CONTESTS & FESTIVALS

SAMUEL FRENCH
ANNUAL OFF OFF BROADWAY
SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

One way we access fresh, new work is through the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Each year, we receive hundreds of submissions that are narrowed down to roughly forty semi-finalists, who are then required to produce their plays in New York City. A panel of judges made up of members of the Samuel French, Inc. editorial staff, professional playwrights, literary agents, and area theatrical professionals are present each night of performance and determine the finalists, all of whom perform on the final day of the festival. The editorial staff then selects six winners, who are presented with publishing and licensing contracts, and are published in a compilation.

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival started in 1975 and is Manhattan’s oldest continuous short play festival. Over 400 theatre companies and schools have participated in the Festival’s first thirty-three years, including companies from coast to coast as well as abroad from Canada and England.  This festival has served as a doorway to future success for many aspiring writers. The unique aspect of requiring authors to collaborate with a producing organization and present their work in performance, we hope, encourages the collaborative and creative process of playwriting.  

Winning plays of the 2009 festival are as follows:

JUST KNOTS by Christina Gorman
THE EDUCATION OF MACOLOCO by Jen Silverman
THUCYDICES by Scott Elmegreen and Drew Fornarola
DROP by J. Michael DeAngelis and Pete Barry
THE STUDENT by Matt Hoverman
REALER THAN THAT by Kitt Lavoie

To access the official Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival Website CLICK HERE!

SAMUEL FRENCH
CANADIAN PLAYWRIGHTS CONTEST

Another competition that we sponsor is open to all playwrights with Canadian citizenship. Samuel French originally established the Canadian Playwrights Contest to encourage awareness and growth of Canadian playwriting. The competition is open to all Canadian playwrights regardless of geographic location. Writers are invited to submit their best full-length stage plays that are original and have never been published. The winning play will receive publication and representation from Samuel French. Completed applications and manuscripts should be sent to:

Past Samuel French Canadian Playwrights Contest winners:
CLOSURE by Ron Blicq
SHADOWS ON OAK ISLAND by Garnet Hirst with Deborah L. Preeper
$38,000 FOR A FRIENDLY FACE by Kristin Shepherd
BINGO BABES by Isabel Duarte
KITCHEN WITCHES by Caroline Smith
MAPLE LODGE by Colleen Curran
THAT DARN PLOT by David Belke
YEAR IN THE DEATH OF EDDIE JESTER by T. Gregory Argall

To download an application, click here.

Baker’s Plays High School Playwriting Competition

Open to any currently-enrolled high school student or playwrights who are high-school aged. Baker’s Plays has been an advocate for theater in schools for over one hundred years.  In the spirit of that commitment, we offer this playwriting competition for High School students.  Winning scripts will be published in Dramatic Debuts, our new series designed to showcase young playwriting talent   Plays may be about any subject and of any length. It is our hope that this competition will encourage aspiring high school authors to explore the creative possibilities of writing for the stage.

For more information regarding this festival, Click Here!

For information on the 2008 edition of Dramatic Debuts, click here!

Boston Theater Marathon

A ten-hour marathon of 50 new ten-minute plays by local authors, each one produced by a different New England professional theatre company, all performed in one place in one amazing day. For more information regarding this festival, Click Here!

The Weissberger Award

The Williamstown Theatre Festival administers the L. Arnold Weissberger Award for Playwriting on behalf of the Anna L. Weissberger Foundation. The award is designed to recognize excellence in playwriting and includes a $10,000 grant, publication of the winning script by Samuel French, Inc., and a reading at the Williamstown Theatre Festival the following summer. Visit the Williamstown Theatre Festival website for more information!

The Princess Grace Award

The Princess Grace Awards is a national program dedicated to identifying and assisting emerging young theater, dance, and film artists who are at the outset of their careers or at early stages of professional development. This mission is accomplished in playwriting through a residency program at New Dramatists, Inc. in New York City and the representation and publication of your script by Samuel French, Inc. Visit the Princess Grace Award Website for more information!