The Acting Ensemble Seeks Submissions for May 2015 PLAYMAKERS FESTIVAL; Deadline 4/24

The Acting Ensemble is inviting playwrights to submit a script of up to ten pages in length for its Playmakers Festival. The script may be a part of a longer work which has been edited by the playwright. Please let all playwrights, and prospective playwrights, know about this event. The Festival will take place the weekend of May 15 - 17, 2015. Additional information is available through info@actingensemble.com or at www.actingensemble.com.

Judges will select ten entries for dramatic readings. The ten finalists will have their play read on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon during the festival weekend. Entries selected for the dramatic readings will receive an honorarium of $50.00. Audience members on Friday and Saturday evenings will vote for their favorites. Audience preferences will be used to assist the judges in making their decision of a final winner. The final winner will be announced at the Sunday reading. The winner will receive a cash prize of $250.00. The winner will also have a play, written by the playwright and agreeable to both AE and the writer, presented as a full production or dramatic reading during AE's 2015-16 season.

The Acting Ensemble is a small, innovative theater group that continues to expand audience and to provide theater that is unique in the arts community, locally and regionally. AE provides both Staged Readings and Main Stage productions involving local talent with goals of providing a worthwhile experience for the audience, cast, directors and other theater professionals. In addition, the selection of AE's season challenges actors, directors and other theater professionals to continue to develop their skills. The Playmakers Festival is focused on providing more formal opportunities for playwrights and directors to work together with professionals in the field to hone existing skills and to learn new techniques.

The Playwright Festival is underwritten, in part, by the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County.
Submission Information All playwrights are eligible. All plays must be written in English. Only original plays are eligible. Adaptations are eligible. The organizers will not accept responsibility for the loss of scripts in transit. There are no fees for submission. By entering the competition the writer affirms that their entry is original and they have sole rights to all matters contained within the play. All authors agree to permit the Acting Ensemble to produce, without cost, during this festival period, their contest entry if the theatre should wish to do so. Authors retain copyright and full ownership of their plays. The submitted play must not have been published or professionally produced and must not be under option for publication or professional production. Plays which have had community or workshop productions or staged readings are eligible and encouraged. Playwrights may submit only one play to the contest. All submissions must be made electronically, as two attachments in Word documents to info@actingensemble.com. One attachment should contain the play and be titled with the title of the play as the subject line. The second attachment should be the completed entry form.

The judges' decision is final. No correspondence concerning the results will be entered into. No scripts will be returned. Specific script information: Play should have 5 characters or less and minimal props and costumes. All submissions should be ten pages or less in length. Because of the nature of the competition, musicals are not eligible. Judges will not edit or select from longer scripts. Selections from longer scripts which the playwright has edited to fit the ten page limit are eligible. There should be a title page containing the name of the play, brief plot synopsis, and brief description of each character, followed by the play. Ten page limit is for script only and does not include title page, synopsis, or character descriptions. All pages of the play should be numbered. In order to maintain impartiality during adjudication we ask that no identifying information be provided beyond the title page. All plays are judged blind until the final selection of the winner for the festival weekend. Judges will not see identifying information until after the selection of the ten finalists. Individual criticism will not be offered. Personal information submitted will be for the use of the Acting Ensemble only and will not be shared with any third party. Plays that do not meet the above requirements will not be considered. No Exceptions.

Entry form available at info@actingensemble.com. Deadline for submission is April 24, 2015.

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