Literary Opportunities
Submission Policy
Plays & Players welcomes submissions of full-length and one-act plays. Playwrights should submit a copy of the play in its entirety (with cast-list and a brief synopsis) and a resumé. We accept submissions of one full-length and one one-act play in each 12 month period.
We are especially committed to producing new work by local playwrights, both through our focus on local world premieres and our annual Emerging Playwright In Residence Program. However, we will give consideration to playwrights who are not from the tri-state area with the inclusion of a statement with the submission (no more than one page typed) about why Plays & Players would provide a good venue for the play. Submissions that do not adhere to these stipulations will not be given consideration.
Plays & Players accepts all genres and styles of plays for consideration. Plays & Players seeks to reach diverse audiences with its work. Recommended submissions include plays that utilize diverse casts or open casting, plays that invoke or utilize fantastical elements, small-cast musicals, and theater for young audiences.
Recent world premiere productions at Plays & Players include:
- Exit, Corpse and Concrete Dinosaur by Nicholas Wardigo
- Early in the Mourning by P. Seth Bauer
- Simulations by David Strattan White
- Pardon My Invasion by Joy Cutler
As a membership organization, Plays & Players is committed to listening to its members. As a member, you have the chance to take part in the literary development of the theater. This can include anything from suggesting and reading scripts for upcoming seasons to invitations to hear readings of plays in development.
Please send all material to Literary Manager Lena Barnard (lbarnard@playsandplayers.org)
Playwrights in Residence
Now in its fourth year, the PDC Playwrights in Residence at Plays & Players aims to provide artistic development for Philadelphia’s next generation of professional playwrights. The residency supports chosen local writers who represent the highest potential for further growth and exploration.
The residency develops two to three playwrights towards goals that they have articulated for themselves, through the providing of a safe space for experimentation, through support and guidance from artistic peers, through feedback from play development professionals, and through public performance opportunities. The focus of this program is artist development, not the development of an individual work. Information about applying is posted on our website in June. Application materials are due in mid-July and the new residents are announced in September.
The playwright residency is part of Plays & Players Emerging Artists in Residence program, from more information see their page.
Plays & Players is pleased to announce its Dramaturgy Listserv, created as a way to foster communication between local playwrights and dramaturgs to develop and polish new works.
