The Marilyn Hall Awards for Youth Theater

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Rules for the Play Competition for Youth Theatre

1. The Marilyn Hall Awards consist of two (2) monetary prizes for plays suitable for grades 6-8 (middle school) or for plays suitable for grades 9-12 (high school). The two prizes will be awarded on the merits of the play scripts, which includes its suitability for the intended audience. The plays should be approximately 45 to 75 minutes in length. There is no production connected to any of the prizes, though a staged reading is optional at the discretion of the BHTG.

2. Authors must be U.S. Citizens or legal residents. Co-Authorships are permissible.

3. The plays must be written in Standard American English. Slang, jargon, and regional dialects, etc., may be used only to establish necessary characterization.

4. Authors may enter up to two (2) scripts in the Play Competition for Youth Theatre.

5. Entries must be unpublished, theatrical works written for the living stage and suitable for the grades designated. Play scripts may have had one (1) non-professional or educational theatre production. But the play may not have been produced on a professional level for which authors, actors or staff were paid.

6. Entries may be original plays, adaptations and/or translations. Authors of adaptations and/or translations of works that are under current copyright must provide (upon request) proof of permission from the copyright holder(s) or their legal agents to use such works.

7. Plays shorter than approximately 45 minutes are not eligible; musicals are not eligible; and plays entered in previous BHTG Competitions are not eligible. (Please note: plays with music, i.e. plays with an occasional interpolated song, are eligible: works that are designated as musicals are not.)

8. Submissions received with postmarks BEFORE January 15th or AFTER the last day of February of the contest year will not be accepted, read or returned. Authors will be notified of ineligible submission and the reasons why.

9. Submissions in noncompliance of these Rules and the Submission Procedures will be ineligible.

10. BHTG has the right to accept or reject any entry without explanation, and will not correspond with, or discuss with, any person the results of the competition, or the acceptance or rejection of any entry.

11. The competition judges' decisions are final in all respects.

12. BHTG has the following rights which it may exercise at its sole discretion:

a. To declare any entry ineligible if prior to Competition's close (June 1) the entry is in violation of rule #6. Authors must notify the BHTG of any change in status.
b. To reproduce as many copies of an entry as are necessary for distribution among the judges.
c. To use the author's name and title of any entry receiving an award for publicity about this Playwright Award and the results of the competition.
d. To present one script-in-hand, rehearsed readings of an award winning entry to an invited, nonpaying audience. No royalty payment will be due to the entry's author for these readings.

13. Each award winner will, at all times, in connection with publications, production, publicity, advertisements, etc. about the award winning entry, designate that the play is an "Award Winner of The Beverly Hills Theatre Guild/Youth Theatre Competition."

14. Each entry will be free from copyright restrictions relating to this Award, and the author will hold the BHTG, its officers, and directors free and harmless from all copyright claims and violations.

15. The BHTG is not a producing organization. No production is connected with the competition nor any prize awarded.

16. Sorry, the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild - Youth Theatre Competition does not sponsor scholarships, fellowships, educational grants, or loans to students or private individuals. Nor does the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild as an organization.


Submission Procedures

1. Each entry must be accompanied by an individual, completed application/entry form. Application forms may be duplicated as necessary. Application forms and Competition rules and Submission Procedures may be obtained by sending #10 business-sized SASE to the address below.

2. Each author must personally sign the application. Entries must be legible and signature clearly the name of the writer(s). The author(s) must sign the entry form. Proxy or agent signatures are not accepted and will lead to disqualification.

3. Bind your entry securely and include a title page with the name of the play, whether it is an "original" or an adaptation/translation from another work, and, if desired, copyright or registration information and date (instead of the author's name, please use "by the author.") On the second page list all characters, time, place, number of acts and scenes, and any other pertinent information such as whether the scripts make use of special effects, e.g., puppetry. Scripts must be bound. A clip holding pages together unfortunately doesn't constitute being "bound". (This is insisted upon for the protection of the script and benefit of the writer. Loose scripts may have pages become misplaced or lost. The competition is not responsible for loss or damage to entries or parts thereof.)

4. Do not show your name, address or any identifying information on any page of your entry. Attach with a removable paper clip, a sheet containing the title of your entry, your name, address, phone number and any other information.

5. To preserve anonymity, all entries will be identified by numbers for judging. All identifying marks will be removed.

6. Submissions will not be returned. This includes either eligible or ineligible submissions. Enclose with your submission a #10 business-sized SASE for our response.

7. You may enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard for acknowledgment of receipt of your entry. Competition winners to be announced on this web site in June.

8. The BHTG is not responsible for loss or damage to entries.

9. No script will be accepted by fax or e-mail. No electronic submissions or correspondence.

10. No entry is returned.

APPLICATION FORM

Address All Inquiries and Submissions To:
Candace Coster, Competition Coordinator
Play Competition for Youth Theatre
P.O. Box 148
Beverly Hills, CA 90213