Write a ten-minute play. See it on stage!
Announcing Theatre InspiraTO's
Playwriting Contest & Mentoring Project
8th Annual Theatre InspiraTO Festival, Toronto, Alumnae Theatre, May 30 - June 8, 2013
We are excited to bring you a new format: creative challenges to choose from. You have an opportunity to write a ten-minute play based on three options. Participate in a full process of creative exploration.
There are three options.
Option One and Two are part of Theatre InspiraTO's Playwriting Contest and are open to everyone without age or geographic restriction. You can only submit one play and apply to only one option. Option three is only open to Canadians. There are no submission fees.
Theatre InspiraTO's Playwriting Contest
Deadline to submit a play: Dec. 17, 2012 (midnight E.S.T.)
Option One
Submit a ten-minute play where the first line of dialogue in the play is: "I see a rabbit".
Option Two
Submit a ten-minute play where at least one of the character in the play must leave their home in the next hour and never return.
Fill out the submission form and submit your play to (click on the link): http://inspiratofestival.ca/write-a-play2.php
Attach your script in a WORD document or in a PDF file. Hit "submit". The WORD document must be compatible with Window XP. (Note: Vista & Mac formats are not compatible).
The cover page should have the title of the play, the playwright's name and the list of characters. The pages should be numbered.
We accept previously produced plays. The playwright must own the rights to the play up to the end of June 2013 (i.e. plays cannot be owned by a publisher). Any style is acceptable except musicals.
Only those playwrights whose plays have been selected will be notified by January 20, 2013. The plays will be selected by a committee from the Toronto theatre community.
If selected, your play will be performed in Toronto, Canada in May/June 2013. Twelve ten-minute plays will be selected and performed. 1st Prize: $500 CDN.
Should your play be selected for inclusion in the festival, you are giving the non-exclusive right to Theatre InspiraTO to produce and perform the play (at least 4 performances) in the 8th Annual InspiraTO Festival (Toronto Canada), in the May/June 2013. The InspiraTO Festival will find the cast, crew and market your play.
The submission must be a play. A ten-minute play is distinct from a sketch, or a skit; it is a compact play, with a beginning, middle and an end. You need a character facing obstacles in pursuit of some specific goal. You need rising action, conflict, and a climactic moment. Your play must tell a complete story.
The submission must be 10 minutes. Generally speaking scripts (including the stage directions, character names and dialogue) that are over 1,900 words are more than ten minutes long on stage. This does not mean that all plays under 1,900 words are under ten minutes. So be wise - use Word Count. It also helps to read the play out loud and time it (keeping in mind all the pauses). You don't want your hard work rejected because it was too long.
Authors retain copyright and full ownership of their plays.
OR
Option Three:
Theatre InspiraTO's Playwrights' Mentoring Project
Deadline to apply: Dec. 17, 2012 (midnight E.S.T.)
This is open to Canadians only who have written a play and wish to fully explore the power of the ten-minute play. You do not have to have written a ten-minute play. There are no registration fees. Please note: if you apply to the Mentoring Project you may not apply to the Playwriting Contest.
Fill out the submission form. In the biography section also state why you feel the Playwrights' Mentoring Project is ideally suited to your playwriting aspirations. Submit a sample of a play you have written (not more than 15 pages). Click on the link for the submission form: http://inspiratofestival.ca/write-a-play2.phpAttach your script in a WORD document or in a PDF file. Hit "submit". The WORD document must be compatible with Window XP. (Note: Vista & Mac formats are not compatible).
Twelve Canadian playwrights will be selected and work with a dramaturge and director to create and develop a ten-minute play from scratch (i.e. not a play they have done or worked on). Their plays will be performed at the 8th InspiraTO Festival in May 2013. The playwrights must attend a one-day workshop on January 12, 2013 in Toronto ( 9 am to 4 pm). They will also attend a half day workshop while the plays are in rehearsals (some time in May 2013). There are no fees. Applicants will be notified by January 4, 2013 if they have been selected. We are happy to be partnering with Pat the Dog Playwright Centre who will be providing some of the mentors.
Do you want to know how to write a ten-minute play? Read a Q & A with Dominik Loncar, Artistic Director of the InspiraTO Festival -- click here. Read his blog on the creative impulse. Click here.