Free to enter: Marin Theatre Company New American Play Prize 2013 - $10,000 top prize

Deadline: 31 August 2012

Now in its sixth year, Marin Theatre Company's two new play prizes were established to in 2007 to celebrate the work of the American playwright and to encourage the creation of bold, powerful new voices and plays for the American stage. The Sky Cooper New American Play Prize is awarded to an emerging or established playwright for an outstanding new work, and is given a $10,000 cash prize and option for production on MTC's main stage. The David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize is awarded to a professionally unproduced playwright for a new work that shows outstanding promise and a distinctive new voice, and is given a $2500 cash prize and a workshop as part of MTC's New Works Series. These prizes serve to further MTC’s commitment to the development of new plays as a central component of its artistic programs.

Submissions are closed for the 2012 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and the 2012 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize. We will announce the winners of the 2012 play prizes in May 2012. Please check back for details.

Submissions for the 2013 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and the 2013 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize will be accepted between July 1 and August 31, 2012.

More information about the prizes, guidelines and FAQ's are below.

SKY COOPER NEW AMERICAN PLAY PRIZE

Norton J. “Sky” Cooper established the New American Play Prize at Marin Theatre Company in 2007 to celebrate the work of the American playwright and to encourage the creation of bold, powerful new voices and plays for the American stage. The Sky Cooper Prize will be awarded annually to either an established or emerging playwright for an outstanding new work. The play selected as the Sky Cooper winner will receives a $10,000 award and a developmental workshop as part of the theater’s annual New Works Series. The winning play will also be considered under option for a full production at MTC as part of the theater’s annual main stage season.

DAVID CALLICHIO NEW AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT PRIZE

Norton J. “Sky” Cooper established the Emerging American Playwright Prize award at Marin Theatre Company in 2007 in honor of David Calicchio’s lifelong career as a playwright and in support of Marin Theatre Company’s commitment to the discovery and development of new and emerging American playwrights. The Calicchio Prize will be awarded annually to a professionally unproduced playwright for a new work that shows outstanding promise and a distinctive new voice for the American theatre. The play selected as the Calicchio Prize winner will receive 2 public staged readings at Marin Theatre Company as part of the theatre’s annual New Works Series. The playwright will receive a $2,500 award, as well as travel and accommodations for the MTC rehearsal period (25 hours).

GUIDELINES

• Submissions must be unpublished, original full-length plays in any genre.
• Musicals, translations, individual one-acts, and any play previously submitted for the Sky Cooper or David Calicchio Prizes are not eligible.
• Plays may not have received a full-scale, professional production prior to submission (plays that have had a workshop, reading, or non-professional production are eligible).
• Playwrights must be citizens of the United States.
• Only one submission per playwright is allowed each year; you may submit the same play for both prizes.

PHASE I: Submit a completed submission form and 10 pages of consecutive sample dialogue.
Online submission is encouraged, though hard copies will be accepted. We prefer your submission in .pdf or .doc format, with last name, first name, (title of the play) as the document title. For example: Wilson, August (Seven Guitars).pdf.

If submitting hard copy, send completed submission form (available for download) and 10-page sample via USPS to the address below, postmarked by August 31, 2012.

Literary agents may submit full scripts of their client’s work. Please do not send full scripts for Phase I unless via an agent or professional representation; unsolicited scripts will not be read.
All scripts will be read by a member of the Marin Theatre Company artistic staff. Please do not send more than the requested materials. Do not send videos, CDs or DVDs. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. Due to the high number of submissions, not every playwright will receive a response to their Phase I submission. No materials will be returned.

PHASE II: Selected submissions will be invited to send full scripts for Phase II. All full scripts that have been solicited after Phase I will be read by a member of the Marin Theatre Company artistic staff.

Winners will be chosen from among submitted and solicited scripts; final selections are made by Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director.

Submissions are accepted between July 1 and August 31, 2013 (postmarked).

For questions or concerns, please contact literarymanager@marintheatre.org. Please, no phone inquiries.

ADDRESS HARD COPY SUBMISSIONS TO:

The Sky Cooper/Marin Theatre Company New American Play Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
skycooper@marintheatre.org

The David Calicchio/Marin Theatre Company Emerging American Playwright Prize
Marin Theatre Company
397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
davidcalicchio@marintheatre.org

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the selection process?

The literary office receives between 400-600 submissions for the two play prizes each year. For Phase I of the competition, every submission (both full scripts and 10-page samples) are read by a member of the artistic staff of Marin Theatre Company. We solicit full scripts for consideration in Phase II of the competition, usually between 10-15% of total applicants. Phase II submissions are considered by the full artistic staff of the theater. Two plays are chosen, one for the Sky Cooper New American Play prize and one for the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright prize. Final decisions are made by Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis.

When can I submit my materials?

Submissions for the 2013 play prizes are accepted between July 1 and August 31, 2012.

Is there a fee?

No! Thanks to the generosity of Norton J. "Sky" Cooper, our play prizes are administered without an applicaiton fee.

Can I submit a full script?

A full script may be submitted for consideration via an agent or professional representation. Playwrights submitting on their own behalf must submit a synopsis and 10-page sample of consecutive dialogue from the script.

Can I submit more than one play?

No, only one play may be submitted per playwright each year.

Can I submit a different play for each of the prizes?

No, only one play may be submitted per playwright each year.

What does “professional production” mean?

For the Calicchio Emerging American Playwright prize, we only accept work from playwrights that have not had professional productions. A professional production can be defined many ways, but generally if the play was produced at a theater company with compensated actors and creative team with the theatrical elements realized, and if the playwright was compensated for right to produce the play, that is a professional production. Festivals productions that were not fully realized, educational productions and showcase productions do not count as professional productions. If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact the literary office at literarymanager@marintheatre.org.

When will I hear whether I’ve been moved on to Phase II?

You will be contacted via phone or email if you have been moved on to Phase II of consideration in the process once all Phase I submissions have been read, the timing of which can vary, depending on the number of submissions. Due to the high volume of submissions, not everyone will be contacted.

Can I submit a play that I have already submitted?

No, we do not accept plays that have been submitted for consideration in previous years.

What if the play has been rewritten or revised?

Unless the play is remarkably different than a previous version and you have spent significant time making changes to the story or the storytelling, we do not accept plays that have been submitted for consideration in previous years.

Can I get feedback on my play?

No. Marin Theatre Company does not provide feedback on work submitted to the play prize competition.

What format do you prefer for submissions?

Thank you for asking! We prefer online submission in either PDF or Word document format (.pdf or .doc) with the playwright’s last name, first name, and (title of play) as the document title. For example: Wilson, August (Seven Guitars).pdf.

Download: submission form

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: literarymanager@marintheatre.org

For submissions: skycooper@marintheatre.org for New American Play Prize or davidcalicchio@marintheatre.org for Emerging American Playwright Prize

Website: http://marintheatre.org