Calling all playwrights and screenwriters!

CU Boulder’s New Play Festival showcases the creative talents of CU Boulder students, faculty, staff and alumni. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or totally new to playwriting, we encourage your participation! We are seeking playwrights, directors and play submission readers. Submissions will be accepted now through Thursday, Jan. 21.

Send completed submissions and any questions to cubouldernpf@gmail.com. Please see the submission guidelines below and visit the festival website for more information.

Best of luck!

Submission guidelines  

Feel free to submit to as many of these calls as you want, but we will be restricting playwrights to one accepted submission this year. Please submit PDF documents only. Only one full-length or one-act, one 10-minute play, and one performance scenario submission per person.   

Full-length plays: Full-length plays must be of substantial length (normally somewhere between 60–120 pages in standard manuscript form) and must not have been previously professionally produced or published. Accepted plays may be developed by the playwright in collaboration with the director and actors over 8–10 rehearsal hours.

One-act plays: One-act plays must be somewhere between 11–60 pages in standard form and not have been previously produced professionally or published. Accepted plays may be developed by the playwright in collaboration with the director and actors over 6–8 rehearsal hours. 

10-minute plays: 10-minute plays must be around 10 minutes in length (normally around 10 pages in manuscript form) and not have been previously professionally produced or published. Accepted plays may be developed by the playwright in collaboration with the director and actors over 4–6 rehearsal hours. 

3 things to know about play submissions

• If a play was submitted for a previous NPF season, but was not chosen, it must be substantially rewritten to be eligible for resubmission.
• Scripts need to be turned in with no identifying information about the playwright, except for a mandatory cover page containing the playwright’s name, contact information and title of the script.
• Plays will be reviewed by at least two readers blindly and chosen by a selection committee.

Performance scenarios: Recognizing that not all theatrical events are text-based, we accept performance scenarios for site-specific work (particularly interesting to explore during these Zoom days), an immersive work, a spec-actor scheme, etc., that is organized around design, an experience, an event, rather than starting with text. The 5-10 minute presentation of the performance concept can be in any form. Proposals will be reviewed by at least two readers blindly and chosen by a selection committee.

Call for collaborators

Directors: All plays will be assigned a director for their virtual staged readings. Directors will be a part of the selection committee and be responsible for attending auditions, casting their assigned play, coordinating rehearsals, giving feedback on their assigned play and staging the recordings of the new plays. Please email your interest and an updated résumé to cubouldernpf@gmail.com.

Selection committee volunteers: Play submissions must be read by at least two readers blindly. If you are interested in volunteering to be on the play reading committee, you must read and report on at least two plays, if not more. This position is perfect for someone who wants to get involved but can't attend rehearsals. Reading volunteers can still submit a play to the festival but will be assigned readings in a separate category. Please email your interest and number of plays you would consider reading and reporting on to cubouldernpf@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Actors: Audition to be an actor in the festival! Make sure to mark your interest on the General Theatre Auditions form and hold on tight for Callbacks on Saturday, March 6. If you do not wish to participate in the general auditions but are still interested in reading for NPF, we will provide sides (short selections from the material) for you to read on March 6. No previous acting experience necessary! This is a great opportunity to test the waters. Rehearsals will be limited, and your text will be in-hand for the performance. Stay tuned for more info!