[NoHo Arts District, CA] – The Road Theatre Company and Founder/Artistic Director Taylor Gilbert together with Artistic Director Sam Anderson remain committed to their meaningful mission to produce and develop New Work for the Stage. They are thrilled to announce the play submission process is now open for new material to be considered for their upcoming Summer Playwrights Festival (SPF16).
Accepting submissions through February 15, 2025 at 12pm.
SUMMER PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL (SPF 16):
The 16th annual Summer Playwrights Festival will take place from Friday, July 11 through Sunday, July 20, 2025 and is now open for submissions. Annually, the festival mounts 20 – 30 staged readings of new plays in 10 exciting days at The Road on Magnolia in North Hollywood. The festival is one of the largest staged reading festivals in the nation, with playwrights from across the country and around the world participating. Each reading is followed by a talkback with the playwright, director, and although we receive hundreds of submissions for our festival, new and established playwrights are encouraged to submit.
“We look forward to SPF16 with great anticipation to see our friends and patrons at The Road Theatre sharing in our mission to present and develop new work. It is with great pride that we are able to bring you premieres of all kinds and appreciate your participation in this important process. Supporting new work and new voices is essential to our community.” says Founding Artistic Director, Taylor Gilbert.
SPF ALUMNI:
PAST PLAYWRIGHTS have included John Patrick Shanley, Steve Yockey, William Mastrosimone, Harrison David Rivers, Jami Brandli, Lisa B. Thompson, Franky D. Gonzalez, D.L. Coburn, Lisa Loomer, Sharr White, Marisa Wegrzyn, Craig Wright, Wendy MacLeod, Lucy Thurber, Mo Gaffney, Keith Huff, Brett Neveu, Scooter Pietsch, Craig Pospisil, Julie Marie Myatt, and Martyna Majok.
GUEST ARTISTS have included Bryan Cranston, Laurie Metcalf, Jason Alexander, Zachary Quinto, Ann Cusack, Kathy Baker, Jennifer Tilly, Perry King, Rondi Reed, Tom Irwin, Nancy Travis, Gregory Harrison, Gale Harold, Robert Pine, Michael O’Neill, Harold Gould, Jon Polito, James Eckhouse, Lila Crawford, and Zoe Perry.
SUMMER PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL – SPF 16
- This year we are limiting the number of submissions to the first 600 full-length plays and the first 200 short plays. After that limit is reached the submission page will be shut down. We highly recommend you send in your plays as early as possible. Submissions will close February 15, 2025 at 12pm.
- One of the largest staged reading festivals in the nation, SPF hosts a diverse gathering of playwrights from across the country and around the world.
- The Road’s Los Angeles location means we are able to cast our readings with a talented pool of professional actors. Casting adheres to the gender, race and other specifications of the playwright.
- SPF stage readings are performed under the guidance of talented directors. Each staged reading has a number of rehearsals. In the spirit of collaboration, playwrights are welcome to attend rehearsals of their play either in person or on Zoom.
- SPF readings attract full houses of theatre savvy audiences including many artistic directors from other theatre companies eager to find challenging new works.
- Every performance is followed by a moderator led talkback with the playwright and director.
- Our goal is to create a festival that welcomes all voices.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
-Each submission is read and evaluated by our artistic staff with recommendations made to the festival producers, who evaluate the plays and narrow the field to the final 20-30 scripts.
-This year, SPF will strive to further reduce bias from our evaluation process, while at the same time taking into consideration race, gender, and other factors in our choice of plays. We are asking the playwrights to remove all identifying information from their scripts.
-To be included in SPF 16, the work must remain unproduced on the West Coast and unpublished through July 1, 2025. (Produced means for example actors were off book or the performance included production elements such as costumes, lighting, sound effects and make up)
-No agent is required.
-ONLY electronic copy applications are accepted. No hard copies, please.
-The Road Theatre Company asks participants in the Summer Playwrights Festival for the right of first refusal to produce their play live on stage for 12 months following the end of the festival July 20, 2025. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions!
-Plays of all lengths (ten-minute, one-act, full-length) are eligible for submission, but NO MUSICALS OR SOLOI SHOWS
-Official SPF 16 selections will be announced by June 1, 2025.
SUBMISSION FEE (SPF 16):
-$20 for scripts starting at 31 pages (full length) and $15 for scripts under 31 pages (short form).
For all inquiries and further information, contact spf@roadtheatre.org
Support for this program is made possible in part through the generous support of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan and Councilmember Adrin Nazarian.
HERE’S WHAT PAST PLAYWRIGHTS HAVE SAID ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN SPF:
“Last summer you blew my mind and made my year with your performances in my first full-length play, The Outside World. I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to each of you for your artistic vision and talent. I was able (with the Road Theatre’s help) to use clips from that production in my grant application. That helped me win a grant to develop another play that I’d started working on after Summer ’21.” – Dayenne Waters, Playwright
“I couldn’t have been happier with the professional attention paid to my script by the cast and director at The Road Theatre. The process was collaborative and respectful of the work I’d done; and the script was supported by truly remarkable talent. At the end of the night, I felt they’d presented the script to the audience as an experience that reached far above your average staged reading.“ – Douglas Hill, Playwright
THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY
Located in the heart of the Noho Arts District, L.A. County’s fastest growing arts community, The Road is an ensemble of 150+ theatre artists fiercely committed to the creation and development of new plays. To further that mission, The Road has launched Under Construction, a collaborative group of new and established playwrights dedicated to socially and politically relevant storytelling for the American stage. Celebrating over 30 years of groundbreaking work and led by Founding Artistic Director Taylor Gilbert along with Artistic Director Sam Anderson, The Road is a multi award-winning theatre named as one of the top ten intimate theatre companies in Los Angeles (LA Weekly). Visit www.roadtheatre.org for more info. Support for this program is made possible in part through the generous support of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Councilmember Paul Krekorian, and The David Lee Foundation.