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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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Plays must be unproduced (no professional productions) and unpublished.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.
- Plays submitted in prior years may not be resubmitted.
Submission Guidelines:
Submissions that do not follow the submission guidelines will not be considered.
- Only one play submission is allowed per playwright.
- Plays must be submitted by attachment in PDF format under the following guidelines:
- Send ONLY 1 copy, in PDF format.
- Scripts should be in a standard format, such as Dramatists Guild Modern Stage Play.
- Text should be in 12 pt type and in a standard font such as Times New Roman.
- Script must include page numbers at the bottom of each page.
- The author's name MUST NOT appear anywhere in the script.
- DO NOT include resumes, playwright biographies or a history of the play.
- DO include a page with character breakdowns (age, gender, etc.)
- 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:
- The winner, selected by a panel of readers, will be announced in November of each year.
- The playwright will retain all copyright to the submitted material.
- 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.
- 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:
- Profile of the playwright/winner
- Short abstract of the play
- A powerful “snippet” from the play to gather attention and interest
- 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.