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NEW VOICES PLAYWRITING COMPETITION GUIDELINES
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COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.  WINNING SCRIPTS/PLAYWRIGHTS ANNOUNCED IN NOVEMBER 

Opens August 17, 2011 -  Ends October 5, 2011

To meet the Images Theatre Company’s (ITC) goals of developing new works about the heritage/culture of African-Americans, and   giving voice to new playwrights and works by African-American writers and other underserved writers of color, ITC is hosting our inaugural “NEW VOICES” PLAYWRITING COMPETITION & SHOWCASE.  Up to 5 plays shall be chosen to receive a staged reading in December 2011 and the top scoring play shall receive a WORKSHOP production during Images’ 2012/2013 Season.   

      

   SUBMITTAL GUIDELINES:   Please review submission requirements carefully.  Applicants will not be contacted to clarify information or to provide missing information. 
  •  ITC is NOT accepting musicals or one-acts for this inaugural competition.  

  • All applicants must be over the legal age of 18 years of age.  

  • Submission is restricted to new original works/plays that have not been previously produced or published and are full-length plays.   

  •  All entries must be received by October 5, 2011 to be considered.  Postmarks of October 5, 2011 shall not count.  Winners shall be announced in November 2011 and staged readings are scheduled for December 2011.   

  •  All entries must be accompanied with a non-refundable submittal fee in the form of a check or money order for $20.00 made out to Images Theatre Company.  Submittal fee for disqualified plays that do not adhere to the competition rules/policies will not be returned. ITC reserves the right to reject and return any entry that does not meet the rules and policies of submittal.     

  •  Applicants submitting entries must be the owner and controller of the copyright.  Co-authored plays or plays based upon factual material or an adaptation are allowable.  However, legal clearance of materials not in the public domain is the full responsibility of the playwright(s).  A page stating and certifying this with the author/applicants signature shall accompany each submitted entry.  (see certification sample statement below)       
  • Competition is limited to the first 60 applicants/entries received prior to October 5, 2011.  Should the limit be reached prior to October 5, 2011, applicants of the additional entries received shall be notified, and their entries and applicant entry fee shall be returned.   

  • Competition is opened to all playwrights (18 years of age and older), however only one entry, per playwright is allowed. Playwright need not be of African-American ethnicity as long as the content of the play focuses on the African-American culture, history and/or experience. 
  • The topic/subject matter of the play must reflect the experiences, culture, and/or history of African-Americans. The content may be related to family, relationships, politics, traditional values, historical characters or periods or any myriad of topics that address the African-American experience.  Plays may also explore the African-American experience in relation to other ethnic groups in the world.   
  • Each entry must be submitted in hard copy.  By submitting, each applicant agrees that their work may up-loaded into a PDF document to be shared with readers/raters located out of the Sacramento area.  

  • Entries/plays must be no longer than 125 pages. 

  • Scripts must be formatted in standard playwriting format (for a sample of this format, see Samuel French site/link http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/SFFormattingGuide.pdf).    The Samuel French link provides a guide for formatting.  Please adhere to cover instructions listed below.  Font used must be at a minimum 12 pitch. 
  • Please include 2 cover pages. The top cover page should include all of your pertinent information (name, mailing address, city, state, zip code, phone number, and email address).

  • The 2nd cover page must only have the title of the play on it.   Also, remove all identifying information from the remainder of your script (including headers and footers with your name on it) to ensure that readers/raters cannot identify the applicant that wrote the entry.  Scripts will be assigned an identifying number only, to allow a fair process of reading and rating.  Plays with identifying information past the initial cover page may be disqualified.    

  •  Each applicant must provide up to a 1 page synopsis of the play to be placed after the 2nd cover page.  

  •  All plays must have a cast of 8 actors or less. It is allowable for plays to use more than 8 characters if script is written for actor(s) to play multiple parts. Plays requiring more than 8 actors will be disqualified.  Please clearly identify on your character page, if actors are assigned more than one role in the play.   
  •  No revisions will be accepted once a script has been submitted and no written or oral critique of plays submitted will be given upon completion of the competion.  

  • Paper scripts must be securely bound within a notefook, cover or folder and celarly identified as detailed above.  Scripts bound with staples or fasteners are not allowable.  All entries must be either typewritten or word processed by computer.  Entries not meeting the criteria will be disqualified. 

  • Each paper script shall be accompanied with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, with sufficient postage that states on the outside of the envelope Name, Mailing Address, City, State, Zip and the Title of the Play should be written under your name and address at the top left hand corner.  Plays that do not have a self-addressed envelope will be disposed of and not returned to the applicant.  

  • All entries will be handled with extreme care, but ITC cannot assume responsibility for lost or damaged scripts. It is suggested that playwrights retain the original and copies of their scripts. 

  • ITC cannot afford to pay for the transportation or lodging of the winners of the playwriting competition.  It will be up to each writer to provide their own transportation/lodging fees to attend the readings, showcase and/or workshop production.  However, it is not necessary for the writer to be present for the reading or production to take place.

    Two copies of all scripts must be submitted in hard copy and mailed tothe following address:                  

    Images Theatre Company  

5960 South Land Park Drive Box # 138 

        Sacramento, CA  95822       

    
PLAY SUBMITTAL CHECKLIST  

COVER PAGE WITH PLAYWRIGHT’S INFORMATION  

  • Title of Play
  • Name of Playwright 
  •  Mailing address, city, state and zip code of Playwright
  • Email address of Playwright 
  • Phone number of Playwright  

  • 2ND COVER PAGE WITH ONLY TITLE OF THE PLAY ON IT.  

              
  • BRIEF  (1 PAGE OR LESS) SYNOPSIS OF SCRIPT 

  • 2 COPIES OF THE TYPED SCRIPT - IN STANDARD FORMATTIING STYLE- ENCLOSED IN A BOUND COVER, FOLDER OR COVERED, NOT TO EXCEED 125 PAGES.    

  • $20.00 CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MADE OUT TO IMAGES THEATRE COMPANY

  • SELF-ADDRESSED, POSTAGE PAID (WITH SUFFICIENT POSTAGE), MAILING ENVELOPE FOR RETURN OF SCRIPT. INCLUDE SCRIPT TITLE UNDER ADDRESS IN LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE MAILING ENVELOPE. 

  • SIGNED STATEMENT CERTIFYING THE FOLLOWING AS WRITTEN BELOW.  You may cut and past the certification below to a blank page and sign, date, and submit with your entry.  All contributing writers must sign the certification  

I, ____(NAME)_____________________   on ___(DATE)__________ certify that I am the rightful owner and controller of the copyright of all materials submitted to the Images Theatre Company Playwriting Competition.  As the playwright and author, I accept full responsibility and certify that I have made all legal clearances of any written submitted materials that are not in the public domain

__________________________________
(Writer's Signature)