PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER WANTS TO MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS IN OUR MIDST
Submit Your Play to Win a Reading on our Virtual Stage!

WHAT IS IT?

The competition is open to all writers based in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. The winning playwright will receive a $500 honorarium for their work, and their play will be staged as an online reading in June 2022 as part of the Public PlayTime series. 

HOW DO YOU ENTER?

Click HERE to submit between October 15 and December 15, 2021. 

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

To be eligible to enter, playwrights must have a permanent address in either Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. All submitted plays should 1) comprise a running time between 60-120 minutes; 2) require a cast of no more than 10 actors; 3) not have received a fully staged physical or digital production; and 4) English should be the primary language. All genres are welcome, but we will only accept one submission per writer, and no musicals, please. 

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 our Land Acknowledgement.

HOW IS THE CONTEST JUDGED?

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 2022 and will have the option of receiving feedback from the members of Pittsburgh Public Theater's Writers Workshop, who will comprise the final panel of readers. The winning play will be announced in March 2022.