PlayPenn seeks full-length plays

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Beginning September 2, PlayPenn will be accepting applications for its 2014 New Play Development Conference; we are pleased to request your full length, unproduced script for consideration. Application materials will be accepted between September 2 and September 30, 2013.

Your application must be uploaded and complete by September 30, 2013 or it cannot be considered.

The 2014 Conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 11 – 27. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg, designers and Philadelphia-based professional actors over a 17 day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time along with ample time to reflect and write. The work will be preceded by a three-day pre-conference retreat (July 11 – 13) that will help lay the collaborative groundwork for the development time ahead. These three days give the artistic teams the opportunity to get to know each other and the six scripts at the center of the Conference. The Conference concludes with public staged readings that are intended as a part of the process, not a final product, giving playwrights an opportunity to measure the efficacy of their work and provide an opportunity to gauge the work ahead. PlayPenn will provide travel for casting for both writer and director, travel to and from the conference, housing, per diem and a stipend.

Applicants should be aware that we are a development Conference rather than a
festival or showcase for new work. The distinction is important and meaningful to
us in the current climate of the increasing commercialization of play development. We work to avoid participation in what has become known as "development hell" by fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is provided and encouraged. TO THAT END, WE FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF THE TEXT. THE END-OF-CONFERENCE READING IS INTENDED TO PRESENT A GLIMPSE INTO HOW THE TEXT LIVES OFF THE PAGE RATHER THAN HOW THE PLAY MIGHT BE STAGED IN PRODUCTION.

TO APPLY, CLICK HERE

Please follow the instructions to upload your play into our system. Because the data base identifies you through your registration, NO NAME SHOULD BE INCLUDED ON ANY DOCUMENT, INCLUDING YOUR RESUME. Please submit the following:

1. An original script in pdf format with no identifying information. Applications that are submitted in non-pdf format will not be considered (pdf) (no name on the document).
2. Your current resume (pdf) (no name on the document)
3. A casting breakdown and the number of actors required (pdf) (no name on the document)
4. The play's development and production history Plays that have been produced or that have been through an extended development process are not eligible. Plays that have had readings are eligible. (pdf) (no name on the document).
5. An articulation of your goals for the development process using the resources
offered by PlayPenn. Please be specific in regard to what aspects of your text you would like to focus on during the course of the conference. (pdf) (no name on the document).

We cannot consider plays for children, plays under one hour in length or musicals.

PlayPenn does not accept applications by agents.

And as stated above, applicants should be aware that we are a development conference rather than a festival or showcase for new work. The distinction is important and meaningful to us in the current climate of the increasing commercialization of play development. We seek to avoid participation in what has become known as "development hell" by fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is provided and encouraged. TO THAT END, WE FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF THE TEXT. THE END-OF CONFERENCE READING IS INTENDED TO PRESENT A GLIMPSE INTO HOW THE TEXT LIVES OFF THE PAGE RATHER THAN HOW THE PLAY MIGHT BE STAGED IN PRODUCTION.

Your application must be uploaded and complete by midnight September 30, 2013 or it cannot be considered.