2019 Chicago New Work Festival & Next Draft Series Submissions

Submissions are now closed for the 2019 season.  2019 invitees will be notified around November 1.

Please check back later this summer for information about our plans for the 2020 stage reading series including the Chicago New Work Festival and the Next Draft Series.

Fee

There is a nonrefundable submission fee of $15 per play, which supports printing and the cost of the festival.

How the Developmental Programs Work

Eight playwrights are invited to participate in the Chicago New Work Festival. Ten playwrights are invited to participate in the Next Draft Series.

For the Chicago New Work Festival, invited playwrights are paired with a director for a week-long workshop, with a staged reading on Saturday. There are two workshops per week for four weeks, Jan. 7 to Feb. 2, 2019, at the Berger Park Coach House Theater. The purpose of an entire week of rehearsals is to give the playwright time to make rewrites and try things with the actors, so writers should have a draft in mind to work towards. Invited playwrights are required to attend an orientation in December (date TBD).

Next Draft Series readings are held on the third Monday of the month once the New Work Festival concludes. Playwrights are paired with a director and cast for one rehearsal and a staged reading, offering the playwright the opportunity to hear their play and observe the choices actors make based an the current draft.

Next Draft and New Work Festival invitees are also invited to join Playwrights of Three Cat for monthly career-oriented meetings & workshops the third Monday of the month.

Style

We seek original voices in any style or genre. For our main stage in particular, we seek small plays (and musicals) with big ideas.

Submission Guidelines

Your submission will consist of 1) an online application including a bio and synopsis 2) a resume and the full script uploaded as PDFs 3) a $15 application fee. If you are submitting a musical and would like to share MP3s, you can include links to them in the Play Synopsis field of the application. After submitting your application, please use the Donate field at the top right of any page to pay your fee. If you prefer to pay with cash or check, please contact Wendy Schmidt, Literary Manager at wendy@threecatproductions.com. Only playwrights living in Chicagoland are eligible.

Contact

Wendy Schmidt
Literary Manager, Three Cat Productions
Phone: (312) 970-9840
Email: wendy@threecatproductions.com