*submissions open*

NeUROdiversity Playwrights Initiative

Neurodiverse.   NeuroQueer.   NeuroPOC.

Because of the enormous response/requests from playwrights and theatres across the country, Spectrum Theatre Ensemble’s NEW PLAYWRIGHT’S INITIATIVE is back!!

STE is the nation’s leader in developing the plays and careers of Autistic+/Neurodiverse/(Dis)abled writers.   Our alumni are award-winning professional writers with readings and productions all across the country.  Spectrum Theatre Ensemble is who the theatre industry looks to for Neurodiversity Innovation in the Arts.   

SUBMISSIONS OPEN THROUGH OCTOBER 31, 2023.   

SEEKING NEW, EXCITING ONE-ACT PLAYS.

We are looking for plays that surprise us.  This Initiative is about celebrating your creative impulses and expression.   

Give yourself permission to imagine without restrictions.

Six one-act plays will be chosen through a concealed author process by artistic and literary directors at some of America’s most respected and inclusive theaters.  

All plays will be fully produced at STE’s Neurodiversity New Play Festival, Summer 2024 in collaboration with our partner theatres.

Authors will receive a 200. stipend, a press packet (reviews, press materials, interviews), promotion through our fierce new PR campaigns, and two tickets to the festival for each author.  

It is our goal to be able to bring the authors to the festival (travel/housing) to fully participate in the production.  We are currently working on funding so, for now, this remains a possibility, not a guarantee.

GUIDELINES:  

  • Submit plays to: newwork@stensemble.org

  • Seeking one-act plays by Autistic+/Neurodiverse/(Dis)abled writers.  

  • Plays must be no longer than 50 pages.

  • Dramatists Guild Standard Format preferred, but will accept any stage play format.  

  • Please do not include your name on the title page.

  • Title your document:  author’s name - title of play - date.

  • Authors must be Autistic+/Neurodivergent/(Dis)abled.  

  • Please include a brief statement (less than one page) describing what theatrical writing means to you.  

STE believes in creating an inclusive theatre-making environment.  We encourage members of our multiply-marginalized NeuroFamily to apply and tell their stories:  Black, Brown, Indigenous/First Peoples, Asian, Pacific Islander, Mixed-Race People of Color (NeuroPOC), LGBTQIA2+, women, AFAB writers.  

We will work with our NPI selected playwrights to ensure the development and production process follows the Dramatists Guild Inclusion Rider (at least 50% of artistic/production teams POC, women, AFAB, LGBTQIA2+, (dis)abled folx).  

Our entire staff have the lived experiences and face the daily challenges of navigating systems and spaces not designed for us.  You have to live it to know how to change it.  

We are excited to read your plays! STE is leading the charge to increase visibility and open up space for more of our stories to be on stages everywhere. About us, by us!  

SUBMISSIONS OPEN THROUGH OCTOBER 31, 2023.

Submit plays to: newwork@stensemble.org