Script Submission

ANPF Script Submission Guidelines

Please read ALL of the guidelines and prepare your PDF accordingly BEFORE clicking on the Submission button at the bottom of this page.

ANPF will accept all plays that meet the Basic Requirements, Document Criteria, and Artistic Merit listed below.

When submitting your play, you will go through a two-step process:

1. Enter your playwright name, script title, demographic information (optional), and upload your script, then click Continue.
2. Enter your billing and payment information for the $20 submission fee and click Place order to complete the transaction.

You will receive an email receipt automatically which lets you know we have your submission and payment. If there is an issue with adherence to our guidelines, ANPF will send you an email so the issue can be addressed.

Thank you for sharing your work with ANPF!

Basic Requirements

• Full-length drama or comedy, intermission preferred. If no intermission, then 75 minutes minimum running time. ANPF presentations are concert readings, not staged readings. The emphasis is on the language and dialogue of a play. Stage business cannot be considered as part of the running time. Submitted scripts should meet the timing requirement with this in mind.
• Previously unproduced. All scripts submitted to ANPF must be unproduced and remain unproduced until after the Fall Festival. Any presentation by a theatre (including non-Equity, regional, or community theatre) DOES count as a production. This includes virtual presentations. College/academic productions and development workshops and readings are exempted.
• Maximum of eight actors. Doubling is permitted, provided a doubling plan is included with the cast list.
• Submitting author is (or authors, when in collaboration, are) sole owner(s) of script copyright.

Document Criteria

• Legibly typed 12-point font in standard play script format with 1′′ margins.
• No indication of authorship on any of the pages.
• Submitted as a single PDF—one file only. No hard copies accepted. PDF files are made with Adobe Acrobat Reader. For a free download and automatic installation of the newest version, go to http://get.adobe.com/reader.
• Page 1: Cover page with only play title and this disclaimer: This script is copyright protected and may not be reproduced, distributed, or disseminated without the prior written permission of the author.
• Page 2: Brief synopsis of play (200-word maximum) and cast list that includes each character’s name, age, and brief description.
• All pages numbered.
• Characters' names shown above dialogue.
• End of play indicated with Fin or End.

Artistic Merit

Ashland New Plays Festival is committed to the presentation of new dramatic work that is uniquely theatrical, has literary merit, and appeals to our audience’s emotions and imagination. Such work invariably reflects an original concept or theme, possesses a clear and cogent structure, and includes characters whose language expresses their individual worldview.

ANPF does not accept:

• Film or TV scripts
• Children’s theatre
• Musicals

We do accept adaptations and parodies of works in the public domain.

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The Fine Print

Submissions are limited to one script per author per year. Collaborations are accepted and count as the submission for each author (i.e. a playwright cannot submit both a co-written script and a singularly-authored script in the same year). Once a script has been submitted to ANPF, we cannot accept revisions. Please note that ANPF does not provide feedback on scripts.

Refunds are not given for plays that are not accepted.

Winning playwrights will be notified in June and will be announced publicly in July.

Upon notification of their selection, winning playwrights must sign the Playwright Agreement and a W-9 form, which we will provide. The Playwright Agreement covers participation in Ashland from Sunday of the Festival week to the following Sunday, an eight-day commitment. Playwrights will be available for the following: at least one rehearsal culminating in two public readings of each play, co-presenting a playwriting workshop led by the host playwright, and attending scheduled Festival events such as opening and closing parties.

A $1,500 stipend is awarded to each winning playwright to help defray travel and other expenses. The playwright is responsible for the cost and arrangements for transportation to and from Ashland. ANPF will provide airport transportation and week-long housing in a private room for each winning playwright and one guest (shared accommodations); most meals are the responsibility of the playwright.

ANPF is a stand-alone, nonprofit arts organization. Each year we raise the funds to rent a venue for the weeklong Festival; pay stipends to the winning playwrights, directors, performers, and technicians; and cover all printing and publicity costs for the Festival. The nonrefundable submission fee helps defray these costs.

Directors, performers, and technicians for the readings are drawn primarily from a pool of local professional artists.

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Questions?

E-mail submissions@ashlandnewplays.org