reading SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

The submission guidlines have changed for the Spring 2012 Reading Series. Please read carefully.

You must be a member of the Playwrights Center of San Francisco to submit to any program and to have your work performed by PCSF.

There are at least three submission opportunities each year.   The Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco produces a Reading Series comprised of Developmental Readings and Staged Readings in the Spring and another in the Fall.  Additionally we produce an annual benefit production, Sheherezade, each winter.   The deadlines are as follows*:

• Spring Season: 11:59 p.m. Nov. 30 (Update: deadline extended to 11:59 p.m. Dec. 4, 2011)
• Fall Season: 11:59 p.m. April 30
• Sheherezade: Sherezade guidelines are being revised and will be posted when available.
• Staged rehearsals: No submissions are being taken for this program at this time.
  

*We reserve the right to extend or change the deadlines as deemed necessary and at any time.

Our policy is to send an acknowledgement of receipt of your play within two weeks of the deadline.  We do not send acknowledgements prior to the deadline; however, the submissions mailbox sends an auto-response on receipt.  

Below are the submission guidelines for the reading series, followed by guidelines for staged rehearsals. 

Reading Series

• New for the Spring 2012 season:
  • The total submission (all plays) must be no more than 130 pages in length, properly formatted, for up to 2.5 hours run-time. Submissions over 130 pages will not be considered.
  • We reserve the right to stop reading plays that are obviously longer than 2.5 hours. For example, 130 pages of monologue would be impossible to read and way over the spirit of a maximum 2.5 hour play, even if formatted correctly.
  • Number pages.
  • Plays must be in PCSF standard script format (Word template) (PDF) as revised for Spring 2012. Plays with improper margins or formatting may be disqualified. New: The script format is provided as a Word template; you can do a Save As to get a fresh script in PCSF format.
    • Use Courier or Courier New font, 12 point.
      • To accomplish this, select all (Ctrl-A on PC, Cmd-A on Mac) then choose Courier and 12 point from the font menu.
    • General margins: top margin between 0.75" and 1.0" and bottom margin: between 1.0" and 1.5"
    • Dialogue Margins: left margin 1.5" - 2.0" and right margin: 1.0" Each character's dialogue should be followed by one blank line (12 point).
    • Character names (tags) should be on a unique line.  Also, character names should be in ALL CAPS.
    • You no longer need to underline character names.
• Only PCSF members are eligible for a slot in our reading series.  Plays will not be read if membership is not current at the time of submission. Join PCSF here! Or contact membership@playwrightscentersf.org to confirm your membership status.
• Please read our Writers’ Guide to Staged Readings and Writers’ Guide to Developmental Readings to review playwright responsibilities.  Make sure you understand the playwright responsibilities before submitting.
• No musicals. If the play contains incidental song(s) or music, the playwright must own the rights or have express written permission to the rights or the song(s) must be in the public domain. This policy does not allow for "fair use."
• All submissions must be electronic in MS Word (.doc/.docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format only.  If you  cannot send an electronic copy, contact us and we will make arrangements for hard copy submission.
• Send all submissions to submissions@playwrightscentersf.org with Fall (or) Spring Reading Series in the subject line.
• The submission must be a one-act, full-length, or a group of one-acts around a central theme.
• Play must include character list, tag line, and short summary.
• Each submission must include three items.
1. One (1) completed reading series submission form. (Submission form as .doc) (Submission form as .rtf)
2. One (1) blind copy of the playwrights' Statement of Work. (Statement of Work as .doc) (Statement of Work as .rtf). This statement will communicate your intent to the committee. Sample answers are provided in the form itself.
3. One (1) blind copy of the play with no playwright identifying information.

   Tip: To ensure your file really is blind, in the File menu, choose Properties, then wipe out your name that Word automatically puts in there. Save the file, open it and check again that it's blank.

• Please use the following naming convention for the files:
• Submission form:  subform_{play title}.doc (or) .docx (or) .rtf (no .pdf for this file)
• Statement of Work: {play title}_statement.doc (or) .rtf (no .pdf for this file)
• Blind script:  {play title}_blind.doc (or) .docx (or) .rtf (or) .pdf

Staged Rehearsals

Staged rehearsals submissions are closed at this time.

Under the PCSF development rubric, Staged Rehearsals sit between Scene Nights and Developmental Readings and are directed rehearsals of one ten-minute scene, followed by a feedback session. Each rehearsal will be worked through by a director and up to four actors, serving two or three playwrights per afternoon or evening.

Staged Rehearsals give the playwright the opportunity to see how directors and actors work with material once it's handed off to them; it will provide active insight into the process (how the scene is interpreted), and the play (what's working, what isn't).

Each play will begin with a cold read-through of the scene, then the director will take the four actors through a thirty-minute rehearsal of the scene. Following will be 10-15 minutes of Q&A. For readings of short plays, there will be a 10-15 minute break between playwrights.

Staged Rehearsals are not juried and are open to the entire membership. However, to be eligible, playwrights must follow these rules:

Step one: submit a completed play.

Step two: come to a qualifying event to sign up. This step is subject to change in the future.

• Only PCSF members are eligible for a slot in our reading series.  Plays will not be read if membership is not current at the time of submission. Join PCSF here! Or contact membership@playwrightscentersf.org to confirm your membership status. Additional sign-up requirements will apply: for spring 2011, playwrights must attend the first or, if slots are still available, second developmental reading of the 2011 spring season to sign-up for a rehearsal slot.
• Please read our Writers’ Guide to Staged Reahearsals to review playwright responsibilities.  Make sure you understand the playwright responsibilities before submitting.
• No musicals. If the play contains incidental song(s) or music, the playwright must own the rights or have express written permission to the rights, or the song(s) must be in the public domain.
• All submissions must be electronic in MS Word (.doc/.docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format only.  If you  cannot send an electronic copy, contact us and we will make arrangements for hard copy submission.
• Send all submissions to stagedrehearsals@playwrightscentersf.org with Staged Rehearsals in the subject line at least one day before the reading where you intend to sign up for a slot.
• Plays must be in PCSF standard script format. Plays with improper margins or formatting may be disqualified.
• The submission must be a one-act, full-length, or a group of one-acts around a central theme.
• The total submission (all plays) must be no more than 100 pages (properly formatted) in length (approx. 90-110 minute run-time). Submissions over 100 pages will not be considered.  
• Play must include character list, a synopsis of the play, and a scene-by-scene summary (one to three sentences per scene describing the important actions, revelations, and character developments) so the director, actors, and audience will understand the arc of the play and therefore make the Q&A session more valuable.
• You are welcome to suggest the scene you are most interested in seeing rehearsed, but the director will have the final decision as to which scene is rehearsed.

If I've submitted a work previously or had a reading can I submit it again?

Please do! The development process for a play can often be a long one. Each of the various programs that PCSF offers can help you move your play through its various rewrites, but each has its own particular strengths.

While we can't give you details about plays that were submitted that weren't selected, we can assure you that playwrights before you have submitted, gotten feedback, rewritten and resubmitted before having their play continue on to a developmental or staged reading.

We recognize that a play that has had a developmental reading, read-through or staged rehearsal - and thus been publicly associated with the playwright - cannot truly be a blind submission, but the Literary Committee does its best to treat such plays fairly. Please follow the blind submission process anyway.

The following plays have had both a developmental reading and a subsequent staged reading because the playwright resubmitted and their work was chosen for the second reading.

• Glickman's Third Act by AJ Baker
• Love in the Time of Caller ID by Rod McFadden
• Sense Memory by Brian Tognatti
• Petty Theft by Rod McFadden
• Last Call by Carol Sheldon
• Hemlock by Chas Belov
• Theodicy by Judy Juanita

Developmental readings joined staged readings as part of the PCSF play development process in fall 2006. Read-throughs and staged rehearsals joined the PCSF development process in 2010.