The National Playwrights Conference is the founding program of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and led by NPC artistic director Wendy C. Goldberg. The conference supports playwrights during the creation and development of new plays. Writers of selected works will receive a July 2017 residency with a stipend, housing, meals and transportation to support a rehearsal process and two script-in-hand public readings with a professional cast and creative team.
Submission details follow:
- Apply at www.theoneill.org/npc/submission
- Plays of any length or genre are eligible; however, to be included in the conference, the work must remain unproduced through July 31, 2017.
- The submission fee is $35 and covers the cost of the process.
- Early submissions are strongly encouraged.
- No agent is required.
- Both electronic and hard copy applications are accepted.
Approximately 1,400 scripts are submitted for consideration each year. Submissions are sent to readers across the country and read blindly, allowing volunteer readers to focus on each writer’s voice and story, rather than a recognizable name or previous accomplishment. The large majority of plays developed each summer are drawn from these submissions; there might be one or two invitations for established writers or collaborations with other institutions, which help launch conversations with the larger national field.
Goldberg notes, “We have just completed another remarkable summer season, and we look forward to an abundance of O’Neill plays being seen this upcoming season regionally, in New York as well as London. I look forward to building on our immense artistic legacy and helping to nurture the most innovative and fearless storytellers of our time.” During Goldberg’s tenure, more than 50 works have gone on to world premiere productions.
The O’Neill will also host three online Q&A sessions about the process on the O'Neill Facebook page:
- September 22 at 1 PM (with playwright Matt Schatz, The Burdens, NPC 2016)
- October 2 at 4 PM (with playwright Mike Lew, Tiger Style!, NPC 2014 & Teenage Dick NPC 2016)
- October 11 at 6 PM (with playwright Tegan McLeod, Girls in Cars Underwater, NPC 2016)
Visit http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/npc/submission-info/ for application and guidelines or watch this video. Direct any questions about the National Playwrights Conference Open Submissions to Anne G. Morgan, Literary Manager & Dramaturg at (860) 443-5378, ext. 227 or email [email protected].
