If you’re the proud writer of a new play, you’re probably eager to get your creation out into the world and in front of audiences.
One way to gain more exposure for your play is to enter playwriting contests, which can increase your chances of getting your play produced and even published.
2022 Playwriting Contests
Below is a list of playwriting contests where you can enter your script for a chance to win cash, a production of your play, and other great prizes.
Note: Most of these contests are annual, so if the deadline of a contest has passed, check the site to see if the next year’s contest has been posted.
| Contest Name | Entry Fee | First Prize | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaplan New Playwrights / New Plays Competition | $25 | $1000 | January 31 |
| Please Continue to Hold Absurdist Competition | Free | $1,000 | January 31 |
| British Theatre Challenge | £16 | week's performance at the Jack Studio Theatre, London | March 30 |
| Carlo Annoni Playwriting Prize | Free | €1,000 | April 30 |
| Brewster Theater Company Playwriting Competition | $25 | Full performance, director provided | May 1 |
| The Chameleon Theatre Circle's New Play Contest | Free | $25–$100, reading at the New Play Festival | May 1 |
| Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest | Free | 1,000 cash award + all-expense paid trip to SETC Convention | June 1 |
| Narrative Prize | $27 | $4,000 | June 15 |
| Bechdel Group Workshop Season | $6 | workshop of your work in progress script | June 17 |
| PTC New Play Festival | Free | Production in the PTC Lab | June 30 |
| Spotlight Playfest Young Playwrights' Competition | $5 | $100 | July 1 |
| LowellArts Theatre Playbytes by Playwrights | $20 | $500 | July 22 |
| A Is for Playwriting Contest | Free | $5,000, rehearsed reading | August 31 |
| Stage Play Writing Competition | $49.50 | Admission to Screen Craft Development Program; meetings with Hollywood literary managers | August 31 |
| Vintage Theater Productions | TBD | TBD | Opens October 1 |
| Old Library Theatre Annual One Act Play Festival | $5 | Live production | October 15 |
| Woodward/Newman Drama Award | $10 | $3,000 | Dec 1 |
| Village Arts of Colorado Springs Festival of Fives | $25 | $500 | December 15 |
| The Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence | Free | $200 | December 31 |
Where Can You Submit a Play?
Playwriting contests are just one place you can submit your play to get more exposure and feedback on your work, but you can also send your play directly to theaters in hopes that they’ll produce it, or to publishers who can help your work reach more people.
And if you’re itching to enter more writing contests, be sure to check out TCK Publishing’s first annual Short Story Contest! Submissions are open through August 31, 2021.
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- 15 Tips for Writing Your First Play
- How to Turn Your Book into a Screenplay
- How to Publish a Play: 6 Tips for Pitching Your Script
- List of Screenwriting Contests (Updated for 2021)
As a blog writer for TCK Publishing, Kaelyn loves crafting fun and helpful content for writers, readers, and creative minds alike. She has a degree in International Affairs with a minor in Italian Studies, but her true passion has always been writing. Working remotely allows her to do even more of the things she loves, like traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.
Sundog Theatre in NYC is seeking one-act plays for “Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry 2023.” We are looking to post / list the competition with all details on websites so playwrights can submit. How can I go about posting the contest?
LowellArts Theatre
Playbytes by Playwrights
Call for 10-Minute Play Submissions
LowellArts Theatre presents Playbytes by Playwrights: A 10-Minute Play Festival with scheduled performance dates of October 21, 22, 23 & 28, 29, 30. Approximately 8 plays will be selected to be produced.
Submission Details
2022 Theme: Things That Go Bump in the Night
Deadline to Submit: Friday, July 22 at 11:59pm
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: $500
More details: lowellartsmi.org/playbytes-by-playwrights
Thank you Laurel, I’ve added it to the list! :)
Spotlight Youth Theatre hosts an annual short (15-35 min.) play competition for young playwrights (16-22) who reside in the Phoenix, AZ metro area. Entry period for current competition is June 1-July 1, 2022.
Three winning playwrights will each receive a $100 prize and their plays will be produced at our award-winning theatre in the Spring 2023 Playfest production. ALL entries receive feedback from resident playwrights, just for entering. Online entry requires $5 donation to the theatre.
See https://sytaz.org/playfest-competition for requirements, information, and entry link.
Thanks for sharing, Bobby! I’ve added it to the list :)
Hi – The Bechdel Group is now accepting submissions for the Fall 2022 season until June 17.
for details or to submit, head to our website: https://www.thebechdelgroup.com/submission-guidelines.html
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submissions for the Fall 2022 Series are open from May 16th – June 17
We typically open for submissions twice a year, around December and May.
Please read the description of what we do and what we are looking for carefully.
We accept new plays and screenplays, scripts in development, partial scripts, drafts – anything in progress. Our readings are designed to provide an opportunity to further script development, so we’re excited about work that is not yet ‘complete’. Each workshop reading features two playwrights and we typically read a half hour of each script. Additional information for writers and Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.
Our submission fee is $6.00 USD per submission.
Our aim is provide an informal, festive space to hear your work and get feedback from actors, directors, dramaturgs, and theater lovers.
We are happy to accept submissions that are being shopped elsewhere, but we ask that you contact us if your script is selected for another workshop, a staged reading, or production.
Your submission MUST:
Be in progress. Our aim is to provide a space that will help you develop your work. If your script or screenplay is ‘finished’, has had full productions, or is about to be produced, we are not the right organization for you. We are happy to consider work that has had prior workshops or informal/staged readings, if you still consider your script in development.
Pass the Bechdel Test. You must have at least two women, with names, who have a full scene/conversation that is not about their romantic relationships.
We are constantly discussing the Bechdel Test and the way it serves (or fails to serve) our mission. We know that as a ‘test’, there are flaws and gaps. We are indeed interested in scripts that push boundaries and raise discussion points – however, this is our baseline. Please do not send us two-handers with one man and one woman or scripts with only one woman. Please do not send all male scripts. While a script that does not pass the Bechdel Test may indeed feature complex, dynamic roles for women, it is not what we are looking for. We want those roles AND non-romance interaction.
Support our mission of fostering strong, complex, dynamic roles for women.
What we want:
Complex, layered women.
Thoughtful consideration of your needs in terms of script development – we look at the questions you’re asking about your work carefully.
What we do not want:
Scripts that just manage to pass the Bechdel Test. If your main character goes 60 pages without interacting with anyone but men, chances are good we will not be interested. If your qualifying scene does not forward your plot, chances are good we will not be interested.
Scripts where the passing scene does not forward the plot.
Male dominated or centered stories.
Scripts you feel are ‘done.’
Thanks Clare, I’ve added it to the list! :)
Dear Ms. Barron:
Thanks for your time. Could you possibly let me know when VINTAGE will look
at new full-length unproduced plays? I’m previously produced and have a new play
ready for production. It has had two readings and one stage reading with the
Tennessee Stage Company. One set, two acts, six characters (3 & 3) and no special
technical requirements.
Hi Michael, based on Lorraine’s comment, it looks like they will open October 1 :)
My name is Tova Wolff and I run Refracted Theatre Company. Refracted is a nonprofit that I started in New York and recently relocated to Chicago. Our mission is to tell stories that disrupt socially accepted narratives by telling the “other side of the story.” We upend expectations around what theatre is meant to look and feel like in order to encourage meaningful discourse centered on empathy and civility.
Applications are now open for Refracted’s new play initiative, RefrAction Lab. RefrAction Lab is a compensated playwriting lab for emerging Chicago playwrights interested in developing new plays. The lab will ask: how can a playwright turn a question into the action of a play? Playwrights will generate questions that look at divisive social, political, historical and interpersonal issues from multiple sides. They will then develop full length plays centered on those questions, collaborating with one another and workshopping their developing plays. Excerpts of these new works will be presented to the public at the RefrAction Lab Showcase in December 2022.
More information about this opportunity and application instructions can be found at: https://www.refractedco.com/refraction-lab.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].
Thanks for sharing, Tova! I’ll check it out and update the post :)
Here’s a contest offering $1,000 prize for best 2022 production of an absurd one-act. Script and rules at the website. http://www.continuetohold.com
Thanks Dave, I’ve added it to the list!
Here’s an addition for you!
2022 Kaplan New Playwrights / New Plays Competition
Entry fee: $25
Top prize: $1000 + staged reading (could be going to $2500 for 2022)
Deadline: December 31 (for play concepts – 4 will be chosen for further development); Kaplan winner chosen July 1st for early September staged reading.
More information: Eventide Theatre Company at http://www.eventidearts.org.
Thanks Michele, I’ve added it to the list :)
Would you include Village Arts of Colorado Springs on the list of contests?
SEEKING PLAYWRIGHTS!
Five plays. Five actors. Five winners. $500 in prize money!
VILLAGE ARTS OF COLORADO SPRINGS is pleased to announce our FIRST One Act Play Competition, a FESTIVAL of FIVES. We are seeking submissions of unpublished, original work (works that have received previous staged readings or productions will also be considered), between 15-20 minutes in length. This year we are asking playwrights to tell a TRUE STORY with a REDEMPTIVE component and USE A FEATHER as a prop somewhere in the show. Contest is open to playwrights ages 16 and up.
Plays should be of a strong ensemble nature with emphasis on character rather than spectacle. Successful entries will have a five-member cast with a minimal set that can be set up and taken down in less than 5 minutes. Changes in scenery or setting should be achievable quickly and with few or no major set moves. Our focus is on fundamental dramaturgy: plot, character and theme. All types of work will be reviewed – comedy, drama, fantasy, etc; however, musicals and children’s scripts are not being solicited at this time.
All work must be compatible with the VILLAGE ARTS mission to embrace what is good and true and beautiful—recognizing the author of these things is God himself, and to foster artistic growth, while reflecting a Christian worldview and maintaining a commitment to the highest artistic values.
1. Entries must be submitted as a PDF by DECEMBER 10, 2021 to
[email protected] with FIVES FESTIVAL in the Subject line.
2. Scripts will be judged anonymously. Only the Village Arts secretary will know the true identity of the playwrights and will not reveal it until the judging is finalized. Each submission must include a cover page with title of the play, playwright’s name and contact information (phone number, address and email) but the script must have the title but NO MENTION of the author’s real name or address on any page. Work must be “family friendly” and not overtly sexual to be accepted; please keep foul language out.
3. Up to two entries may be submitted by an author. Each entry must be submitted separately, and include a non-refundable $25.00/ENTRY FEE via PAYPAL to Village Arts of Colorado Springs or send a money order payable to Village Arts of Colorado Springs to 4040 Nonchalant Circle South, Colorado Springs, CO 80917 accompanying each script. Scripts without an entry fee will not be considered.
4. Scripts will not be returned and applicants will be informed no later than JANUARY 7, 2021 if their play is to be included in the FIVES Festival, where the top five One Acts will be performed to a live audience, FEBRUARY 18 & 19 and the winning play will receive the $500 prize.
FOR MORE INFO GO TO villageartscs.org
Thanks Renee, I’ve added it to the list :)
How does an organization holding a contest get listed on your blog?
Hey Emily! You can post the details and links here and we’ll check it out.
Hi!
Old Library Theatre invites submissions for its 11th Annual One Act Play Festival.
Submission requirements:
– All plays must be complete, one act works, running 15-30 minutes, with six or fewer characters.
– No musicals, please.
– Royalty free.
– Plays will be mounted with no budget, though they will be fully staged with necessary props, costumes, sound, and lighting.
– A $5 reader’s fee is required for each submission. All fees should be submitted online at https://ezregister.com/events/35115/
– Please e-mail play submissions or questions to [email protected] by October 15, 2021. Playwrights who have not had plays produced in previous festivals will receive priority in selection.
The festival will be presented live in 2022 on January 21st at 8pm, 22nd at 2pm and 8pm, and 23rd at 2pm. Performances will take place at George Frey Center for Performing Arts at 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn, NJ.
Thanks for the info, Craig! Added it to the list.
Hi, could you please put us on your list. THE VINTAGE THEATRE’S NEW CONTEMORARY COMEDY PLY FESTIVAL. April 1-3, 2022. To submit a script go to https://vintagtetheatre.submittable.com Opens October 1
Thank you, Lorraine Scott
Hey Lorraine! I’m trying to check out your contest, but your link goes to a 404 page and I can’t find it anywhere in Google.
Hi Cole, I’m afraid I don’t understand. We are listed with submittable. https://vintagetheatre.submittable.com
Can I email it to you?
Thank You,
Lorraine Scott
THIS IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND APPRECIATED.
IN FACT, THIS IS THE MOST HELPFUL AND SUCCINCT DISCUSSION I HAVE ENCOUNTERED SO FAR.
THANKS!
We’re so glad you found our post helpful Robert! Thank you :)
Hi!
I’m Jen Deaderick, the Director of Communications for A is For, and I wanted to let you all know that our deadline has actually been extended to August 31st. Keep sending in your great submissions!
Thank you so much Jen! I’ll update the table.