The Castillo Theatre sponsors the Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest annually. In its sevent year, the purpose of the political play contest to encourage the writing of scripts for the stage that engage the political/social/cultural questions affecting the world today and/or historical events and issues that impact on our political/cultural heritage. While Castillo recognizes that in the broadest sense, all theatre is political, the contest is seeking politically progressive plays that: look at social and/or economic problems and challenges; explore possibilities of social transformation; and, reflect the concerns and interests of communities and/or which explore the importance of community. The contest also welcomes scripts that experiment with form and seek new ways of seeing and new ways of experiencing theatrical performance. The plays submitted to the Fratti-Newman Contest may be written in any style, set in any historical time, geographic or imaginary location, contain any number of characters and be of any length. The plays must be in English and cannot be musicals or adaptations. No scripts will be considered that have previously been submitted to this contest, have received a production or won other contests. Only one script per playwright will be accepted.
The contest is judged by a team of distinguished theatre artists. The winning script(s) will receive a reading and/or a production at the Castillo Theatre in New York City during the theatre’s 2014 summer season.
All scripts should be submitted in hard copy and must be accompanied by:
- A statement of the political/social/cultural questions that the script engages (scripts without a statement will not be considered);
- A brief synopsis;
- A character breakdown, including gender, age and ethnic requirements, if any;
- A 100-word biography of the playwright;
- A current email address for the playwright
Please note:
- •Receipt of script will be acknowledged via email.
- Scripts will not be returned.
- Castillo will not give critical feedback to playwrights/contestants.
- Contest winners are required to sign a letter of agreement, which will include but not be limited to granting the right for Castillo to produce one or more readings and/or a full production of the winning play.
- Contest winners are responsible for travel expenses or any other expenses incurred as a result of participating in the development of the play with Castillo, or as a result of attending the reading and/or full production.
All scripts must be postmarked by October 1, 2013.
The winner(s) will be publicly announced at the Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre in New York City in May of 2014.
Send all submissions to:
Castillo Theatre
543 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Attn: Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest
Questions and inquiries should be addressed to Madelyn Chapman at 212-356-8485 or mchapman@allstars.org.