Young Playwrights, Listen Up!
If you’re a high school playwright, there are two things you likely have in common with every playwright your age: a love of theatre, and a serious dependence on search engines. With few schools incorporating dramatic writing into their curricula, most young writers hoping to pursue their craft find themselves pouring over search results for “young playwright competition,” “high school playwriting festival,” “help help how do I convince my parents to let me major in theatre” and everything in between. And with good reason — the chance for young writers to hear their work read aloud is invaluable and many of these programs can be nothing short of life-changing, yet tracking down those opportunities can be more exhausting than finishing the script! As a young playwright myself, I can speak to how much these opportunities changed my life — and how hard it is to imagine where I’d be if I hadn’t stumbled into them by accident.
Here on Breaking Character, we’ve got your back. Below follows an updated list of opportunities for young playwrights to get their work out there. They run the full range, from fully-realized productions to readings to scholarships, but all are certain to get your work read. So get your cover pages ready, fix up those final typos, and get submitting!
Know about any other opportunities for young playwrights? Tell us in the comments!
NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Young Playwrights Inc. National Playwriting Competition
Submissions: Plays of any length and style may be submitted by writers ages 18 and under. Scripts are reviewed by multiple readers and top entries are reviewed by a selection committee of theatre professionals. Any number of scripts may be submitted. Submissions are due on January 2, 2016 and should be mailed to:
Young Playwrights Inc. YPC
Post Office Box 5134
New York NY 10185
Winners: Winners of the competition are invited to a weeklong conference in New York City, where they attend master classes and shows, and further develop their plays with a dramaturge and director towards a professional staged reading at the week’s end. Last year when I attended, the eight of us had a workshop with Sarah Ruhl — cue the fangirling.
Other Notes: YPI is the crème de la crème of advocacy for young writers — founded by Stephen Sondheim and now headed by David Henry Hwang, they boast alumni like Madeleine George, Halley Feiffer, Julia Jarcho, Stephen Karam, and more. This contest is particularly competitive, receiving over 600 entries, but all submitters will receive one page of comprehensive feedback on each of their entries, reason enough to enter. (They usually include great recommendations for further reading, too — I’ve found some of my favorite plays this way.) YPI also has a number of other programs, including a summer retreat and yearlong workshop.
Contact: Literary Manager Carrie Hughes at literary@youngplaywrights.org
Blank Young Playwrights Festival
Submissions: Playwrights ages 9 to 19 may enter up to three scripts of any length. Entries are usually due in mid-March via email.
Winners: The twelve winning plays are fully produced by The Blank Theatre in Hollywood, with a professional cast and director, throughout the month of June. Winners are also assigned a mentor to help them develop their plays for production.
Other Notes: Blank YPF is particularly special for the production value it provides and the real prize of the competition: a full house for four nights of performances. There’s nothing quite like that thrill… and you know, the production photos are great too.
Contact: info@theblank.com
Thespians Playworks
Submissions: Any member of an International Thespian Society troop currently enrolled in high school may enter Thespian Playworks, the ITS-wide playwriting competition. More than one script can be submitted, but plays must run thirty minutes or less.
Winners: Winners must be available to attend Thespian Festival, a weeklong event in June that brings together ITS students across the country. There, the four writers participate in festival activities and have their plays performed as a staged reading with top students actors. Winning plays may also be published in Dramatics, the Educational Theatre Association national magazine, and will be published in an anthology with Samuel French. (Shameless plug: check out last year’s anthology here!)
Other Notes: Playworks is like a festival within a festival — the readings happen within an enormous conference of theatre geeks, and the playwrights are a particular subset of geek. Expect to find a new bestie around every corner. Also, a well-kept secret: graduating seniors pursuing playwriting who have been Thespian Playworks finalists are eligible for a $2000 playwriting scholarship.
Contact: Playworks Coordinator Julie York Coppens at jycoppens@schooltheatre.org
YoungArts
Submissions: Any high school artist (or artist 18 and under) may apply in one of ten artistic disciplines. Applications, which consist of a portfolio rather than a single piece, are due October 16th, online. An entry costs $35, but you may be eligible to have the fee waived.
Winners: Around 800 winners are selected from across disciplines for recognition, and NYC and Miami locals are invited to attend a week of classes and performances. Of those 800, 170 top winners are flown to Miami for a week to compete for scholarships of up to $10,000, work with top professionals in their field, and to be considered for the United States Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the nation’s highest designation for student artists.
Other Notes: YoungArts is not a playwriting competition specifically, but accepts entries in a Dramatic Writing category. Receiving over 10,000 applications annually, it’s the most prestigious competition for young artists, and its alumni network is massive, including everyone from Nikki Minaj to Kerry Washington. So basically, by winning, you become Nikki Minaj.
Contact: apply@youngarts.org
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Submissions: Public, private, parochial, or home-school students in the US, Canada, or American schools abroad enrolled in grades 7–12 are eligible to participate in the Awards. Deadlines vary from region to region, but are typically in January. Any number of entries may be submitted for $5 each (check to see if you’re eligible for the waiver though), including dramatic scripts of 25 pages or fewer. Works are judged on originality, technical skill, and personal vision or voice. Entries that win top regional honors, Gold Keys (about 10% of entries), are forwarded onto the national competition, which awards the top 10% of those entries Silver and Gold Medals.
Winners: Recognition is awarded at many levels for the Awards, making it one of the most inclusive and encouraging competitions around. Top national winners who are graduating seniors are eligible for scholarship opportunities, and all national winners are invited to a ceremony at Carnegie Hall, a weekend of readings and displays of winning works, and considered for the anthology Best Teen Writing.
Other Notes: Scholastic is also not exclusively a playwriting competition, but it accepts Dramatic Script entries and has staged readings of a number of top winning plays in NYC. In general, this competition is known for its warm spirit and emphasis on imaginative, boundary-breaking work.
Contact: Your regional affiliate!
The National Theatre for Student Artists
Submissions: Students, college and high school, are eligible to submit to be considered for NTSA’s 2015–2016 season. Playwrights can apply online and may submit a full length play or musical (include at least 3 demos for a musical), along with a resume and two references. Submissions are due on September 30, 2015.
Winners: NTSA is a full-fledged theatre company devoted to producing works whose writers, directors, designers, and actors are all students. A lucky writer will have their play selected as the main stage production for the summer of 2016, and their play will be fully produced Off-Broadway in NYC by a team of their peers.
Other Notes: NTSA isn’t a competition per se, but it’s an absolutely incredible opportunity for a playwright who has already developed and workshopped a script, and feels it’s now production ready. The quality of the NTSA’s productions are impressive, and to have a full Off-Broadway production before graduation is a dream come true for any young writer.
Contact: Co-Executive Director Victoria Chatfield at vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
Eugene O’Neill Young Playwrights Festival
Submissions: High school and middle school students between the age of 12 and 18 may submit a 10–15 page script to the renowned Eugene O’Neill Center. Last year, the deadline was in early March. Submit two copies of your script with a completed application form to:
Sophia Chapadjiev
Young Playwrights Festival
305 Great Neck Road
Waterford, CT 06385
Winners: Winners will rigorously develop their play at the O’Neill Center with an artistic team of a director, dramaturg, designer, and actors, culminating in a public script-in-hand reading.
Other Notes: According to the website, “The development process for each script will draw on the techniques used during the O’Neill’s renowned professional summer play development conferences.” Not a bad way to get an introduction to the O’Neill’s prestigious programs!
Contact: Sophia Chapadjiev at sophia@theoneill.org
Young Actors Studio National Teen Playwriting Competition
Submissions: Playwrights eighteen and under may submit up to four 10-minute works by emailing literary@youngactorsstudio.com. Last year, the deadline was in late March of 2015, but early submissions are encouraged.
Winners: The playwrights selected will receive $150 and have their work performed in the September New Works Festival by student performers at the Young Actors Studio, and may be eligible for potential additional playwriting opportunities.
Other Notes: This competition is a fledgling opportunity, only in its second year, but it appears to be going strong and successfully getting submissions!
Contact: literary@youngactorsstudio.com
Princeton Ten-Minute Play Competition
Submissions: Any eleventh grade student in eligible for this competition. Students play submit a single ten-page script, which will be adjudicated by the Princeton theatre faculty. Apply by March 31st, either online or by mailing a script and contact information to:
Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest-ATT: Joe Fonseca
Princeton University
Program in Theater/Lewis Center for the Arts
185 Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08542
Winners: First, second, and third place winners are selected, along with an honorable mention. Prizes: First Prize — $500, Second Prize — $250, Third Prize — $100
Other Notes: While this competition does not include a reading opportunity, it does offer a scholarship and a chance for students interested in Princeton to learn more about the university.
Contact: No contact information listed at this time.
REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Actors Theatre of Louisville — New Voices (KY and IN)
Alley Theatre — HYPE: Houston Young Playwrights Exchange (Houston, TX)
Baltimore Centerstage — Young Playwrights Festival (MD)
Geva Theatre Center– Young Writers Showcase (Rochester, NY)
Hartford Stage — Write On (CT)
Horizon Theatre Company– Young Playwrights Festival (South)
Marin Theatre Company– Marin Young Playwrights Festival (Marin and Sonoma County, CA)
Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild — Sherwood Collins Playwriting Contest (MA)
Mississippi Theatre Association — Playwriting Competition (MS)
New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival (NJ)
Philadelphia Young Playwrights (Philadelphia, PA)
Playwrights Project– California Young Playwrights Contest (CA)
Portland Stage — Young Writers Project
SF PlayGround — Young Playwrights Project (San Francisco, CA)
Syracuse Stage — Young Playwrights Festival (Central New York)
