Playwrights

Full Length Play Competition

Updated October 16, 2009

Beginning in the fall of 2006, the National Playwriting Program in Region III will accept full-length plays. Up to four exceptional plays will be selected for a reading at the regional festival unless there are no entries that year.

Guidelines

1. This opportunity is for playwrights from schools who have not entered the play as either an associate or participating production.
2. Running time for the play must be longer than 60 minutes.
3. An email attachment of the play must be submitted in addition to a separate Cover Sheet, to the Region III NPP Chair. Those selected will be notified by December 1 and will be asked to send the play by email attachment to the Kennedy Center by that date.
4. There is no charge for entering the contest this year.
5. Play(s) will be selected by a reading committee from outside the region.
6. If selected, we hope the playwrights can attend the regional festival where the plays will be given a script-in-hand reading. If the playwrights cannot attend the festival their plays will still be eligible for national awards (see below) provided they have been produced by a college or university or publicly presented in a "rehearsed" or "staged reading" format following a significant development process. This reading can occur at their home school or at the regional festival (either is acceptable).
7. The playwrights selected may bring their own director and cast to do the reading or they can choose to have a director assigned and a cast selected from among the actors who audition for the 10 minute play festival on the Wednesday afternoon of the festival.
8. Play(s) selected will automatically become eligible for all national awards for full-length plays from the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program, except for the National Student Playwriting Award which goes to a play entered as a participating production.
9. Please, no more than 2 entries per playwright. Students can submit up to two plays in each category (ten minute, one act, and full length) for a maximum of six plays total.

Submission

Playwrights of full-length plays should submit TWO DOCUMENTS:

1. the cover sheet completed with all appropriate information and
2. the script in Word or PDF format, which should have a TITLE PAGE but no author or school identification.

SUBMIT THE COVER SHEET AND SCRIPT TO THE NPP (NATIONAL PLAYWRITING PROGRAM) CHAIR IN YOUR REGION AND TO THE NATIONAL OFFICE (ghenry@kennedy-center.org). There is a limit of two plays per playwright. Students can submit up to two plays in each category (ten minute, one act, and full length) for a maximum of six plays total. There is no charge for entering the contest this year.