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PLAYWRIGHTS
IMPORTANT NEWS
Ruth Childs (SUNY Brockport) is the new Regional Chair of NPP and Scott Frank (Washington Jefferson College) is the new Vice Chair of NPP. Welcome from both of us. We invite you to take advantage of the many opportunities offered to playwrights at our regional festival.
REGION II FESTIVAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submission Guidelines for all Region II Concert Readings (ten-minutes, one-acts, full-length):
1. All plays are to be sent to the NPP Chair postmarked Nov. 1 (address below). Scripts may be submitted as early as Sept. 12.
2. All scripts must be submitted in the "Samuel French Format." A sample of this format can be found on the national Web Site www.kcactf.org.
3. A student may submit up to three scripts in any combination you choose.
4. Scripts need to be stapled, or held together tightly. NPP is not responsible for lost pages. Please, do not spend a lot of money on binding your scripts.
5. Scripts will not be returned.
6. Send 4 copies of each script. On one copy only, have the title, your name, address, phone numbers, email address and school name. On the other three copies just have the title of the play.
Make certain that your name or the school name does not appear on any of the other pages.
6. Mail scripts (postmarked by Nov. 1) to:
Ruth Childs, NPP Chair Region II,
SUNY Brockport
350 New campus Drive
Brockport, NY 14420
SELECTION PROCESS FOR ALL REGIONAL READINGS
1. The NPP Chair keeps the one script with your contact information on it. All scripts are assigned numbers and referred to by that number.
2. For the ten-minute and one-act scripts: The three "blind copies" or the scripts without your name and contact information are sent to three readers in another region (We will exchange scripts with Region VII for the 2008 Festival). These readers will rate your scripts and send their results to me.
3. For the Full-length script: the blind copies are sent to three readers from Region II, who do not have students submitting full-length plays. They will read and rate the scripts. We do not always choose a full-length play for a reading.
4. The writers invited to have their scripts read will be contacted around December 1. You will be given director contact information by December 23.
5. If your script has been selected you must attend the Region II festival January 2-6, 2008 at Carnegie Mellon University.
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE REGIONAL FESTIVAL
This is an opportunity for a playwright to hear his/her play read. Yes, there are award opportunities but what everyone involved can take from the concert reading process is a shared sense of community and ensemble: a crazy hectic 5 days to come together for an artistic purpose. You will meet and work with faculty and students from around the region. You will have your play responded to by professionals from across the county. A few hundred people will celebrate your writing.
A concert reading is a reading of your script using chairs and maybe music stands. Actors are allowed one entrance and exit, to stand or sit but no blocking other than that (no crossing to mime opening a door or answer a telephone, for instance). With script in hand (or on the music stand) the actors and directors are able to focus the reading on the text so that you, the writer can hear what you have written. We follow the Actors' Equity Staged Reading Guidlines which are the same rules followed at the KCACTF National Festival in Washington DC. All NPP and SSDC scripts are given a concert reading at the end of the regional festival.
Casting is done the second day of the regional festival. You and your director will see about 160 actors audition and then, following the Region II tried and true system, you will cast your reading and meet with your cast that night.
Rehearsals are set in the schedule and we ask that all writers and directors stick to the hours listed for each reading. Each NPP and SSDC cast will be assigned a rehearsal space.
Awards are based on readings before the concert readings (public presentation). No award is decided after the scripts receive the public concert reading. The respondents (all from outside of the region or not affiliated with a Region II participating school) plus a professional reader from outside of Region II (three people total) will select the award winners. All winners are announced at the final ceremonies.
Please, read the following definition and let it be your guide before submitting your ten-minute plays. If your play isn't a play but a sketch, monologue, operatic duet then see: Short Forms. For the KCACTF definition of a ten-minute play go to the National Web Site: www.kcactf.org.
Gary Garrison, past National Chair of Playwriting and currently the Executive Director of Creative Affairs for the Dramatists Guild, sent this definition of a ten-minute play to the regional chairs. Please, refer to it for your submissions as this is the definition we use in selecting the Region II ten-minute plays for our festival. (Scripts that are skits, monologues, sketches, rants, song parodies, etc. need to be submitted to Short Forms.)
A ten-minute play is a play with at least two characters and is not a scene, skit or sketch. Structurally, it should have a beginning, middle and end - just like a good one-act or full-length play. Reaching beyond the surface, the text should be enriched with subtext.
Since we only have ten minutes to bring the story full circle, a dramatic conflict should be posed as quickly as possible. The resolution of that conflict is what plays out across the remaining pages. The true success of a Ten-minute Play is reliant on the writer's ability to bring an audience through the same cathartic/entertainment experience that a good one-act or full-length play accomplishes - i.e., sympathetic characters with recognizable needs encompassed within a resolvable dramatic conflict.
While not wanting to oppress anyone's creativity, recognize that a Ten-minute Play will undoubtedly be presented in an evening of Ten-minute Plays. Therefore, elaborate settings, multiple characters, extravagant production values, etc., could conceivably eliminate your play from consideration.
Finally: Do your readers a favor: ten-minutes means eight or nine pages, but certainly no more than ten pages. READ YOUR PLAY OUT LOUD to see how it times out using standard playwrighting format, 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
Gary Garrison
Executive Director of Creative Affairs for the Dramatists Guild
Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
1. National Competition
1. If you are interested in entering your ten-minute play for the National competition please follow submission guidelines for the Region II Festival Submissions. Your ten-minute play must be selected on the regional level, at the regional festival, for National Festival consideration.
2. We will choose no more than six plays for the concert readings of the ten-minute plays. A second tier of scripts may be chosen for the SSDC readings, see below.
3. You will be assigned a Professional/Faculty director who will help guide you through the festival week and will cast and direct the reading.
4. All plays must be read in 10 minutes or less.
5. You must be able to attend the regional festival.
2. Ten-Minute Plays for the SSDC Competition readings
The student directors nominated for the SSDC National Directing Fellowship Award will be directing the 10 Minute Plays at regional festival. Both the student directors and the student playwrights will be mentored by faculty in this process. At the national festival the student directors direct the Ten Minute play nominees as well as the Short Play nominees from all over the country, so this is a wonderful opportunity to learn about a successful developmental collaboration. (To find out more information regarding the SSDC Directing Fellowship Award go to the DIRECTOR'S link on this website)
One-act scripts selected for the Region II Festival can now be considered for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards (See National Award opportunities). The Selection team and the NPP Chair and Vice Chair will decide which scripts are appropriate and strong candidates for National Award consideration. All one acts for consideration for the John Cauble One-act play award (even if fully produced at your school) must be submitted to the Region II chair by Nov. 1 and follow all Region II Festival procedures.
1. To enter your script for the Region II Festival, follow the Region II Festival Submission Guidelines.
2. We will choose no more than 4 scripts for the Region II Festival.
3. You will be assigned a faculty/professional director who will cast and direct your concert reading.
4. All one-act plays must be longer than 15 minutes and shorter than 60 minutes.
5. You must be able to attend the Region II festival in January.
As with the one-act plays, the full-length script will be considered for nomination for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards (Except the National Student Playwriting Award). If the selection committee and NPP Chair and Vice Chair find that your script is a strong candidate for the Kanin awards we will nominate it for National Award consideration.
1. This is an opportunity for a serious playwright to have her/his script developed at the regional festival. You will be given a concert reading, but this really is about the development of a new play.
2. Follow Region II Festival Submission Guidelines.
3. We do not always select a full-length play for the regional festival.
4. You will be assigned a faculty/professional director who will cast and direct your concert reading.
5. You must be able to attend the Region II Festival in January.
Invitation only. A student written script chosen from Participating, Associate or Region II one-act or full-length entries. We are looking for students who want to learn more about the developmental/rewriting process.
1. This is another developmental opportunity for a one-act or full-length script.
2. Scripts will be given a workshop reading in a classroom. Less formal atmosphere than the concert readings.
3. You will be assigned a faculty/professional director.
4. The cast will be selected from another school (not from the writer's school) and not from the NPP audition process.
5. As with the other readings you will be given a response session following the reading.
6. The NPP Chair will invite the writer to festival.
7. We will not necessarily have a developmental reading. Reading given based on quality of the script, writer's desire to work and learn, and need for the opportunity.
What are Short Forms? A rant, tall tale, sketch comedy, comedy blackout, monologue, spoken word piece, improv, or a dance piece, juggling act, puppet piece, song parody, or standup act (or, another kind of performance piece that may lean well into the non-traditional). The plan is to put together a 30-40 minute show as part of the Region II Fringe Festival at festival, that will be performed at the end of the week. Some of the pieces may be selected from regional submissions and some will be selected from those of you intrigued enough to take a few workshops in selected short forms during festival.
Some Guidelines:
1. Any piece you care about is worthy of development. It doesn't have to be "soup yet" to come to festival for development.
2. If you need music for your song, dance, sketch please, supply it along with any props, costume pieces, etc. you know you'll need.
3. Material should be no longer than 6 minutes. You will have an opportunity to develop the piece at festival.
4. Submitting material does not guarantee you a performance slot in the show. However, you may still be able to develop your material at festival.
5. New material can be brought to festival for development.
6. Start submitting your materials now! Send to: maggielally@aol.com. Send in script form or as a description of the act (descriptions should be no longer than ½ a page).
7. Deadline for submissions: November 25, 2007. But get them in as early as possible!!!
F. Stage Management Opportunities
1. Stage Managers for National Festival Scholarship see: Design, Technology and Management. NPP does work with the student stage managers who are competing for the National Scholarship but we no longer oversee the application or registration process.
2. Stage Managers for Regional Participation Only (not in competition for national festival). If you are interested in just helping out with the NPP readings or Directing Institute scenes, please sign-up at the NPP/Directing Institute registration table on registration day. The table will be open from 12:00-5:00 p.m. Or come by the auditions the next day and let us know you want to help!
G. Student and Faculty Actor Auditions at Regional Festival
We encourage all student and faculty interested in participating in the NPP and Directing Institute auditions to come by the registration table open from 12:00-5:00 p.m or to the auditions the next day to be given an appointment time and have a Polaroid taken ($1.00 charge and not required). PLEASE, audition only if you plan to commit to the rehearsal schedule as listed in your festival program and on the audition form. Do not audition "just for fun" and then back out after you've been cast.
H. Faculty Director Opportunities
1. Faculty Directing Opportunities: If you are interested in directing one of the NPP Concert readings, please contact Ruth Childs at rchilds@brockport.edu. I use a mix of directors from previous years and directors I've never met so, please, let me know that you are interested! However, I do ask that you have an interest in the development of new plays.
I. Guerrilla Dramaturgy
1. To sign-up see: Dramaturgy
2. Guerrilla Dramaturgs work with writers, directors and actors involved with the NPP readings. This is a terrific opportunity for anyone (writer, technician, designer, actor...) who loves research, working on new plays, or wants to learn about the development of new plays. All sign-up and other information can be found in the Dramaturgy section.
J. Workshops
If you are interested in giving a playwriting or new play development workshop please contact Scott Mackenzie, our Workshop Coordinator at mackensa@westminster.edu or visit the workshop section of this website.
II National Festival Opportunities/Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards
Please, check the national web site for a detailed breakdown of each award. There are three new awards this year! www.kcactf.org.
A. Submission Explanation
1. A new play can be given a concert reading, a staged reading or a full production and entered at the Associate Level. It will then be eligible for all the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards except the National Student Playwriting Award (must be submitted as a Participating entry and chosen to come to the regional festival).
2. All student written new plays that are entered as either a Participating or Associate Entry are eligible for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards. Scripts are to be submitted directly to the Kennedy Center. See National award guidelines. Exceptions are One-acts for the John Cauble (see regional one-act submission guidelines) and all plays for the David Mark Cohen.
3. David Mark Cohen ( DMC ) All new plays, adaptations and translations entered as either a Participating or Associate entry are eligible for the David Mark Cohen Award. Yes, this includes faculty and other professional writers. See National Award breakdown for details of this award.
a. All DMC nominations must be sent to the Region II Chair and post marked by November 1. Send to:
Ruth Childs, NPP Chair Region II,
SUNY Brockport,
350 New campus Drive,
Brockport, NY 14420
b. Submit 4 copies of the script. Three must be blind copies with title only appearing. The fourth must have title, your name, and all contact information. See Region II Festival submission guidelines for more details. Please, label the script with "DMC SUBMISSION"
c. A selection committee comprised of professionals not affiliated with any of the nominees will decide which of the scripts, if any will be nominated. Each region can choose up to two scripts to nominate for national consideration.
d. The DMC nominees will be notified around December 1.
B. Region II NPP Cheat Sheet: A quick guide to the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards
This is intended to be a quick guide to the awards. For a detailed description of all the awards please, visit the national website www.kcactf.org.
ONLY FOR PARTICIPATING PRODUCTIONS (fully produced):
National Student Playwriting Award: If it's student written and it's a FULL LENGTH PLAY, and it was entered as a participating production and brought to your regional festival, then it is eligible for this award
FOR PARTICIPATING OR ASSOCIATE ENTRIES:
*Mark Twain Comedy Award : Script is comic or it has some comic element to it.
*Lorraine Hansberry Award : Student is of African or Diaspora descent and the play expresses the African American experience.
*Jean Kennedy Smith Award : Script deals with the human experience of living with a disability.
*KC Youth and Families Playwriting Award : Script written on a theme that will appeal to young people, K-12 grades.
*Paula Vogel Award : Celebrates diversity and encourages tolerance while exploring issues of dis-empowered voices not traditionally considered mainstream.
*Latino Playwriting Award : Script written by a person of Latino Heritage.
*KCACTF Musical Theatre Award : Student or Faculty written musical; the composer, lyricist and librettist are eligible.
*National Science Playwriting Award (For the 2007-2008 school year): Play must deal in a significant way with Global Warming.
*The Rosa Parks Playwriting Award : Student or Faculty written, a play about social justice and/or civil rights.
*Israel and Palestine in the Young American Mind Award : intended to encourage student playwrights to grapple with the complicated issues facing the Middle East, particularly Israel and Palestine.
REGIONAL SUBMISSIONS: See www.kcactf2.org for details.
*David Mark Cohen : Student written or a Working Playwright , Participating or Associate entry, produced at a college or university. Sent to the Region II NPP Chair (Region II by Nov. 1). New plays, translations, adaptations are all eligible!
National Ten-Minute Play Award : Scripts sent to Region II NPP Chairs (Nov.1) Must be student written and 10 minutes or less. Must be accepted to the Regional Festival first. Does not need to have been produced.
*John Cauble Short Play Award : Reads under one-hour (not a ten-minute play). Must be submitted to the Region II NPP Chair by Nov. 1. Does not need to have been produced.
C. Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Breakdown
A detailed breakdown of each award can be found on the national web site: www.kcactf.org.
REGIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS WIN NATIONAL AWARDS
National Playwriting Awards (Regional Winners)
The Great Plains Theatre Conference Scholarships Presented by Edward Albee to
Ross Maxwell, New York University
Mary F. Unser, Carnegie-Mellon University
The Playwrights' Center Workshop Grant
Dan Trujillo, New York University
The National Student Playwriting Award
IN THE SAWTOOTHS by Dano Madden, Rutgers University, Produced by Boise State University
The Paula Vogel Award for Playwriting
THE AARONSVILLE WOMAN by Stephen Spotswood, Catholic University of America
2nd Place
NOTES ON THE LAND OF EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE by Jason Schaefer, New York University
The Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting 2nd Place
IN THE SAWTOOTHS by Dano Madden, Rutgers University
The David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award
SPILLING STUFF AND BREAKING THINGS by Ben Clawson, Montclair State University
2nd Place
IN THE SAWTOOTHS by Dano Madden, Rutgers University, premiered and produced by Boise State University
The Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award 2nd place
BROTHERS OF THE DUST by Darren Canady, New York University
The Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award
Supported by VSAarts
SAMARITAN by Mary Unser, Carnegie-Mellon University
The National Finalists for the John Cauble Award for Best Short Play (And our Regional Winners)
GREEN by Becca Brunstetter, The New School
GRAND DELUSIONS by Ross Maxwell, New York University
The National Finalist for the KCACTF Ten-Minute Play Award (Regional Winner)
PENTIMENTO by Jon Haller, Columbia University
A Finalist for the Dad's Garage Theatre Company Fellowship
PENTIMENTO by Jon Haller, Columbia University