Urban Stages: Words by Women

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Due: August 31, 2017
Only a small fraction of new plays produced every year are written by women. To encourage the development and production of plays by women, we put out a special call for our Words by Women Reading Series periodically. These plays are given special attention and considered more immediately by our Literary Committee.

Write WORDS BY WOMEN on the envelope you send your play in.

Plays must be written by female playwrights. While not mandatory, we encourage casts with a majority of women and plays exploring social issues facing women today.

*Words by Women submissions ARE eligible for The Emerging Playwright Award.

HOW TO SUBMIT?

Submit plays to:
Urban Stages
555 Eighth Avenue, RM 1800
New York, NY 10018

Email submissions will not be accepted.

Full-length plays only:
- scripts must be firmly bound
- No changes or revisions accepted after submission
- No double-sided pages.
- 7 actors or less (unless otherwise noted)…doubling is fine

With your submission, please include:
- Biography and/or author’s history of the play
- Character breakdown
- Brief synopsis of the play.
- A small SASE envelope for a response letter.
*Whole plays will no longer be returned. All plays will be recycled.

Plays MAY HAVE BEEN developed or produced elsewhere, BUT NEVER PRODUCED in New York City.

There is no limit to submissions.
Subject matter and character variations are open.

There is no submission fee.

It usually takes up to six months for us to read and process your script.
We ask that you do not call or email our offices to inquire on the status of your play.

Plays from overseas and throughout the United States are accepted and considered.
BUT special attention will be given to playwrights who live in or near New York.

We recommend not spending extra money to send your play express, overnight or via other expensive services. We accept plays year-round and for special deadlines, we accept plays postmarked on the deadline date. For special deadlines, late plays are just entered among our general year-round submissions.