PLAYGROUND’S 2024 YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS CONTEST

PlayGround invites Bay Area high school students, grades 9-12, to submit short plays per the following guidelines for consideration in the 2024 Young Playwrights Contest. The top four playwrights will be announced on or before May 1st. The finalists will each receive a professional staged reading of their play as part of the PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage and simulcast on Friday, May 24, 2024. Submission deadline: April 22, 2024.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

The following are the guidelines for script submissions for PlayGround’s 2024 Young Playwrights Contest. To be eligible, writers must currently attend high school in one of the nine Bay Area counties.

Topic: THE LEGACY OF THE LAND WE INHABIT

To learn about the Indigenous land where you live, visit https://native-land.ca/.
For information on PlayGround’s land acknowledgment policy, click here.
To learn about the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, click here.

Bay Area High School students are invited to write an original, 10-minute play inspired by this year’s prompt and that helps bring awareness to and activates the practice of land acknowledgement. General recommendations: Avoid multiple scenes with blackouts within a single ten-minute play. Keep the story and action as continuous as possible. Have FUN!

1. Scripts, maximum ten pages doubled-spaced, initiated on or after Monday, January 8, 2024 and inspired by the topic (see above), must be RECEIVED by 11:59pm on Monday, April 22, 2024.

2. You must include a cover page (not included in the ten-page max.) with your name and contact information, and including a complete detailed cast breakdown.

2. Scripts can utilize no more than four (4) actors, though doubling within this number is allowed (all doubling must be detailed in the cast breakdown). We will engage a unique cast of actors for each play so provide a detailed cast breakdown, including information when available on age, ethnicity, race, character traits, etc.

4. Scripts must be submitted via google form at https://forms.gle/8fGJnvgVMmEfTGXU7.

5. Scripts should be formatted with page numbers in the footer and playwright name/email address in the header for all pages.

6. Font should be 12pt standard (Times New Roman) or equivalent.

7. No more than one script per person.

8. Finalists will be announced by May 1st, 2024.

The submission of a script grants PlayGround the exclusive option to stage the play as part of the Young Playwrights Festival. As the playwright’s participation in the rehearsal process and performance is considered critical to PlayGround’s mission, the submission of a script is a direct acknowledgment by the playwright that he/she will attend the performance of their play should it be selected, barring unforeseen circumstances, and to the extent possible the rehearsal that afternoon. If you know in advance that you are unable to attend the festival performances, you must inform PlayGround of this at the time of submission. PlayGround will not consider scripts by playwrights so acknowledged prior to selection and reserves the right to replace any script selected by an author later determined as unable to attend.

Up to four finalists will be selected for the 2024 Young Playwrights Festival. Each finalist will receive a professional staged reading of their play as part of the PlayGround Festival of New Works at Potrero Stage and simulcast on Friday, May 24, 2024.

To view sample script formats, click the link(s) below.

Submission Format #1
Submission Format #2

For questions or more information, email ypp@playground-sf.org.

Happy writing and good luck!