Tower Theatre Company are accepting submissions for their new play competition. The winning writer will have a full scale production of their play at a London Fringe venue in November 2013. There is an entry fee of £10 for this competition (£5 for Tower members or friends of the Tower).
Theme: 2014 will mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War and Tower Theatre Company are inviting writers to explore the subject. There are no restrictions in terms of genre or structure and plays do not necessarily have to be set in period. However the themes of the play should resonate with those we associate with the Great War.
Selection process:
- Stage One – October 2013 The submission deadline is October 25th. The Tower competition reading panel will read the plays. All entries will be viewed anonymously to ensure impartiality.
- Stage Two January 2014 A shortlist of five plays will be announced and these writers will be invited to a dramaturge workshop to explore and develop the plays further with the help of a director and actors. Writers will then have four weeks to submit a new draft.
- Stage Three – March 2014 Four plays will go forward to rehearsed readings in July 2014. The fifth will be the ultimate winner.
Submission guidelines:
- All entries must be the original, unpublished work of the author.
- Entries must not have won a prize in any other competition or be entered in another competition at the same time.
- Running time of between 60 and 120 minutes.
- Plays can be submitted by post or email. Entries must be received no later than 5.00 on Friday 25th October 2013.
- All entries must be written in English.
- Your name should not appear anywhere on your script (include a separate cover sheet).
- Format your script as closely to industry standard as you can. Entries must be typed, double-spaced in 12 point, Arial, Times or Bookman font. Pages MUST be numbered with a footnote including ONLY the name of the play.
- There is no need to include a writing CV or biography.
- Please do not summarise your script, include character biographies or scene location breakdowns – let your script do the talking.
- The panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Feedback will be available to those that make it through to Stage Two.
- The entry free of £10 must accompany each script (£5 for Tower members and Friends of the Tower).
- Copyright will rest with the writer.
- The Tower Theatre Company will stage a production of the winning play in the autumn of 2014. No payment will be made in respect of performance rights.
- The Tower Theatre Company MUST receive credit for the first production should the play be published in the future.
How to submit:
By email: Your name, address, email address, phone number and the title of your play should be sent as an email and your script sent as a separate attachment (.doc or .pdf format). to info@towertheatre.freeserve.co.uk, with ‘New Writing Competition’ as the subject. An email acknowledgement will be sent to you.
By post: Your name, address, email address, phone number and the title of the play should accompany your submission, on a separate cover sheet. Ensure your pages are correctly numbered and clipped together in the correct order, loosely bound with a bulldog clip. Please include the entry fee with your script, cheques should be made out to Tower Theatre Company.
Send your entry to: New Writing Competition, Tower Theatre, St Bride Institute, Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ.
Acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the email address on the cover sheet OR by post if you enclose a small SAE for this purpose. Please include a large enough SAE if you would like your script to be returned, and don’t send your only copy!
Deadline: 25 October 2013
Source: @Playwriting_UK