CONTESTS & FESTIVALS

SAMUEL FRENCH
ANNUAL OFF-OFF BROADWAY
ORIGINAL SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

One way we access fresh, new work is through our Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival. Each year, we receive hundreds of submissions that are narrowed down to a significant number of 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 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 Off-Off Broadway festival started in 1975 and is Manhattan’s oldest continuous short play festival. Over 360 theatre companies and schools have participated in the Festival’s first thirty-one years, including companies from coast to coast as well as abroad from Canada and England. 

Winning plays of the 2006 festival, the authors and their producing organizations are as follows:

RELATIONTRIP by Sharyn Rothstein– Vital Theatre Company
THE PISCHER by Ted Nusbaum – The New School for Drama
LE SUPERMARCHÉ by Ian August – Poofyboo Productions
PLAY #3 by Harley Adams – Manhattan Theatre Club Education Dept.
LIBRETTO by Robin Rothstein – Algonquin Productions
(SICK) by Bekah Brunstetter – The New School for Drama

For more information CLICK HERE!

SAMUEL FRENCH (CANADA), LTD.
CANADIAN PLAYWRIGHTS CONTEST

Another competition that we sponsor is open to all Canadian playwrights. Writers from across Canada 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:

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 High School Student. Plays may be about any subject and of any length, so long as the play can be reasonably produced by high school students on a high school stage. For more information regarding this festival, 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!