Theatre du Mississippi Accepting Submissions for One Act Play Festival

Theatre du Mississippi is now accepting submissions of scripts for their upcoming One Act Play Festival. The submission deadline is May 31st, 2023.

ONE ACT PLAY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Plays must be original, unproduced scripts. Previous readings are okay.

2. Scripts must be one-act, short plays, approximately 10 to 60 minutes in run time.

3. Playwrights must reside in the tri-state area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Iowa. We are looking to promote playwrights in our area in the region as described above. For purposes of this contest, a “resident” is anyone with a postal mailing address in the tri-state area.

4. Submissions must be “blind.” No name or identification attached to the script. Playwrights should clearly identify themselves and the name of the attached script in their cover letter email, and provide contact information.

5. Any genre, theme, or style of play is acceptable. We are not offended by foul language, but neither are we enamored by it. Use it wisely if you feel it’s necessary to your script. Ease of production will be considered in judging – if a complicated set design is necessary in the script, it would be less likely to be included. Similarly, the size of the cast will be considered. No more than six characters (or actors, if doubling is possible) is suggested. [Note: these are suggestions, not hard and fast rules. A great script is a great script.]

6. All scripts will be read and rated by a minimum of two readers, with positively rated scripts passed on to the judges. Judges will make final decisions after reading plays based on those readers’ reviews.

7. A list of judging criteria can be found on TdM’s website. We value those qualities that make for strong drama (i.e., action, conflict, dialog, imagery, etc.).

8. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: all scripts must arrive in TdM’s inbox by 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2023.

9. Winning scripts will be produced and performed as part of our One Act Play Festival dates and times TBD. Winning playwrights will receive a cash prize that will be determined at a later date. We intend to produce an approximately two-hour block of plays. The actual number of plays accepted (and thus, the amounts of the cash prize per playwright) will vary depending on the length of plays involved.

10. Scripts should be sent in either word or pdf format; for other formats, or hard copy submissions, please query to theatredumiss@gmail.com.

Please email Theatre du Mississippi with any questions.

Theatre du Mississippi is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/membership/.