2024-25 Fair Play Initiative Commission

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Deadline: August 16, 2024

Theatre Lab, the professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University (FAU), is now accepting applications for The 2024-25 Fair Play Initiative. The upcoming season will mark the fifth installment of Theatre Lab’s Fair Play Initiative (FPI), a commission and development program for LGBTQ plays & stories, established and maintained through the generous support of the Our Fund Foundation.

For the 2024-25 edition, Theatre Lab will, again, commission one full-length stage play inspired by LGBTQ+ stories, experiences, and history, and provide the playwright with a $4000 award, a week-long virtual development process, and a second week-long, in-person development process and staged reading at our annual New Play Festival (April 11-20, 2025). As with all plays from this program, all future productions and publications will note “commissioned by Theatre Lab & the Our Fund Foundation as part of the Fair Play Initiative”.

Theatre Lab invites interested playwrights to submit proposals for a commissioned work. Applications are open from August 2, 2024 through 11:59pm on August 16, 2024. Interested playwrights should email a bio (200 words or less), a brief summary of their proposed play (200 words or less), and 3 pages of sample work to theatrelab@fau.edu using the subject line: 24-25 FPI APP.

The selected candidate will demonstrate a lengthy history of supporting and engaging with the LGBTQ+ community and a deep understanding of the issues, stories, and concerns within the community.

After a review of the submissions, the successful candidate will be identified and the commission awarded no later than 9/15/2024, along with an initial stipend to begin the work. A first draft of the script will be delivered by December of 2024. In February-March of 2024, the play will undergo an initial development session. The proposal for this session is a week-long development in the virtual world with a director, dramaturg, and actors but can be adjusted and utilized in whatever way the playwright feels is most beneficial to the continued development of the script.

The final stipend will be paid after the in-person development week, featuring 12-15 hours of rehearsal concluding in a public reading during Theatre Lab’s annual New Play Festival. The playwright will be present for the entire rehearsal process, the reading, and take part in a post-show discussion with the audience about the play and the process. Theatre Lab will then retain “right of first refusal” for a world premiere production during or before the 2026-27 season.

If you have any questions please email theatrelab@fau.edu. No phone calls please.