PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER
ANNOUNCES 2022-2023 NEW PLAY CONTEST
SUBMISSIONS BEING ACCEPTED NOW THROUGH FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
Pittsburgh Public Theater is proud to announce the third annual New Play Contest. The competition is open to writers based in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The winning playwright will receive a $500 honorarium and a staged reading in the PlayTime reading series in summer 2023.
As a true public theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater is proud to provide a platform and, most importantly, a home for regional artists to amplify their voices. The New Play Contest is one of the ways The Public strives to meet that goal and in its infancy it has yielded incredible results, including last season’s winner Lisa Langford being featured in the 30th anniversary Ashland New Plays Festival.
“I submitted my play to Pittsburgh Public Theater because I was a finalist in another playwriting festival alongside Pittsburgh Public Theater’s previous New Play Contest winner (Emma Gibson). I really admire her work so I figured it must be a good opportunity. Boy, was it ever! First, everyone at Pittsburgh Public Theater was amazing, helpful, and accommodating. Next, I was paired with a director I was dying to work with (Resident Director Justin Emeka) and he did not disappoint. Seeing my play through this director’s eyes showed me themes and connections I’d never noticed before when writing this play in isolation. Hearing the phenomenal cast read my play, I realized there was a character never seen in this play who had a story that needed to be told and I started work on a companion piece to the play. Entering The Public’s New Play Contest gave me a deeper understanding of my play and inspired me to write another.”
- Lisa Langford, Winner of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 2021/2022 New Play Contest
“All the classic plays we know and love from Hamlet to A Raisin in the Sun were once new plays. There was a time when no one had read or seen them, but when they premiered, their impact was indelible. They challenged the form and introduced audiences to incredible artists. I believe in the potential of all new plays to change the game in their own unique ways, and it’s an honor to set the stage for that thrilling blend of innovation and collaboration with this contest.”
-Brian Pope, Casting and Literary Director at Pittsburgh Public Theater
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Script submissions will be accepted beginning Tuesday, November 15, 2022. To enter, playwrights should click
HERE and complete the online submission form by Friday, December 16, 2022 at 11:59pm ET. Late submissions or multiple submissions will not be considered.
Submission Guidelines:
- Runtime of 60-100 minutes
- No more than 10 actors
- Play must not yet have received a fully staged physical or digital production
- English should be the primary language
- Musicals will not be accepted
Playwrights of all cultural, racial, and gender identities, and of all abilities are encouraged to submit. Please click HERE to learn more about our theater’s ongoing work to promote anti-racism on and off our stage and HERE to read out Land Acknowledgement.
The full text of each submitted play will be adjudicated by a cohort of local readers over three rounds. The criteria for evaluation will include use of theme, effectiveness of plot structure, clarity of playwright’s perspective, character development, as well as overall impact of the work. Writers whose plays advance to the Final Round will be notified in February 2023. The winning play, chosen by the members of PPT’s Playwrights Collective, will be announced in March 2023, and a staged reading of that play will be presented as a part of The Public’s in-person PlayTime series in summer 2023. For additional information please email playtime@ppt.org