Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Now Accepting Submissions

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford,Connecticut, is now accepting submissions for projects to be includedin its June – August 2009 national new works conferences.  Applicantsare invited to submit projects for the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference and National Music Theater Conference.  National Playwrights Conference submissions will accept submissions from September 15, 2008 through October 17, 2008. 

National Music TheaterConference began accepting submissions on September 1, 2008 and willcontinue through December 1, 2008.The O'Neill's open submission process is unique in the field ofdeveloping works for the stage.  It is a key element in its Conferencemission to encourage creativity and develop diverse voices and newworks for the American stage.  Applicants may submit work forconsideration through a multi-tiered selection process involvingmultiple readers and a panel of theater professionals who considerprojects based oneach writer's voice as presented in the script andnot on a recognizable name or previous accomplishments. 

This process enables the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center to continue to seek anddevelop new voices for the stage.  Selected artists receive adevelopmental residency at the O'Neill during the summer of 2009.The O'Neill also continues to build its endowment to support the opensubmissions process, begun in 2006 and named in honor of O'Neill playwright Wendy Wasserstein.  Income from this permanent endowment will be used to defray costs associated with the Submissions and selection process.  Please call 860-443-5378 x217 for more informationabout making a gift to the Wendy Wasserstein Fund Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the National PlaywrightsConference, noted, "This Conference belongs to the playwrights, and I believe that it is imperative to allow the playwrights who submittheir work the opportunity to have their plays read and considered seriously for the conference.  I remain committed to the open submission process and it is a priority for the Playwrights Conference to seek out the best writers through this endeavor."

Paulette Haupt, co-founder and Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference describes the open submission policy as "the heart of our mission since the inception of the Conference in 1978.  We look forward to hearing from the next generation of writers and composers who seek to explore their projects with peer professionals in the field and gain a clearer perception of the work still needed to bedone to complete their vision."Submissions for the National Playwrights Conference must be post markedfrom September 15, 2008 through October 17, 2008.

Details of submission requirements for the National Playwrights Conference areavailable at the O'Neill's website:www.theoneill.org/prog/plays/playapp.htm.  Submissions for the Music Theater Conference must be postmarked from September 1, 2008 through December 1, 2008. Details of submission requirements for the Music Theater Conference are available at the O'Neill's website:www.theoneill.org/prog/music/submit.htm.For further information about either conference, please contact Martin Kettling, Literary Manager, at 860-443-5378, x227 or via e-mail atlitoffice@theoneill.org.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of EugeneO'Neill, America's only Nobel Prize-winning playwright and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is America's pre-eminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater.  It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stageand 2,500 emerging artists.  Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full productions at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, off-Broadway and major regional theaters.The O'Neill is itself the winner of a special Tony Award, the NationalOpera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence and the Artsand Business Council Encore Award.