Submit a Play
Our primary means of getting to know writers for all of our programs is through submission to the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.
Next Submission Window: September 15th - November 30th, 2010. Beginning this year, only electronic (pdf or .doc) submissions will be accepted. Please stay tuned for more specific guidelines for submission to the 2011 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, which will be available by mid-September. For further inquiries, please email literary (at) playwrightsfoundation (dot) org.
Open Submission Process
The Playwrights Foundation�s programs are open to all playwrights writing in English and living in North America. The staff and a dedicated committee of Bay Area theater professionals carefully review each play, write in depth evaluations and meet regularly to share their thoughts. Each play submitted is directly considered for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and it is primarily through this open submission process that we get to know the work of writers whom we invite to participate in all of our development programs: ROUGH Reading Series, INKubator Project, Producing Partnership and Commissioning Program, and Resident Playwrights Initiative Through this process we seek to gain a depth of familiarity with the work of a large range of playwrights, and expose those writers to our advisory committee and creative partners. Special attention is given to Bay Area writers, emerging writers, and writers of color.
Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Festival: The five playwrights chosen for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival are given 2 weeks of rehearsal (with a professional dramaturg, director, and actors) and 2 rehearsed readings separated by 5-6 days for rewrites during the 2-week festival in July and August at a San Francisco theater. The last three festivals were held at the Magic Theatre. Local and national producers are invited to the festival to see the staged readings and meet the playwrights.
Retreat: A pre-festival weekend retreat in July brings together artistic teams consisting of playwrights, directors, dramaturgs. Brainstorming and feedback from other festival participants occur during the retreat. It is mandatory for playwrights to be in residence for the entire retreat and festival period.
Financial arrangement: stipend, travel, housing.
Application procedure: please mail your play with resume and cover letter. In your cover letter please briefly describe your developmental goals for the play. Be sure to include your current e-mail address, as all further festival communication will be conducted electronically.
Application Fee: There is a $20 submission fee, put toward the costs associated with the selection process. Please submit your fee in the form of check or money order made out to PLAYWRIGHTS FOUNDATION. Previous festival participants and honorable mentions are exempt from the submission fee. If the submission fee poses a severe financial hardship, please call the office to discuss at (415) 626-2176.
Guidelines: Send one unproduced original full-length play. Only one submission per playwright. Plays that have previously received a workshop or university production are considered unproduced.
Please note: In the past, snail mail submissions have been accepted, and we are in the process of opening our process to electronic submissions. Specific information about submission instructions will be available in mid-late August.
Award notification: May 2011
Dates: Pre-festival weekend retreat will be mid to late July. Festival will be last week of July-first week of August.
Questions: Send questions by email only to literary (at) playwrightsfoundation (dot) org
