Winning scripts staged April 26-May 19, 2019
Burien Actors Theatre is seeking submissions of new plays by Washington State playwrights for the 2019 BAT Playwrights Festival. Both one-act and full-length plays are sought.
Winning scripts will be staged April 26 through May 19, 2019 as part of Burien Actors Theatre’s (“BAT”) 2018-19 season. In addition to having their plays produced, winning playwrights will receive monetary prizes.
The submission deadline for all scripts is Oct. 31, 2018. To qualify for the Festival, all submissions must follow Playwrights Submission Guidelines detailed below. The guidelines can also be found at www.burienactorstheatre.org.
About the BAT Playwrights Festival
The mission of the BAT Playwrights Festival is to encourage, promote and showcase previously unproduced theater works written by Washington State residents.
The Festival began in 1999, and was originally named for Bill and Peggy Hunt, two longtime BAT members after Peggy Hunt suggested establishing a playwriting competition with winning shows to be produced by Burien Actors Theatre.
Playwrights Submission Guidelines
- Open to any person residing in the State of Washington.
- There are no submission fees.
- Scripts may either be one-act or full-length. A series of unrelated or loosely related acts or scenes that could more properly be separated into one-act plays will not be accepted as a full-length play and may be treated as separate one-acts for purposes of this Festival.
- Musicals cannot be accepted.
- Submissions must be original and unpublished. Plays that have never been produced or have only had a workshop or a reading, whether staged or otherwise, are eligible. However, plays that have been fully produced are not eligible.
- BAT is supportive of playwrights revising their work to make it stronger, so scripts submitted in previous years to the Festival may be re-submitted.
- The Festival provides a semi-workshop environment and basic production, so excessive production requirements may result in disqualification.
- All submissions must be typed/word-processed, page-numbered, and in standard professional play format. Format guidelines can be obtained at samuelfrench.com under “For Playwrights” by going to https://shop.samuelfrench.com/content/files/upload/General%20SFI%20Formatting%20Guidelines%20Complete.pdf.
- Manuscripts must begin with a cover page that includes the following so we have important information about you and your script, including how to contact you: Name of play, your name, email address, U.S. mail address and phone number, as well as the number of script pages, number of acts and type of play (comedy, drama, etc.). The cover page will be removed from your manuscript to ensure blind judging.
- Manuscripts must also include the play’s title on a separate page from the cover page (since the cover page will be removed), 2-3 sentence synopsis, character list (including gender, age range and features such as skin or hair color necessary to script), setting (time and place), and list of acts and scenes.
- Scripts may be submitted via either email or U.S. mail. Emailed scripts must be in either PDF or Microsoft Word format and sent to playwrightsfestival@burienactorstheatre.org. Scripts sent via U.S. mail should go to: BAT Playwrights Festival, Burien Actors Theatre, P.O. Box 48121, Burien, WA 98148.
- Do not send the only copy of your work. Manuscripts cannot be returned.
- Copyright remains with the playwright.
- Legal clearance of materials not in the public domain is the playwrights’ full responsibility.
- Burien Actors Theatre reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.
- Playwrights are asked, but not required, to participate in discussions with the audience following performances.
- Entries must be emailed or postmarked by Oct. 31, 2018.
- Winners will be announced by January 2, 2019. Winning scripts will be staged April 26 through May 19, 2019, and winning playwrights will each receive a small monetary prize.
- Questions? Contact info@burienactorstheatre.org or 206-242-5180.
About Burien Actors Theatre
Exciting live theater has been a tradition in Burien since 1955. Incorporated in 1980, Burien Actors Theatre has been a leading producer of quality live theater serving residents of the Seattle and south Puget Sound areas.
BAT gives audiences an intriguing and invigorating theater experience with unusual and fantastical productions they can’t see on film or see anywhere else. The company’s mission is to treat audiences to productions of the highest artistic integrity that excite, engage and involve both the local and expanding theatrical communities in the Puget Sound region.
BAT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity and operates on revenue from ticket sales, donations, grants and sponsorships.
