Susan Payne
Road Theatre Company, the wellspring of Los Angeles’ creative theater, is accepting submissions for the Summer Playwrights Festival this summer.
Founded 14 years ago, the festival supports Road Theatre Company’s mission in producing politically or socially relevant new work not previously seen in Los Angeles and is the largest staged reading festivals in the nation.
Playwrights, from all over the country, submit their work blindly, with an anonymous identity, and the submissions are vetted by designated readers. Finalists are elevated to the artistic board who then make a final decision.
From Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 16, the ten winners from the final process will comprise the festival.
“We have playwrights who have done nothing, we have playwrights who have been produced on Broadway,” Taylor Gilbert, founder and artistic director, told the Los Angeles Blade. “You can be from any background of writing and if your play is good, we’re going to look at it. We’re going to read it.”
“We’re not looking for any specific thing, we’re just looking for a writer who trips our mind a little bit. We’re looking for something that’s exciting and new and young. It’s interesting for us to be able to look at a play that we can cast in any way we feel possible — opening up our casting and to do conscious casting that reflects a more diverse and more inclusive festival and company,” Gilbert continued.
Past playwrights who have been accepted include: John Patrick Shanley, Steve Yockey, William Mastrosimone, Harrison David Rivers, Jami Brandli, Lisa B. Thompson, Franky D. Gonzalez, D.L. Coburn, Lisa Loomer, Sharr White, Marisa Wegrzyn, Craig Wright, Wendy Macleod, Lucy Thurber, Mo Gaffney, Keith Huff, Brett Neveu, Scooter Pietsch, Craig Pospisil, Julie Marie Myatt, and Martyna Majok, the Blade reported.
To submit work to the Summer Playwrights Festival, go to https://roadtheatre.org/event/summer-playwrights-festival-14-submission-info/.
Plays of any length or genre are eligible. Work must remain unproduced on the West Coast and unpublished through July 16.
No agent is required. No hard copy submissions will be accepted.
Format:
- PDF file format only.
- Remove all identifying information about the playwright from the script.
- Title of the file should be the title of the play only.
- Plays must be paginated and include a list of characters.
- Synopsis of the play should be included on the submission form.
Submission window:
- Submissions are accepted between Feb. 1 through March 15 at 11:59 p.m.
- No length requirements.
- $20 submission fee for scripts over 30 pages. $15 for scripts under 30 pages. Fees can be submitted here.
- Email spf@roadtheatre.org to the fee waived for financial hardship no questions asked.
