What can you do with a short(ish) play?

Hi gettingby. Sorry I didn't respond sooner--I'm not on forums much anymore. When I was involved with community theater we engaged in all sorts of shorter plays for one-act performances. I'm sure you can find a community theater, a community college or even a high school drama club that would be interested in your play. Best of luck!

Actually, I would take my short play to a fringe festival. Or checkout community theaters in my local area looking for short plays.

Hi I haven't been on the forums in forever, but let me give you some advice from a published/produced playwright.

a) A page does not always = 1 minute. That's a general rule in film scripts but the nature of theater is different. A page could be 45 seconds or it could be 1.5 minutes or longer. It all depends on what is going on in that page of script, how much is dialog, how much is action, etc. What I would suggest is contacting a local college, see if they have a theater club, invite them over for food, drinks, etc and actually do a reading of the script with a timer so you can get a feel for how long the script is actually.

b) Start looking for contests to submit to. Many theaters do hold contests or submission opportunities for long plays, short plays, 10 minute plays, one minute plays etc. I am part of a group that calls itself "The Offical Playwrights of Facebook" on Facebook and every month the main moderator makes a list of every contest or opportunity that expires that month. There is a similar group (with a lot of the same members) on Yahoo! called "The Playwright Binge".

c) Join the Dramatists Guild of America. You don't need to be published or produced, as long as you have written a play. It costs approximately $100/year. It's worth it. They will help you with any legal help you may incur (including helping with contracts) and they will fight for your rights as a playwright.

Hope this helps

I wrote an eight minute play that was used as a part of a matsuri (festival). Since it was performed using a professional Actors Equity cast I was entitled to become a member of the Dramatists Guild. You don't say where you are. If you can and have not already done so, I suggest you join a playwriting workshop or a small professional theater. I belonged to two playwriting workshops in Los Angeles and another in Tucson, AZ.

Honestly, go on Facebook and join the Official Playwrights Group. Every month they list dozens and dozens of play competitions as well as theatre companies looking for new scripts--and the vast majority call for plays under thirty minutes in length. Many want plays no longer than ten minutes. Really.