The Venus Theater Festival seeks scripts from women

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NOTE: this is only open to writers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
NOTE: playwrights selected for the festival will be responsible for all aspects of their play's production

The Venus Theater Festival is a playwright’s contest created uniquely for women. It was designed to offer women writers a chance to direct their own never-before-seen shows, helping them to develop a sense of casting, staging, use of lights and direction. With Venus, it is our intention to give female writers a unique chance to create their vision from the first stroke of their pen to the last scene of their play. Venus is not only a festival; it’s a competition as well. That means there are prizes! The winner of Best Play will receive a prize of $2,500. Winner of Best Actress will receive $500. Venus, as well as our summertime festival, Thespis, is hosted by Cabrini Repertory Theater, a beautiful, 200-seat proscenium theater in uptown Manhattan.

General submission to Venus is free-of-charge and submissions will be accepted until March 1st.

Submissions must be between 40 and 50 minutes long.

ALL PLAYS MUST BE FIRST RUNS AND MUST
NEVER HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BEFORE
VENUS THEATER FESTIVAL IS FOR
NON-UNION / NON-EQUITY MEMBERS ONLY

Each applicant is fully responsible for all elements of their production. These include directing, casting, stage-managing and hiring a sound & light board operator.


Submission Rules
In order to submit a play please send the following via email:
1. A 60-word blurb describing the play you are submitting
2. A 200- to 300-word synopsis of the play
3. The complete script
4. Your telephone number and home address, plus the phone number of one other person in your production that we can contact
5. Your bio with age included
As soon as your play is accepted, you will be sent the festival guidelines. After carefully reading the guidelines, should you decide to be part of Venus, you will be asked to send in the deposit, which will be returned at the end of the festival if you’ve brought the minimum number of audience members.
All plays will be given a three-performance run at the theater.
Each show is paired with a second, and the two will perform on the same nights.

Rules
Only plays from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be accepted.
Submissions must be between 40 and 50 minutes long.
ALL PLAYS MUST BE FIRST RUNS AND MUST NEVER HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BEFORE - VENUS THEATER FESTIVAL IS FOR
NON-UNION / NON-EQUITY MEMBERS ONLY

Each applicant is fully responsible for all elements of their production. These include directing, casting, stage-managing and hiring a sound & light board operator.

What the Theater Offers

For those playwrights who want to incorporate live music into their play,  Cabrini Rep offers a fully-tuned, baby grand piano. We also offer a choice of stage furniture and props to all productions, as well as a large projection wall at the back of the stage and a quality projector that will create a wide range of possibilities for your set. In this way, productions need not be as concerned about moving their props in and out of the theater before and after each performance.

Again, only women playwrights can apply to the Venus Festival. If the playwright chooses not to direct, either a female director must be chosen or a female lead must be cast in at least one of the main roles.

Prizes

Winners:

Choosing Nominees for Best Play

After all plays have had their three-performance run, the best 8 plays will be selected by the Venus jury as nominees for the $2,500 prize of Best Play. Those 8 shows will be given a fourth performance that will be advertised to the surrounding community, which is full of artists and theater-goers who are aware of Cabrini Repertory Theater. So if, after your three-performance run in Venus, your play is selected as one of the 8 nominees, you are not only in the running for Best Play, but in addition to other audience members you’d like to invite, we will invite our supporters to your fourth performance.
Along with audience members from the theater’s neighborhood, three judges will also attend your fourth performance. This panel of outside judges will make the final decision about the winning play.

There will also be several nominations for best actress. In addition to the winning actress ($500 prize), there will be a third and second runner-up. These runner-ups will receive surprise prizes!

Winners will be announced during a special prize ceremony at the end of the festival to which the cast and crew of all nominated productions will be invited.

We look forward to seeing each one of your productions. Good luck and have a great time!

Video

All plays will be filmed. At the end of the festival, or after your show’s run, you can purchase a video of your show for $75.

Please be aware that the festival is not directly involved with the filming of the plays. You must connect with the videographer on your own in order to purchase your show’s video.

There is no fee to submit your play to the Venus Festival.

Rather, those who are accepted are required to send in a deposit check of $250. The deposit will be returned as long as the production is able to bring a minimum of 33 audience members in total to all three performances assigned to each show; that means at least 11 people per performance.

Again, only those plays that are accepted will be required to send in the $250 deposit.

Contact us at
Venustheaterfestival@gmail.com

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE CABRINI REPERTORY THEATER HOSTING VENUS IS INVOLVED IN SEVERAL HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS TO AID THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THEREFORE, A NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO SEE ANY OF THE SHOWS RUNNING IN VENUS FOR FREE FROM THE 4TH PERFORMANCE ON. THESE PEOPLE WILL BE A NICE ADDITION TO YOUR AUDIENCE. THE THEATER CAN SEAT UP TO 200 PEOPLE. ANYONE WHO WALKS IN WILL BE GIVEN A SEAT.