SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR 2024
The Dayton Playhouse invites playwrights of all races and ethnicities, all gender identities, all physical abilities, and all ages to submit your scripts for consideration as a Finalist for FutureFest 2024.
Festival dates: July 19 – 21, 2024. The Dayton Playhouse will hold the 2024 festival in person.
The submission deadline for FutureFest 2024 is October 31, 2023.
FEE
$20 submission fee per script. This fee will be waived for members of the Dramatists Guild. Checks and money orders should be made payable to “The Dayton Playhouse”.
Fees may be paid online by following this link to our online payment system.
ELIGIBILITY
Entry must be an original work written for THE STAGE. No musicals or plays for children will be accepted. The script must not have been published, or produced where admission was charged, prior to FutureFest 2024. Staged readings/workshop productions are not necessarily disqualifying factors. Plays must be full length with a run time of at least 75 minutes.
DEADLINES
Submissions will be accepted August 15 through October 31, 2023 (electronic submission).
SCRIPTS
Electronic submissions of scripts are required. Scripts in PDF format are preferred. Word or Google Doc formats are acceptable.
Submit an anonymized copy (no name/contact info) of your script, in standard play format with pages numbered. After the title page include a brief synopsis, character breakdown, setting, and scene breakdown, if applicable. The script submission form (link below) must be filled out for each script submission. If applicable, the form also provides the opportunity to submit an image of your Dramatists Guild membership card.
Please note that entries that do not comply with our guidelines will be disqualified. Scripts must be submitted electronically via the Submission Form or via email as an alternative method. Eliminated scripts will not be returned. Script evaluations will not be provided.
CONSENT
Playwright gives the Dayton Playhouse permission to photocopy scripts for reading/production purposes.
Should your script be selected and produced as one of the five Finalists, you must be available to attend, in person, the weekend festival (July 19-21, 2024) in Dayton, Ohio and participate in all events. Finalists must acknowledge the Dayton Playhouse when script is published. The winning playwright awards the Dayton Playhouse the rights to produce the winning play as part of its 2024-2025 Main Stage season royalty free.
SELECTION PROCESS
Each entry is guaranteed a minimum of three reads. The original play reading committee, following many months of discussion and voting, narrows down the entries to 15 – 18, which are then read by the entire committee before they select the 12 semi-finalists. A second committee selects the five finalists. During FutureFest weekend, the plays will each have a staged reading and be publicly adjudicated by a panel of five theatre professionals (nationally-based and regional). Following the final production of the weekend, the adjudicators vote and select the winning script.
FINALISTS
Finalists will be posted on the Dayton Playhouse website (www.daytonplayhouse.com) in May 2024.
AWARDS
A $500 honorarium will be awarded to the winning playwright; the other Finalists will each receive a $100 honorarium. The Dayton Playhouse provides the five Finalists travel (within the continental U.S.) to Dayton and lodging for FutureFest weekend.
The winning script will receive a full production as a part of the Dayton Playhouse Main Stage Season with six performances in March 2025. The winning playwright will have the opportunity to update the script based on feedback from the FutureFest weekend and participate in the production process.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
All submitting playwrights must complete the submission form for each submitted script. Please click this link to access the Script Submission Form:
FutureFest 2024 Script Submission Form
The form requires use of a Google account, and includes an option to upload script PDF documents. If you do not have, or do not wish to use a Google account, as an alternative, you may e-mail the script to futurefest@daytonplayhouse.com. Please include in the body of the email your:
- Name
- Full mailing address
- Email address
- Website (optional)
- Play title
- Play synopsis (500 characters maximum)
- Attach anonymized play in PDF format
- Attach Proof of Dramatists Guild membership, if applicable
DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY
The Dayton Playhouse invites playwrights of all races and ethnicities, all gender identities, all physical abilities, and all ages to submit your scripts for consideration as a Finalist for FutureFest 2024. The Dayton Playhouse seeks to learn if the diversity of our submitting playwrights aligns with the diversity of our FutureFest Finalists.
To do this, we ask the help of our submitting playwrights. At the end of the Script Submission Form is a link to an OPTIONAL anonymous Demographic Survey. Please consider completing this survey so we can better understand the level and types of diversity of our submitting playwrights. (Survey Link for Playwrights submitting by email.)
QUESTIONS
Contact Tina McPhearson or Debra Strauss, FutureFest 2024 Co-Chairs, at 937-424-8477, or email futurefest@daytonplayhouse.com.