The Competition, announced during the 2007 Festival, is designed to recognize and promote the works of Mississippi playwrights and is open to all Mississippi writers, either in state or abroad. The winning play will receive a staged reading at the 2009 MTA Conference, and a $500 cash prize to be awarded at the MTA Conference held in January, 2009.
2009 Playwriting Submission Guidelines
1. The MTA Playwriting Competition is open to all Mississippi writers, either in-state or abroad.
2. This is a one-act playwriting competition, with no particular theme for content. Plays should run no more than one-hour in length, which is roughly about forty (40) pages. We do not accept musicals, full-lengths, adaptations, screenplays, etc.
3. Cast size is limited to no more than six (6) actors.
4. Plays should not have been previously produced or published. Workshop productions are permissible.
5. Please use the traditional, standard format of Times New Roman, 12-font for easier readability. We reserve the right not to review scripts that do not abide by this format, and may refund your submission fee if this is not adhered to.
6. Please do not append professional resumes or biographies to your entry; judges only consider manuscript quality. Biographical information should be sent separately (see number 12).
7. We regret that we are unable to return manuscripts. All playwrights who submit will be notified of their status via email.
8. Entries are accepted during our screening process, yearly: May 1 - September 1. Entries postmarked later than September 1 will not be considered; entries submitted prior to July 1 will not be reviewed until the screening process begins.
10. Each playwright may submit only one play per year. The Mississippi Theatre Association reserves the right not to produce a winner, in any given year. Aside from the necessary permission to stage the reading of the winning entry, all rights are retained by the playwright.
11. Playwrights must be 18 years of age or older to submit.
12. Please fill out the entrance form online. This will act as your biographical information.
13. The registrion process below allows you to submit information about yourself as well as upload a copy of your script. If you have problems with this process, complete the online form and email a copy of your script to Stephen Cunetto at scunetto@gmail.com, and please make sure that your title page or your manuscript does not include any author information when you submit your script.
11. There is an entrance fee of $10. You may pay online with a credit card when you fill out your entrance form, or you may send your checks to Stephen Cunetto, at 1297 Bardwell Road, Starkville, MS, 39759.
12. For any questions pertaining to this competition, please email Kris Lee, Playwriting Chair, at tklee1976@gmail.com, or Stephen Cunetto, MTA Executive Director, at the above email address.
Other Information:
All entries are judged anonymously, through two different rounds of judges.
The winning entry will receive:
- a staged reading at the 2009 MTA Conference,
- free Festival registration,
- Hotel accommodations for the evening of their staged reading, and
- a $500 cash prize
"The Mississippi Theatre Association, complying with the Dramatist Guild of America's suggested fair use festival regulations, would like to state that the playwriting submission fee is used to offset both production costs of the winning script and applied to the winning playwright's total monetary award of $500."
Committee
Kris Lee, Starkville Community Theatre, Chair
Ryan Pierini, MS Gulf Coast Community College
Thomas LaFoe, Starkville Community Theatre
Sherri Marengo, Just Over the Rainbow Theatre
Lee Makamson, Greenwood Little Theatre