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Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest Rules & Guidelines

About the Award:

Submission Period:

Entries are accepted between March 15 and June 1, annually.

Playwright Eligibility:

To be eligible for the contest, the submitting playwright must be a current member of SETC, reside in the SETC region, OR attend a college or university within the SETC region. The SETC region includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Submission Requirements:

The Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest considers only plays that meet the following requirements:

  1. Submitted work must be by one playwright only. No collaborations or adaptations will be considered. Submitting a jointly written play under the name of only one author, or a play that was developed in collaboration with other artists such as a collaboratively produced devised work, adaptation of another writer's work, or in conjunction with librettists and/or composers will not be considered.
  2. Submitted work must be either a full-length play or thematically related one acts which constitute a full-length play when performed together. No musicals or children's plays will be considered.
  3. Plays must be unproduced (no professional productions) and unpublished. Readings and workshops are acceptable. Any play which has had more than one consecutive performance by a non-college or university theatre which charged admission and/or had a review will not be considered.
  4. Plays submitted in prior years may not be resubmitted.

Submission Guidelines:

Submissions that do not follow the submission guidelines will not be considered.

  1. Only one play submission is allowed per playwright.
  2. Plays must be submitted by attachment in PDF format under the following guidelines:
    1. Send ONLY 1 copy, in PDF format.
    2. Scripts should be in a standard format, such as Dramatists Guild Modern Stage Play.
    3. Text should be in 12 pt type and in a standard font such as Times New Roman.
    4. Script must include page numbers at the bottom of each page.
    5. The author's name MUST NOT appear anywhere in the script.
    6. DO NOT include resumes, playwright biographies or a history of the play.
    7. DO include a page with character breakdowns (age, gender, etc.)
    8. DO include a "slug line" or one sentence blurb about the play as well as a synopsis of no more than 100 words.

Winning Playwright:

  1. The winner, selected by a panel of readers, will be announced in November of each year.
  2. The playwright will retain all copyright to the submitted material.
  3. The playwright will be expected to attend the SETC convention at the expense of SETC, attend the response session, and receive the cash award at the annual banquet.
  4. The winning play will be considered for publication online via the SETC website*. Promotional information will be published in an issue of Southern Theatre magazine, including:
    1. Profile of the playwright/winner
    2. Short abstract of the play
    3. A powerful “snippet” from the play to gather attention and interest
    4. A sidebar noting that the whole play can found on the SETC website, with a link to the play.

      *Posting the play online would be upon agreement with the author and would include a disclaimer about not using it for production.

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