Marketing Plays

[Maryn]

I have a full-length play and a few shorter ones (30-ish minutes), and it's really difficult to find lists of small theatre companies open to submissions.

I've searched online multiple times over the years. My findings? Many don't have any web presence at all, or a page made in 2008 by a middle school student using GeoCities. They stage productions, but don't advertise them anywhere that I know of, even places that are free (FaceBook, NextDoor). Most of the ones I found in my former city were through an acquaintance whose wife directed a black-box theatre and knew the other local directors, but for the most part I was disappointed at their lack of professionalism in the acquisition of submissions, including a pay-to-play venture where you arrived script in hand, only to learn there was a ten dollar fee to enter the room.

Now I live somewhere else, and while I again know someone associated with a small theatre company, I don't know them well enough to ask for more information--and their website is out of date and doesn't say anything about submissions. I've found one other theatre company through sheer chance, but how do I uncover more in the area?

Is there some master list that includes the little guys?

 

[mrsmig]

I've checked in with one of the many playwrights I've worked with, and will let you know if she has any tips.

 

[Maryn]

Thank you! There certainly doesn't appear to be anything organized by areas or states, only a few cities.

 

[mrsmig]

I know American Theatre magazine (a quarterly) posts occasional play submission calls. Here's their most recent, although most of the deadlines have already passed: American Theatre New Playwrights Submission Opportunities for 2024.

 

[mrsmig]

Okay, I heard back from my friend (who's prompt and organized, God love her). She recommends joining Playwrights' Center (PWC). Its annual fee of $75 gets you:

• A personalized profile page for you to showcase your plays and successes
• Our comprehensive list of play submission opportunities
• Script Feedback
  • Monthly Member Open Play sessions (online)
  • One-on-one dramaturgy feedback on a script (additional fees apply)
• Discounted online classes and playwriting seminars
• Regular educational articles and a toolkit with resources for playwriting and navigating the business
• Biweekly emails from me with information on upcoming events and other items of interest
• Discounts to resources such as Final Draft software, membership to TCG, and more

She also extended an invitation for you to join her Substack ("How to Playwright"). The basic membership is free and includes a section with submission opportunities. (Personal recommendation: Audrey is a good and generous person and a terrific playwright.)

 

[Maryn]

Wow, that's a lot of information to process, all of it promising. I'm unsure I'm really ready enough, but hey, I've seen plays worse than mine. (Some on Broadway.)

Thanks so much!

 

[BronzeRadio]

I think the Writer's Market has a section on playwrighting. Fringe Festivals are also good opportunities to network.

 

[Maryn]

I looked into the regional Fringe Festival where I used to live. They were open to short plays--but they had to be fully produced, not just a script.

Hm, I wonder where the nearest Fringe is now?

 

[mrsmig]

Fringe festivals are starting to make a comeback post-COVID, but as you've said, most want a full production. They don't have the staff and designers to be able to mount all the shows. They simply vet the entries (to a degree), maybe provide some tech assistance and equipment, and get out of the way.

It sounds like you're going to find what you're looking for by submitting directly to a producing entity, be it community theatre level or above. Meantime, have you ever arranged for a private reading of your plays, just so you can sit and listen and take notes? Many of my playwright friends do this on the regular, either in person or via the internet, before they get to the submission stage.

 

[Maryn]

I got my family to read it aloud, but that's not the same. (It's like your spouse being your beta reader, right?)

My son-in-law's parents run a small theater company. They're very nice people, but we're cordial rather than close. Think it's too big an ask to see if they might arrange a table-reading? Or is it wildly inappropriate to ask if they'd read and comment? I don't really know anything about the production side.

One of my early plays got a script-in-hand reading on stage from Equity actors. You do see it differently coming from the mouths of other people.

 

[BronzeRadio]

So anyway... I thought about it more and it's probably unvarnished truth time.

Live theater has not recovered from Covid 19. Theaters across the country are folding and you have orchestras talking about a "Season of sustainability," or other creative ways to say, "We will die without you." Broadway is doing just fine. Most of the New York theaters are doing just fine. Musical acts are doing okay. Theater and comedy? Not so much. You have some big comedy acts coming to secondary markets like Savannah (Where I live) and are struggling to pack small venues with tickets around the $35 -45 mark.

So.. . that said as a former playwright I will say it is almost impossible to get anything produced without a supportive community. I've performed in a ton of my friend's workshops. I wrote a couple of one-man one acts just so I can have something to perform at fringes and get my foot in the door. I don't regret a single moment spent working on a script, but there is very little money, and it is almost impossible to get a script produced without patrons who are supporting your work. It's also hard to be a playwright if you're not willing to act.

One of my heroes, Jonathan Larson wrote Tick... Tick... Boom as a one man rock opera because he couldn't get produced, and that dude performed that show almost everywhere in New York that would give him a single spotlight.

Find the local theaters in your city. Ask them if they need help, and then volunteer your time to do whatever they need. My cousin runs a small regional theater, and she's struggling financially, but she's been the foot in the door for a bunch of people. Why because they showed up and solved problems, often for free.

So yeah, in this market my strongest advice is to get embedded with your local theater scene. It's probably the only way to get the support you need to progress as a playwright. Pitching a novel can be done over distance, plays? The last one I wrote my own cousin turned me down. My cousin... who I love like a sister and shared a NYC apartment with for three years, turned down my last play. She was right to do it too.

 

[mrsmig]

I got my family to read it aloud, but that's not the same. (It's like your spouse being your beta reader, right?)

My son-in-law's parents run a small theater company. They're very nice people, but we're cordial rather than close. Think it's too big an ask to see if they might arrange a table-reading? Or is it wildly inappropriate to ask if they'd read and comment? I don't really know anything about the production side.

One of my early plays got a script-in-hand reading on stage from Equity actors. You do see it differently coming from the mouths of other people.

I definitely think you should ask your son-in-law's parents if they'd look over the script and give you some feedback. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, ya know.

Who knows, if they like it, they might arrange a table read, or even a staged reading (that's the proper term for a book-in-hand reading).

 

[Gramps]

I have not read previous posts but has anyone suggested contacting you local colleges and community colleges performing arts department to ask if they are aware of local theaters and playhouses?

My apologies if this has been offered.

 

[Maryn]

What I'm seeing (without making the dreaded phone call) is that the local educational institutions have their own drama departments not open to submissions except from students. Instructors' moms, not so much!

 

[Gramps]

What I'm seeing (without making the dreaded phone call) is that the local educational institutions have their own drama departments not open to submissions except from students. Instructors' moms, not so much!

Yes, but oftentimes they are aware of theatrical venues outside of their own departments. Just an observation from when I did theatre, back in the day.