One-Act Play Writing Competition

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The Elite Theatre Company’s 2016 One-Act Play Writing Competition offers North American playwrights the opportunity to submit for judging no more than one (1) one-act play with a running time of no more than 30 minutes each. There will be up to 5 winners; each winner may have their one-act play(s) produced on stage by Elite Theatre Company in 2017, for a run of up to 12 performances.

(ETC reserves the right to produce the one-acts at any venue during the calendar year.)

Script Submission Rules
Electronic submissions only.
Send to oneact@elitetheatre.org as a Word or PDF document only.
Must have name, address, e-mail address and telephone number on title page.
To be accepted into the competition, one-act play scripts must:

1. Be written by a U.S. or Canadian playwright;

2. Be original, unproduced and unpublished;

3 Be written in generally accepted play script format;

4. Have a running time of not more than 30 minutes (under 20 minutes is recommended);

5. Be a comedy, drama, mystery, thriller or a monologue (no musicals or children’s plays will be accepted); and

6. Be received between March 1, 2016 and May 31, 2016

ONLY THE FIRST 100 SCRIPTS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR JUDGING.
Scripts not in compliance will not be accepted for judging. Playwrights will be notified via e-mail only when their script has been received.

It is recommended that the play have single or unit sets; no more than six (6) characters; and not require complicated costuming, sets, props or special effects. These are recommendations only and will not disqualify a play from the competition.

Judging
The judges are comprised of qualified playwrights, theatrical directors, producers or theater educators.

The Literary Manager of The Elite Theatre Company and the Judges shall have sole discretion over the manner in which the plays are judged, and their determination of the winners will be final.

Winner Notification
Winners of the competition shall be notified by e-mail or mail by October 15, 2016. Winners may make minor corrections and changes to their script before rehearsals begin in December, 2016. Additional consultations may take place between the winning playwrights, ETC’s Artistic Director and Festival Producer before rehearsals and again before performances.

2017 One-Act Festival
By submitting a script for judging, the playwright gives permission to Elite Theatre Company to exclusively produce and perform the play during the calendar year of 2017, if chosen by the judges to be a finalist, for up to 12 performances. Each finalist playwright shall be paid $100 before the first performance of the play.

Playwright agrees to give Elite Theatre Company the right to produce the play as a World Premiere, and that other performances or staged readings of the play prior to ETC’s 2017 One-Act Festival are not permitted and will disqualify the play from production.

Determination of the order of plays, directors, and production staff for ETC’s 2017 One-Act Festival will be made solely by ETC’s Artistic Director and/or Festival Producer. Winning playwrights are encouraged to attend a performance of their play. Two (2) complimentary tickets will be given to each winning playwright to attend any performance. Transportation and lodging will not be provided by ETC.

ETC Contact & Website
For additional information not covered here, please contact Steve Grumette at literary@elitetheatre.org or Tom Eubanks at ad@elitetheatre.org. For information about Elite Theatre Company, we encourage you to explore the rest of our website.