SETC Announces Play Contest for High School Students

The Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Playwriting Committee has created a playwriting contest just for high school students. The winning playwright receives a $250 prize and a subsidy to attend the annual SETC convention in March with an adult chaperone. At the convention, the play will be given a staged reading followed by a talkback.

High school student playwrights who currently reside in one of the 10 states in the SETC region are eligible. These states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Submissions will be accepted from October 1 through December 1, 2010.

The script should be a one-act play that has not been published or professionally produced. Each applicant may submit one play only. Plays must be written by a single playwright – no collaborations.

To enter: FIRST) Send a $10 check payable to SETC and a completed Application Form (available at http://www.setc.org/scholarship/hsnewplay.php) to Nancy Gall-Clayton, HS Playwriting Contest Chair, 1818 Utica Pike, Jeffersonville, IN 47130. The entry fee subsidizes the prize and related activities of SETC. SECOND) Email your script as a PDF to nancygallclayton@earthlink.net. Scripts will not be distributed for review to the reading panel until the entry fee check is received.

If you have questions, please email Nancy Gall-Clayton at nancygallclayton@earthlink.net.

Scripts are Coming in. Have You Submitted Yet?

Since May 2nd more than two dozen playwrights from sixteen states, including Kentucky, and two Canadian provinces have submitted scripts to this year's 10-Minute Play Contest. Among the contestants this year. so far, have been six women and 20 men.

Characters include a juggler, two clowns (in different scripts!) a newscaster, people of Middle Eastern and British extraction, a realtor, housewives and husbands, friends and lovers, and college students. The ages of this diverse group of characters range from 12 to 70+.

Settings include not only the expected living rooms and apartments but also a beach, the front seat of a car, a coffee house, a library, and a "tv writer's room."

What is missing from this diverse mix of characters and locales? Your script with your characters and settings. We are accepting entries through June 30, 2010. Please submit today.

Production Venues Needed

The venue for November 2010's 2nd Annual Festival of New Plays is yet to be determined. It is my understanding that last year's venue in Midway is unavailable, so we are looking for other possible theatres in both Lexington and Georgetown, Kentucky. If you have ideas for production venues within 20 miles of Lexington, KY please leave a comment. Thanks.

Entries Coming In

Since May 2nd, the first day we accepted submissions for the 2nd Annual 517 Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest, we have received 24 submissions. Included among those received are submissions from Canada (3), California (2), Iowa (2), Missouri, Maryland, and New York. We will stop accepting submissions on June 30th, but it is not too soon to submit.

2nd Annual 10-Minute Play Contest

The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. (KPW) announces that it is sponsoring its second annual 517 Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest. This year’s contest, open to any playwright who wishes to enter, will give a preference to Kentucky playwrights in terms of both submissions and judging: Kentucky playwrights may enter two scripts and up to six of the winning scripts will be selected from among the Kentucky entries. As was the case in 2009 winning entries will again be performed as a festival of new plays; this year the festival will be held in November 2010.

1) Preference this year will be given to Kentucky playwrights and members of the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop and 517 Playwrights. However, we will accept plays from anywhere in the world as long as the plays are written in English.
2) Plays should run no more than 10 minutes, and be no more than 10 pages long.
3) Submissions will be accepted from May 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010, ONLY. Send submissions to ky.playwright@yahoo.com
4) All playwrights should write “Contest Submission” on the subject line; Kentucky playwrights should write “Kentucky Contest Submission” in the subject line.
5) Plays may be written on any topic and be either comedies or dramas; no musicals, plays for children, or adaptations, please.
6) Plays should have a single setting, no more than four (4) characters, and simple technical requirements.
7) All Kentucky playwrights may enter up to two (2) scripts in this year’s contest.
8) Playwrights residing outside Kentucky may enter one (1) script in this year’s contest.
9) Up to eight (8) scripts will be selected as winners of the contest and given a full production as part of a new works festival of 10-minute plays during November 2010.
10) A maximum of six (6) winning scripts will be selected from among those entered by Kentucky playwrights; a minimum of two (2) winning scripts will be selected from those submitted by playwrights residing outside Kentucky.
11) For purpose of this contest a Kentucky playwright is a playwright who is a resident of Kentucky as indicated on his/her drivers license or state issued identity card.
12) There is no entry fee for submitting a script.
13) Playwrights will be paid, in lieu of royalties, an amount not to exceed $ 25 for the rights to publically perform his or her play/s for the run of the show, estimated at three performances.
14) Winning playwrights are encouraged to attend one or more performances of their play/s and will be given two (2) complimentary tickets to the performance of his/her choice in addition to the payment listed in #12, above.
15) Playwrights who submit one or more scripts agree to abide by the contest’s rules and agree to its terms and conditions as outlined above.
16) Decisions of the judges shall be final.

Ooops! It was Derby Day Yesterday.

I'm sorry. When I was making plans to post the rules for this year's 2nd Annual 517 Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest I neglected to keep in mind that May 1st was Derby Day, a holiday that does not allow for work (ie posting contest rules). So yesterday was spent reading morning lines and watching coverage of race day from Churchill Downs and otherwise celebrating the greatest two minutes in sports. Yet again Calvin "Bo-rail" has again slipped a three year-old throughhbred, Super Saver, between rail and fellow competitors to race off with his third victory in four attempts. Only now can I too get back to work.

Second Annual Play Contest

The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. (KPW) announces that it is sponsoring its second annual 517 Playwrights 10-Minute Play Contest. This year’s contest, will give a preference to Kentucky playwrights in terms of both submissions and judging. As was the case in 2009 winning entries will again be performed as a festival of new plays; this year the festival will be held in November 2010. Exact dates and location of the festival are yet to be determined and will be announced at a later time. Scripts may be submitted between May 1st and June 30th 2010. Contest rules will be posted on the 517 Playwrights blog on May 1, 2010.

What we're up to...

There hasn't been much on the 517 Playwright's blog since December 2009, but it's for lack of effort. Right now, we are working to finalize: 1) the details for this year's play contest; 2) the details for the 2010 new plays festival, and ; 3) the publication of an anthology of the plays produced last year in Midway. I'm not sure when all of this and more will be arranged, but probably by late February, early March, most of the details will be finalized and announced on this blog, by Tweets, and on our Meetup site. So please keep checking in... news is on its way. Thanks so much.

1st Anniversary will Soon be Here!

The first anniversary of 517 Playwrights is coming up! On the Sunday following Thanksgiving last year-- November 30, 2008-- the first meeting of 517 Playwrights was held in the kitchen of a house on Georgetown Road outside Lexington, KY. At that first meeting-- hosted by Greta Fields-- Bruce Williams, Steve Taylor, Bill McCann, Jr. and Greta Fields read through Bruce William's delightful full-length play TIM: A CHRISTMAS STORY while enjoying snacks and drinks provided by Greta Fields.

Members of 517 Playwrights took the month of December 2008 off. In January 2009, at a meeting of the group at the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library, Jim Betts joined the group. As the meeting was winding down Betts suggested that the group should hold a 10 minute play contest. There was enthusiasim for the idea so a day or two later Bill McCann, Jr., who had been serving as moderator of 517 meetings announced on line that the group was holding a play contest for 10 minute plays beginning February 1, 2009 and ending July 30th or whenever it "received 100 entries."

At the February meeting of 517 Playwrights Bill McCann announced that he had done as the membership had asked and posted the rules inviting entries for the 517 Playwrights 10 Minute Play Contest. However, it quickly became evident that the posting was a mistake; noone had meant to begin a play contest. Misunderstanding or not though members agreed that since the contest had been posted the contest should be held. So, the contest continued, and entries continued to arrive in Bill's email mail box.

Who would have guessed that the 100th entry would be received March 11th 2009; the contest was "closed" that same day. The play contest had been advertised in only two places: this blog and Playwrights Forum! According to the contest rules the submission period ended with the 100th entry. But getting that word out was more difficult than that there was a contest. Entries continued to arrive, more than 150 total!

At the March meeting it was evident 517 might have bitten off more than it could chew. We had more than 100 plays to read and judge, what now?

Meeting in MIDWAY on August 9th

The next meeting of 517 Playwrights will be held at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre, 127 Main Street, Midway on Sunday August 9th at 2:00 pm. The purpose of this meeting will to allow directors to look over the venue as an aide to them and for members of 517 Playwrights to meet the owner of the theatre to plan other aspects related to the production.

Presently, we have two directors signed up to direct 4 of the 7 plays; we are still looking for at least one, preferably two more directors. If you have an interest, please leave a comment or send a message to ky.playwright@yahoo.com giving your name and how we can contact you.

10-Minute Play Contest Winners!

The judges of this year's 517 Playwrights 10-Minute play contest have selected 7 winning plays by playwrights from Canada and the United States. More than 100 entries were received from as far away as Ireland, England and as close as Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. The winners of this year's contest, listed alphabetically by playwright are:

Crish Barth, Orinda, CA, Hill Cattle
Len Cuthbert, Mt. Brydges, Ontario, CANADA, Enigmatic Lucidity
Lawrence DuKore, New York, NY, The Day that Brando Died
Leon Kaye, Hyde Park, NY, More Pasta
Thomas Pierce, Seattle, WA, Almost Connect....
Kay Rhoads, Ankeny, IA, Last Church of Lost Souls
Steven Schutzman, Baltimore, MD, The Weight

We are grateful for all who entered and who in doing so shared something of themselves with us. Those of us who judged the plays are also playwrights so we know how difficult it is to write, much less submit a play that others will accept or reject. Thanks go to all who put themselves out and took a chance by submitting to our contest. We appreciate the time and effort required to do so.

The seven winning plays will be produced at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in Midway, KY October 9, 10 and 11th, 2009. The Friday and Saturday performances will be at night, the Sunday performance will be a matinee.

Waiting for playwrights

Six of the eight playwrights who have had plays selected for production have responded and said that yes we could produce their shows. Once we have heard from the other two-- probably after the Fourth of July-- I will post the names of the winning plays and their playwrights on this blog along with a one sentence description of each plot. Check back.

Winners to be produced at Thoroughbred Theatre

The Thoroughbred Theatre in Midway, KY will host the winners of 517 Playwrights First 10-Minute Play Contest. Production dates will be October 9th 10th and 11th. The venue will seat only 80 people so you'll want to get tickets early for the opportunity to see the production of our contest winners. More information will be forth coming soon, but its not too soon to put the second week of October on your arts planning calendar!

Winners to be announced soon! Check back.

Winners of the first 517 Playwrights 10-minute play contest have been selected. Each of the selected 8 playwrights will be contacted to see if they still wish to have their play performed even though we do not have resources to pay them anything in the way of royalties or prize money. (This lack of resources of course is the downside of being a new organization and of not charging an entry fee.)

Check back in the next few days. I will post the winners as I receive confirmation of their interest in being show cased on stage. Once all eight have accepted I will also post the list of all winners on Playwrights Forum.

To all those who entered let me say again how impressed we were with the quality of the plays submitted. From 100 submissions we first received the judges cut to 15 plays and then to the final 8. Winners selected come from California, Canada, Iowa, Maryland, New York, and Washington (state) etc.

New Directors Welcome!

Yes. Even if you have never directed a play before you will be considered for an opportunity to direct one of the contest plays. Simply let us know of your interest and you will be considered.

Ten-minute plays are a good place to get directing experience: they're short, have simple sets and generally few technical requirements. So if you've acted in plays, or worked as a stage manager, done lighting or scene design work you may be a good candidate to direct a contest play. If on the other hand, you've simply stumbled across this blog or want to direct on a "lark" you probably won't be asked to direct.

As playwrights ourselves the members of 517 Playwrights are searching for directors who have an understanding of how plays come together, how directors, actors and technical personnel work together collaboratively to bring any play to the stage.

And as playwrights we want to know that our directors, whether they are directing their first play or their 100th, have an understanding of theatre. We want to give directing opportunities to individuals who can think conceptually about how to take a play from page to stage.

We are seeking as directors men and women (age 18 and older) of any race or ethnicity who can explain to themselves and their casts (and technical assistants) their vision for the play and how to put it on stage. Directors need to understand the characters and be able to help their actors to come to a similar understanding. Directors must be able to work collaboratively with their actors when there are disagreements about interpretation. He or she should be willing to include the playwright/s in the process to the extent that that is possible.

Plays entered have come from as far away as Ireland and as close as our own community. We are still in the process of selecting the finalists so the possibility for playwright involvement ranges (at this point) from unlikely to probable. We want directors to be willing to communicate with playwrights to seek their guidance and input recognizing that there would be no play without the playwright.

After all that any individual who wishes to be considered for the opportunity to direct a new play should send a brief email expressing interest and his/her resume of directing, acting and or technical experience to:
ky.playwright@yahoo.com
please put "Play Director" in the subject line.

Directors Needed!

Put out the word to near and far, 517 Playwrights needs directors (and actors) for its 10-Minute plays! On or about June 28th we will be selecting the finalists for our first 10-Minute Play Contest. At that point, if not before we need to begin lining up directors for the selected plays.

If you are a director then please get in contact with Bill McCann, Jr. at 2020 Armstrong Mill Road, #823, Lexington, KY 40515. Send him a letter expressing an interest in directing one (or more) of the shows. Also, please be sure and give an address or phone number so that he can get in touch with you.

Update on the Play Contest

Amy Wegener of Actors Theatre of Louisville attended the June 7th meeting bringing solid advice and lots of encouragement about the play contest. Ms. Wegener's comments helped the judges clarify what was most important in choosing plays.

Discussion focused on questions like: from a practical standpoint can the play be produced in the space and with the resources available; are actors available for the roles; does the play sustain itself for its entire length; is diversity important in terms of such matters as where playwrights are from, gender (of playwrights and/or of the characters in their plays)? And so forth.

We did not read or discuss particular plays with Ms. Wegener. We did however, get into practical considerations regarding the contest such as venues in which to produce the selected plays (TBA after confirmation of the dates with the venue owner), the care and feeding of playwrights LOL:)! (contracts, contacting and working with out-of-area playwrights, etc.), where and how to find actors and directors for the plays we select and who, how and (even) whether or not to select a (single) winning play.

Though many of the questions were discussed at some length I'm not sure it is possible to say that we came up with many answers. In fact, it may be most accurate to say that we simply decided to defer conclusive answers to our next meeting on June 28th at 2:00 pm. Between June 7th and June 28th the final 15 plays will be read by all four judges with an eye towards selecting the final 6 to 10 plays that will ultimately be produced.

Once the finalists are chosen the playwrights will be contacted to notify them of their selection and to get formal permission to produce their work before winners names are posted on this blog and on the Playwrights Forum. Hopefully, posting of winners will happen sometime in mid-July or early August.

Pending confirmation of the dates and times production of the selected plays will be the second weekend in October 2009, October October 9, 10 and 11.

Would you like your play televised?

If you were a playwright would you like to see your award winning play televised? When we began the play contest we thought we would pick the best few plays, find a few directors and actors and either do a staged reading or perhaps stage them. End of story.

Well, a little research and difficulty finding a suitable venue has lead to SOME (not much, admittedly) discussion about filming the plays and putting them on tv. This would mean that fewer plays could be selected, but that they'd get greater exposure. What do you think? Comment and let us know. Thanks very much.

ATL Literary Manager to Speak

Amy Wegener, Literary Manager of Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL) will speak at our June 7th meeting of 517 Playwrights. Ms. Wegener who has a large say in whose plays make it to the stage of Actors Theatre will discuss how to judge play contest entries.

The National 10 Minute Play Contest, sponsored in part by Actors Theatre of Louisville, receives hundreds of entries annually for just a few spots in the Humana Festival of New American Plays, and judging that contest is part of Ms. Wegener's job description. So 517 Playwrights is fortunate to have someone of her knowledge and skill to guide us as we get down to the final selection of plays for the First Annual 517 Playwrights 10 Minute Play Contest.

Our first 10 minute play contest, which received 100 entries in less than 6 weeks time, will be judged and semifinalists notified not later than July first of this year. Thereafter, we will begin looking for actors and directors to bring the plays to life on a Lexington stage.

If anyone is aware of a director who might want to be involved in this project please have him or her contact Bill McCann, Jr. at 859 940-9510. Thanks.

Join Us Sunday...

You do not need to be a playwright to be involved with 517 Playwrights so please join us this Sunday, May 17th, at 2 pm for our regular meeting. The meeting will be at the main branch of the Lexington Public Library on Main Street, across from the Downtown Arts Center. We will meet near the elevators on the 2nd floor, then find a quiet table to meet at. The meeting will begin promply at 2 pm; however, if you're running late we'll catch you up!

The agenda will primarily consist of reading and discussing scripts received for the 10-minute play contest. However, we will also discuss how to find directors and actors for the winning plays as well as where and when the plays will be either read and/or produced. The meeting will end no later than 5 pm (as that is when the Library will close).

Whether you've ever attended a meeting of 517 Playwrights or not, whether you are a playwright or not, you are welcome to join us for the Sunday and future meetings. Hope to see you Sunday at 2 pm.