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Monday, January 21, 2013

Heartland Theatre Company is seeking eight short original plays

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2013 10-Minute Plays Rules and Guidelines

Heartland Theatre Company is seeking eight short original plays to be considered for production in June of 2013 as part of our 12th annual 10-minute play festival. This year, the theme is “The Parcel, the Package or the Present,” which means we are looking for plays which involve a parcel of some sort.






THE PARCEL, THE PACKAGE OR THE PRESENT

The Misdelivered Package is a plot staple, whether the parcel in question contains the Maltese Falcon, a bomb about to go off, the names of all the spies in Poland, or a kilo of cocaine from Colombia. There have been more packages used as McGuffins in plays, movies and TV shows than you can fit inside the largest box UPS will deliver.
When you have a parcel, when you don’t know what’s inside, when the recipient is suspicious of the giver or the sender, when the giver can’t rely on how the recipient will react, there’s plenty of dramatic potential.
Your 10-minute play can center on a tiny blue box from Tiffany & Co., a beautifully wrapped birthday present, a weird old shoebox with breathing holes poked in the top, a wooden crate full of albums from the 70s, a plastic “cremains” container, a makeup case with Barbie stickers on the outside, or a strange, lumpy parcel covered in stained brown paper and secured with string, bearing no return address but postage from Ulan Bator.
It can be any kind of parcel, package, packet, box, bundle, case, carton or container, as long as it’s no smaller than a ring box and no bigger than an orange crate. Anything in the middle is just fine. And what’s inside this mysterious parcel is completely up to you.


The competition is open to all playwrights who wish to submit a play. Eight plays will be selected and performed from among all the submissions

RULES & GUIDELINES

1. Your play must fit the theme – THE PARCEL, THE PACKAGE OR THE PRESENT – or it will not be considered.
2. Your play must fit our theater and its performance space.
3. We require internet submissions in MS Word.
4. When formatting your play, we ask that you follow our style sheet.
4. We are looking for NEW plays. Please do not send us anything that has previously been produced.
5. Your play may contain no more than four (4) characters and no less than two (2).
6. Heartland Theatre Company has a pool of actors ranging in age from 18 to 70. Make sure that your characters can be played by actors within that range.
7. Your play should consist mainly of dialogue, not monologues.
8. No children’s plays, musicals, or plays which were previously chosen as winners in any Heartland Theatre playwriting competition will be considered.
9. Do not put your name on the play itself, as submissions are judged blind. Make sure your title appears on every page of the play, however.
10. If your play cannot be considered for any reason, we will notify you as soon as possible. If, in the judges’ opinion, the problem is easily fixable and the play otherwise has merit, we may ask you for revisions. Asking for revisions is completely up to the judges and depends a great deal on timing. No plays submitted after January 1 will be considered for revisions.
11. Those plays which win and are staged will be videotaped for archival purposes.
12. No contracts beyond the guidelines mentioned here will be offered.
13. Only one entry will be accepted from any playwright.
14. Your play must be written in English.
15. Keep your play under ten minutes in length.
16. Remember that something has to happen in those ten minutes.
17. MAKE IT GOOD!

If you’d like to see what criteria the judges consider, please read the Judging Sheet.

All entrants must complete and submit the Heartland Theatre 10-Minute Play Festival Entry Form.

You must attach your script in MS Word format when you send the entry form.

***Deadline for entries considered for revisions is January 1, 2013. If you want the opportunity to do revisions, your play must be entered by January 1.***

DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS FEBRUARY 1, 2013.

Semifinalists will be notified approximately February 20.

Finalists will be notified approximately March 15.

Winners will be announced approximately April 10.

The 2013 10-Minute Play Festival is in performance at Heartland on June 6, 7, 8, 9 and 13, 14, 15 and 20, 21, 22, 23 and 28, 29 & 30

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