Lift Every Voice New Play Festival
About the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival
American Stage is committed to producing powerful stories, boldly told. Lift Every Voice is a new play festival committed to providing exposure to emerging playwrights with a focus on women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ storytellers. This year’s programming includes a week-long rehearsal and development process for each of the final playwrights and their plays, culminating in public staged readings. In addition the festival weekend includes workshops, panels and lectures. All public events are held May 2 - May 4, 2025.
Submissions should be new plays that celebrate and explore the experience of women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQIA+ individuals with themes that are relevant to our world today, featuring characters who inspire us.
Play submissions should align with American Stage’s 47 year history of productions that celebrate the most powerful stories of the moment, the most defining stories from our past, and our mission to reinforce the power of live theatre with high quality productions of compelling plays that excite and challenge a diverse audience.
Submission Guidelines for the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival are as follows:
- Submissions are primarily encouraged from women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ playwrights.
- Playwrights must reside in the United States.
- Playwright must be available to attend the festival in-person, including rehearsals. Rehearsals are April 29 - May 1, 2025 with public performances on May 1 - May 4, 2025.
- Plays must be unpublished and unproduced (readings and workshops are accepted), with no productions and/or publication scheduled through June 2025.
- Plays must be full-length (at least 60 minutes).
- Plays should be small cast, ideally needing no more than 6 actors.
- Musicals, adaptations (of existing plays or other sources), and translations are not eligible.
- Submissions are limited to one script per playwright.
- Plays previously submitted to American Stage or Lift Every Voice are not eligible to be re-submitted.
*Submissions will be capped after the first 200 scripts are received.
*Due to the volume of submissions received, individual feedback will not be provided.
Festival Guidelines for the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival are as follows:
American Stage Theatre Company will be accepting submissions of unproduced plays from May 10, 2024 to June 10, 2024, or when 200 submissions are received. All plays submitted to the festival are evaluated by a panel of readers, including producers, directors, actors, playwrights, educators, advocates, and key community members. Each submission will receive two rounds of readings.
- Four finalists will be chosen to participate.
- Each finalist will receive the following: a director and cast; a table read; 15 hours of rehearsal; opportunities to rewrite and edit; two public staged readings with facilitated post-show talkbacks
- Finalists will receive a $600 award, housing accommodations, and roundtrip airfare.
*Please note American Stage may curate selections to ensure full representation and celebration of diversity.
Submission and Reading Schedule for the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival is as follows:
- May 10, 2024: Submissions Open
- June 10, 2024: Submissions Close, or when 200 submissions are received
- July 2, 2024: Semi-Finalists asked to submit full plays
- September 13, 2024: Finalists Selected
How to Apply:
- Complete the online submission form below.
- Upload submission packet via the online submission and formatting guidelines listed. Submission packet must be uploaded as a single PDF file that meets the guidelines.
Submission Packet Formatting Guidelines:
- Submission packet must be loaded as a single PDF file.
- File name must be “Title of Play_Playwright Last Name.”
- The submission packet should include the following in this order: some text
- Title Page with the title of the play and the playwright’s name and contact information
- Paragraph describing the play’s development history
- Statement describing how the play is a good fit for the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival
- Playwright bio and headshot
- Synopsis of the play
- Character breakdown and descriptions, including the total number of characters
- 10 page sample
For any questions regarding the Lift Every Voice New Play Festival, please email: levnewplays@americanstage.org
Fresh Ink Monthly Free Play Readings
In partnership with Creative Pinellas, American Stage brings new work to the community on a monthly basis through our Fresh Ink series. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. We encourage work that is diverse, inclusive, inventive and adventurous!
SUBMISSION RULES & REQUIREMENTS
- Playwrights must reside in the United States.
- Plays must be unproduced and unpublished with limited development.
- Plays that have been previously submitted to American Stage are not eligible to be submitted again.
- No musicals or translations.
- Short or One Act Plays (20-60 minute pieces)
- Plays must require five performers or fewer.
- Plays must include a contact page and character breakdown.
- One submission per playwright.
Write ON! Student Play and Monologue Competition
ABOUT THE WRITE ON PROGRAM
Write ON! is looking for young writers who have a story to tell. Either through the in-school program, or directly through the submission link here, we encourage young writers to share their stories through playwriting and monologues. Be wild, brave and bold. We are excited to read what you create!
Submissions open August 1, 2023 and close Dec 15, 2023.
SUBMISSION RULES & REQUIREMENTS
- Playwrights must be 18 or under and reside in the Tampa Bay Area (Pinellas, Hillsborough or Pasco Counties).
- Submissions from Write ON! Partner schools will be considered first. (Click here to inquire about becoming a partners school)
- Plays that have been previously submitted to American Stage are not eligible to be submitted again.
- No musicals or translations.
- Short or One Act Plays (20-60 minute pieces)
- Play submissions must require five performers or fewer.
- Monologue submissions must not exceed 3 minutes (1-2 pages)
- Plays must include a contact page and character breakdown.
- One submission per playwright.
- Playwright, classroom teacher or school administrator must be able to attend the festival.