16th Annual New York City 15 Minute Play Festival

Submission Guidelines for Playwrights

Turnip Theatre Company in association with American Globe Theatre will accept submissions for the 16th Annual New York City 15-Minute Play Festival through December 15, 2010. This popular short play competition will be presented at American Globe's 75 seat theatre on West 46th Street in the heart of Times Square April 19 through May 1, 2010. Turnip Theatre Company established the 15-Minute Play Festival in 1995 to present audiences with short, well-crafted plays while at the same time offering a professional venue for theater artists. American Globe Theatre became a Festival co-presenter in 2001. Over the past 15 years more than 500 new short plays have been presented, with many going on to subsequent productions and several to publication.

Each year approximately 35 to 40 original short plays are selected from submissions from all over the United States and several foreign countries. Four to five plays are presented each of the first eight evenings of the semi-finals with one play chosen each night to move on to the finals and two additional performances. Finalists compete for $100 cash prizes for Best Play, Best Direction, Best Performance, and Audience Favorite. Finalists are also eligible for The Alan Minieri Memorial Playwriting Award in honor of Turnip Theatre Company's late Co-Artistic Director who died of cancer in 1997. The $300 Minieri Award is presented to a playwright whose work challenges convention in both content and form. Each semi-finalist whose work is presented in the Festival receives a $25 royalty.

• Playwrights and/or their representatives are responsible for the production of their play including casting, rehearsals, props, etc. The Festival presenters provide basic set pieces and lighting, sound equipment, and production staff.
• Plays are selected solely on the script submitted. Please do not include a playwright resume or play production history. Plays should have a beginning, middle, and end (though not necessarily in that order). Plays that create a unique world, are unpredictable, and can stand alone without complex production values are favored by the presenters. Monologues and published plays will not be considered.
• Submissions must be typed in play script format and be no more than 15 pages and in a font size no smaller than 12 point Times Roman or Courier/Courier New. Only plays with a running time of 15 minutes or less are eligible.
• Only one submission per writer will be accepted. If several plays are submitted by a single author, only one will be chosen at random to be read by the play reading committee.
• Submissions should be sent by regular mail to 15 Minute Play Festival, c/o American Globe Theatre, 145 W. 46th Street, New York, NY 10036. Submissions are not accepted by email, fax, or express/overnight mail. Submissions must be postmarked by December 15, 2009. Playwrights whose plays are selected will be notified in mid-February 2010. Plays will not be returned, so please do not send a return envelope.
• There will be a mandatory meeting for all playwrights or their representatives on Feb. 28 or March 7, 2010 and a production meeting for all participating artists on April 18, 2010.
• Visit www.15minuteplayfestival.org or www.americanglobe.org for additional information.
• A SIGNED COPY OF THESE GUIDELINES MUST BE RETURNED WITH YOUR PLAY TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION. Download a print version here.