travel for up to four theatre staff members attending the event. The 2022 SETC Convention will be held March 9-13 in Memphis, TN.

Walking on Water Productions (WoW) is a Tompkins County musical theatre company that empowers local theatre artists by training, collaborating with, and showcasing them through production opportunities, internships, and educational workshops that provide individual development and community connection; together, we present both new and existing works that appeal to multi-generational audiences.

The Sara Spencer Child Drama Award recognizes the work of an individual or organization for dynamic and engaging work for young people. This award honors children’s theatre pioneer and founder of the Children’s Theatre Press (now the Anchorage Press) Sara Spencer. Spencer was the first recipient of SETC’s Suzanne M. Davis Award in 1965.

Carlow Little Theatre Society is one of the oldest amateur drama groups in Ireland. In 1944 a group of like minded people got together to discuss forming a local drama society and thus we were born. In 1945 we produced our first play ‘The Whip Hand' and since then the society has on average, performed a One Act season and two full length plays each year. We welcome all aspiring actors and writers wishing to try out new material, as well as anyone with a desire to work with us behind the scenes (Directing, lighting, production, costuming, etc) from aged 16+. To become involved, simply follow our social media updates and then come along to one of our readings or social nights. Alternatively, please feel free to leave us a message via the contact us page.

Obsidian, produced in the city of Detroit, by Detroiters, is a celebration of Black stories that will highlight the prolific work of emerging Black voices, focusing on the vast array of diverse experiences of those within the African diaspora in America. MISSION STATEMENT It is the mission of the Obsidian Theatre Festival to feature the work of exciting Black voices, and illuminate the rich diversity of experiences relevant to the African diaspora in America. PURPOSE STATEMENT We will entertain, educate and provoke the thoughtful consideration of a broad theatrical audience, while normalizing the panoply of Black American culture.

The Playwrights Realm is devoted to supporting early-career playwrights along the journey of playwriting, helping them to hone their craft, fully realize their vision, and build meaningful artistic careers. The International Theatermakers Award recognizes the critical contribution of theatermakers from around the world to the American theater in spite of the barriers they face to work in the United States, and seeks to expand the participation of international theatermakers who are underrepresented in the American theater industry.

The Relentless Award, established in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and his pursuit of truth in the theatre, is the largest annual cash prize in American theatre awarded to a playwright in recognition of a new play. Winners will receive, in addition to a $45,000 prize, publishing options through Dramatists Play Service, a weeklong residency, and exposure through a national play reading series.

Our mission is to support theatre on Austin stages, primarily through the management of the B. Iden Payne Awards. Our Nominations Committee is composed of local theatre performers, producers, and advocates. Each member is required to view four eligible performances each month, and we meet to discuss performances for inclusion on our short list. This list is reviewed at the end of the year, and narrowed down to the final nominations in each category. We add new members to our Nominating Committee every August, and begin the recruitment process in June. We are always interested in adding new perspectives, and are currently most interested in adding individuals from the technical theatre community, people of color, and playwrights. If you are interested in joining,

The New Circle Theatre Company’s (NCTC) mission is to create theatre that illuminates and questions the world in which we live, by supporting and promoting the voice of the playwright. We are a company of writers, actors, directors and designers working together to nurture the journey of a play through all stages of development, from original concept to production. We celebrate our history of excellence established by giants of the American theatre by offering a compassionate and inspirational environment to our artists so that they can safely experiment and grow. We foster diversity and parity as essential factors to achieve our mission. NCTC’s objective is to stimulate, educate, and inspire our audience and our community by creating theatrical productions of the highest caliber that...

Delivering Professional Theatre Productions & Interactive Theatre Workshops for Boomers and Seniors where they live and gather.

Founded in 2009, by former members of the Professional Playwrights’ Unit of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, dramatic question theatre (dqt) has developed plays that have both received a wide array of national honors and been nominated for major awards including the John Gassner Award for New Play, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Drama Desk Award for Best Play, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play. The company develops plays by Women and People of Color that deal with race, culture, and class. Concurrently, it builds a diverse audience from the Latinx and Black communities it regularly serves.

The Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, formerly at The Lark, awarded in 2021 to Brittany K. Allen, was established by Daryl Roth in 1996 to honor artists of extraordinary vision by offering them a year-long developmental residency, will be continued at WP Theater (Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty), the nation’s oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of Women+ artists.

Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants support Professional Company Members in commissioning new operatic works by women composers to produce as part of their upcoming seasons. OPERA America believes that American audiences benefit from the creative perspectives, experiences, and stories of women presented on stages nationwide. Commissioning Grants advance gender parity in the field by incentivizing opera companies to program new works by women composers in their seasons. Opera Grants for Women Composers are supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Co-production is time-tested strategy to leverage the resources of several opera companies around the presentation of a single opera. It distributes production expenses across partner companies and ensures the work will have audiences in multiple cities. Nevertheless, not all companies have the financial strength or liquidity to make advance payments on a production that won’t be presented for several seasons. The Co-Production Loan Fund offers more companies the financial flexibility to take advantage of the benefits of co-producing. The Co-Production Loan Fund is made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Sixth Fest is a brand new fringe festival open to any kind of event from any kind of participant to multiply our collective power to build a better future and reverse the climate emergency.

Northern Starz Center for the Performing Arts is proud to unveil our newest program: The Willow Tree Project! Our mission is to create opportunities for people age 55 and up to participate in the performing arts, regardless of their previous experience. Through the stories we tell, we will honor the wisdom we gather as we age, and celebrate the experience of getting older. We’re accepting submissions for our New Works Festival for plays by playwrights age 55 and up, which will run September 23-25 at Northern Starz Center for the Performing Arts in Ramsey, MN. The Willow Tree Project is looking to further examine the experience of aging in modern America. We are looking for One Act scripts written by playwrights age 55 and up, taking on issues relevant to this constantly growing age...

The Keegan Theatre’s Boiler Room Series (BRS) is pleased to announce numerous opportunities for artists, including playwrights, actors, designers, stage managers, and other production team members. Playwrights are invited to submit new works to be considered for development as part of the 2022-2023 Boiler Room Series. Actors, designers, stage managers, and other production team members are invited to submit for the upcoming 2021-2022 Boiler Room Series, taking the mainstage as part of The Keegan Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Season. EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION: The Keegan Theatre and the Boiler Room Series believe that Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are essential in the open and honest exploration of the human condition. Through a commitment to these tenets in casting, staffing, and t...

Playwrights for Change is a national playwriting competition run by the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE). The mission of Playwrights for Change is to produce meaningful conversations that will ripple across our nation to provoke change. The goal is to spark conversation and discussion throughout classrooms, schools, and communities.

It’s not just abortion that is stigmatized in our culture, but the entire lived experiences of people who seek to fulfill their promise as autonomous human beings, realize their own dreams, raise their families in safety and peace, pursue their ambitions, and maintain control over their physical and reproductive lives. The subject of reproductive justice is one too often simplified by our current dialogues. And too often the voices and perspectives of the people most affected by restrictions, legislative prohibitions, and cultural prejudices are excluded from our artistic institutions. A is For seeks to change that. We believe that theatre is a powerful platform through which to share stories, debunk myths, and create lasting change. We believe that theatre can transform. We want to chal...

StageWorks Theatre Group, Inc. brings together established and emerging artists to present dynamic cultural arts experiences. We are committed to both entertaining and promoting community involvement with social causes. With an emphasis on arts education and the incorporation of music therapy, we will help people of all ages to enrich themselves and share the joy of theatre with others.

The Old Lady project is an initiative to encourage the development of plays and musicals that feature significant roles for female identifying characters over 50. Plays will be submitted to a national panel of directors and producers and two staged readings will occur in Evanston per year. A directory of works will be featured on the Old Lady Project webpage to facilitate connections between theatre companies, directors and producers.

Our mission is to support the creation, development and production of new musical theatre. With direct financial awards to facilitate progress on their new work. artists have the freedom to use prize money as they see fit – including, but not limited to: readings, labs, showcases, concert presentations, recordings and festival expenses, as long as they are related to moving their show through the development process. This year, Pipeline will award two cash prizes: 1st Prize $20,000 2nd Prize $10,000 In future years, we look forward to creating a strong collaboration with an inventive theatre to build a broader pipeline where new work will advance and thrive.

The Clive Awards is a new playwriting competition presented by Fellowship for Performing Arts to encourage the writing of new works that advance FPA’s mission to produce theater from a Christian worldview to engage a diverse audience. FPA is excited to connect with literary artists who are inspired by our history of producing smart, imaginative, multilayered stories and adaptations. Founded by award-winning actor, Max McLean, FPA is a not-for-profit New York City-based production company producing theatre and film from a Christian worldview to engage a diverse audience. FPA has a special interest in the works of C.S. Lewis and his contemporaries and has produced new theatrical adaptations of The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce as well as a play and film about Lewis’ spiritual jour...

The American Playwriting Foundation is accepting applications for The 2023 “Picket Plays,” a Ten Minute Play Award created to support WGA writers who are unable to work due to the current strike. Six ten minute plays will be chosen by our selection committee, and each winning writer will be awarded $10,000. The winning plays will be performed at Theatre Row by a company of Relentless actors, who may include Wayne Brady, Billy Crudup, Vincent D’Onofrio, Gina Gershon, Walton Goggins, Ethan Hawke, Natasha Lyonne, Sam Rockwell, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Liev Schreiber, Yul Vazquez, and others. Additionally, five finalist plays will be selected and awarded $1000 each. Submissions to The Relentless Picket Plays should be written specifically for this opportunity, addressing the theme “Picketing/Str...

At Calliope Stage, we believe the majesty of the Appalachian Mountains houses a tremendous opportunity for new theatre. We value the stories deep within these mountains and see their potential to garner the respect and admiration of theatre artists and audiences worldwide. As part of our mission to build a sustainable WNC platform for regional artists and storytellers, Calliope Stage announces its first annual Nectar New Works Playwriting Contest. The Nectar New Works Playwriting Competition encourages and stimulates the writing and production of new full-length plays by WNC and Appalachia-connected writers and storytellers. Calliope Stage is devoted to dedicating a significant portion of its programming to highlighting the work of local artists and developing regional stories and writers...

Founded in February 2021, as a tax-exempt, non-profit 501c3 organization, Veterans Repertory Theater aims to reinvigorate American theater through developing and producing the work of veteran writers and artists. Through fully produced plays, staged readings, immersive art shows and multimedia festivals, VetRep delivers to audiences intimate, impactful live performances as whimsical, hilarious, absurdist, and jarring as the veteran community that created them. In addition, VetRep offers the Savage Wonder literary blog and Savage Wonder podcast. Our literary blog focuses on veteran writers and poets, while our podcast features long-form, one-on-one conversations with veterans in the arts. You can learn more about VetRep’s Savage Wonder Festival of Veterans in the Arts here. All of VetRep’...

GATHER BY THE GHOST LIGHT will be doing a live recording of horror audio plays in October at Le Chat Noir Theatre in Augusta, GA! And we want you to submit your scripts!