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Sheherezade SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The theme for this year’s Sheherezade is 2012. The extended submission deadline is 11:59 p.m., Sunday, December 18, 2011. Here are the guidelines this year and good luck!
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Tie it to the theme. Your play needs to be inspired by, about, or otherwise recognizably touching on 2012, whatever that conjures for you. (Apocalypse, sure; the numbers 2 0 1 2, sure; predictions of events to come in the year that will be 2012, sure.) We are breaking away from the year in review theme in order to provide a change and provide some inspiration. We find the most successful plays take the theme and weave it into a story anchored by compelling character-driven story lines. We have also found that plays that involve big news stories or familiar topics need to take a very strong, very unique look at the event to be effective. There are a lot of things that go into consideration for selection; relevance to the theme is one of them.
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Make it good, tight and well structured! This may be a fun evening of short, sometimes frivolous plays, but it doesn't mean we don't take it seriously. We recognize it is new work and adjustments are almost always needed and we can generally spot a diamond in the rough. We will have a workshop read-through of the selected plays at the beginning of the production cycle and will require playwright participation and anticipate some adjustments to come out of that. But we want plays that are as close to rehearsal-ready as possible.
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Keep the set, sound and costume requirements to a minimum! We will ask you to help us obtain set and costume pieces, so if an actor can't find it in his or her wardrobe and we can't stage it with some simple set pieces, we expect to see you at rehearsals showing us your fabulous finds or rolling up your sleeves to help us build it! Remember it's a benefit, we don't have a big or really even a small set budget. As a basic framework, assume modular boxes, simple chairs, and a table as what the director will have to work with; it'll look great, because the Wily West design team pulls miracles with a little paint and some set dressings, but it will also be simple simple simple!
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No more than 6 characters (3 male / 3 female) – and within reason be as flexible as you can about the casting. Obviously characters based on real people are one thing, but we use an ensemble cast and do not cast individual plays until after the ensemble is chosen! We might have some flexibility if we get the right cast and the playwright and director agree on changing the sex of a character or two, but don't count on it and don't force us to turn away your amazing play because we can't reasonably cast it.
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We mean it when we say 8 minutes (or less). The rule of thumb is 1 minute per page, 2-3 minutes per page of dense dialogue or monologue. If the play is over 8 pages we won't read it. If it is selected and runs more than 8 minutes, we will ask the playwright to shorten it.
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Please read our Writers' Guide to Sheherezade to review playwright responsibilities. Make sure you understand the playwright responsibilities before submitting. Your participation in the developmental reading and publicity processes are crucial!
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Musicals, unless outstanding and simple, are discouraged. 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.
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Unproduced plays are preferred.
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Use standard format guidelines (download the PDF or the Word template). And yes, we will check that the font size, margins and general rules about indented stage directions, etc., meet guidelines. If you cheat the margins or font size to get it to fit within 8 pages, we'll know you are really desperate to be considered and we will absolutely love you for that but we won't read the play. (And the lit committee admin that has to check and enforce the rules, might grumble about you.)
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Send all submissions to submissions@playwrightscentersf.org and include Sheherezade in the subject line.
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Give us one blind copy of the play in Microsoft Word or PDF. If you cannot submit via electronic submission, please let us know to make arrangements. Selections are anonymous. We do our best to make sure the selection committee doesn't know whose play they are reading. That means there should be nothing in the file that tells us who you are. Include in one file (please!):
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a cover page with title only,
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a page listing characters,
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a page with a brief description of the play and what inspired your play — a prop and sound cue list is also really appreciated, but not required —
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and the play (no more than 8 pages).
- Tip: To ensure your file really is blind, in the File menu, choose Properties, then wipe out your name that Word puts in there. Save the file, open it and check again.
Updated 11/2011
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