Aspiring playwrights won't want to miss the opportunity to submit their latest and greatest new (and unproduced) play scripts to one of the industry's most respected annual creative events. October 26, 2012 marks the final day for script submissions to The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center for development during the 2013 National Playwrights Conference. Applicants may submit works to the O’Neill’s Open Submissions Process through 11:59 p.m.

The National Playwrights Conference, led by Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg, supports playwrights during the creation and development of new plays. Authors of selected works are awarded residency with a stipend, housing, meals, and transportation for July 2013 to support an intensive rehearsal process and two script-in-hand public readings.

Any play of any length or genre is eligible; however, to be included in the conference, the work must remain unproduced through July 31, 2013. Neither agent submission nor previous experience are required, and there is a submission fee of $35.00 to support the reading and selection process.

The O'Neill takes its mission for the discovery of new work and artists to heart. The organization often receives between 800 and 1,000 scripts for consideration, and in each of the past three years, seven of the developed works were discovered through the open submission process (a laudable achievement that nevertheless spotlights just how daunting it can be to get a work produced).

Submissions to the 2013 National Playwrights Conference are sent to readers across the country and read blindly, allowing volunteer readers to focus on each writer’s voice and story, rather than on a recognizable name or previous accomplishment.

One or two works and/or collaborations at each conference are explored at the invitation of the O’Neill, and help launch conversations with a larger national field.

In the recent announcement of the 2013 Conference, Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director since 2005, noted, “This Conference belongs to the playwrights, and I believe that it is imperative to allow the playwrights who submit their work the opportunity to have their plays read and considered seriously for the conference.”
An Easy Online Submission Process
The National Playwrights Conference will continue to accept electronic submissions this year in an effort to reduce the overall cost of applying, via its website on the Conference here. The O’Neill believes a paperless process is also the responsible choice for the environment.
To apply online, applicants will simply need to download the Online Preplist (available in both PDF and Microsoft Word formats, also here), then once they’ve reviewed the preplist and requirements, they can then apply directly online by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 26, 2012.
About The National Playwrights Conference
As the founding program of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, The National Playwrights Conference takes place on an annual basis, offering a calm and creatively enriching environment in which a community of theatre professionals can meet, gather, and nurture playwrights and the development of new works.
The National Playwrights Conference was launched in 1964, and playwrights have shaped the Conference from its very inception. When founder George C. White first gathered a prominent group of emerging writers to discuss their needs, the result was the O’Neill model – a place where playwrights can focus entirely on the development of their plays in workshop production without the pressures of commercial endeavors. More than 600 plays have evolved through the National Playwrights Conference.

During each annual Conference, playwrights live on the grounds of the O'Neill for a full month of intensive creative work and exploration, with each playwright taking part in an exhilarating and exploratory one-week laboratory and rehearsal process that culminates in not one, but two public readings. Each summer, up to eight playwrights may be chosen for the laboratory. Conference playwrights consistently include a diverse range of participants, from newcomers to Broadway veterans, and from film directors and actors to theatre professionals from across the United States and beyond. Among those who have taken part in past Conferences are such major American playwrights as David Henry Hwang, Wendy Wasserstein, Rebecca Gilman, Regina Taylor, John Guare, Israel Horovitz, David Lindsay-Abaire, Julia Cho, Adam Rapp, Lanford Wilson, and August Wilson.

Visit http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/npc/submission-info/ for application and guidelines. Please direct any questions about the conference to Anne G. Morgan, Literary Manager at (860) 443-5378, or find out more at the organization's website at http://www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/npc/.