THEATER — JUNE 2022

QUEER CAT PRODUCTIONS ARTIST OFFERING

Queer Cat Productions

DEADLINE: June 5, 2022

INFO: Queer Cat Productions is a theater company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We create consent-forward, accessible, immersive theater and experiences that leave our audiences more connected. We create playful, curious, haunted works of art that are queer, not just in content, but in vision, perspective, care, and collaboration at every level of the process. We are committed to the spirit of play, as interactive and consensual; to curiosity about our world and each other; and to haunting: ancestry, fluidity, and resilience. Learn more about us at queercatproductions.com!

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
A “primary generative artist” (creator), for example: playwright, solo performer, choreographer, musician/composer, lead artist for a collaborative artwork, etc.

A new artwork that falls under the Performing Arts umbrella (theater, solo performance, music, dance, etc.).

An artwork that seeks to answer this question: What encourages your personal playfulness, engages your curiosity about our humanness and how we connect with each other, and/or what haunts you and drives you to build work that makes space in and/or for the places where you feel that “space” is needed the most?

An artwork that engages with and interprets our mission.

An artwork that can be performed with hybrid elements for both an in-person performance in the San Francisco Bay Area at least once over the weekend of October 20-22, 2023 and an experience that is accessible worldwide.

WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?

Pay: A total of $8,000 to create, develop, rehearse, and publicly share the new work (paid in quarterly installments and according to Queer Cat Productions’ flat artist pay rate, which is $22/hour for 2022).

Other resources:
A budget for hiring collaborating artists (i.e. actors, designers, musicians, dramaturgs).

A budget for venue rental and materials.

A travel stipend for artists outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

Accommodations (i.e. ASL interpretation, flexible scheduling to accommodate childcare, and/or other accommodations you share with us).

Tailored creative support specific to your artistic needs (i.e. dramaturgy, feedback and brainstorming, mentorship, workshopping and/or other creative supports you share with us).

Connection to a community of Queer Cat Productions artists.

Our commitment to create a supportive environment for your artistic process.

WHAT ARE WE ASKING YOU TO COMMIT TO US IF YOU GET PICKED?
To be in residence as primary generative artist (creator) with Queer Cat Productions for one year. (Residency is virtual - artists can be geographically located anywhere.)

Creation of the new artwork.

Monthly preproduction meetings (with the option of more frequent meetings if desired by the artist) during development period, including check-ins with the Selection Committee Leader for support and accountability.

More frequent (weekly or biweekly) meetings during production period.

Monthly Company meetings with Queer Cat Productions.

HOW DOES THE SELECTION PROCESS WORK?
This process was designed by the Manifestation Council in 2021: Genevieve Jessee, librecht baker, and Troy Rockett. The artists who will read submissions this year are: Genevieve Jessee, Chivas Michael, Rawiyah Tariq (additional readers may be added and announced on our website).

The process has three rounds. In Round 1, all Readers read all applications. Readers give a “yes” or “no” vote on whether each application should go to the next round (and briefly say why). Applications that receive a majority of “yeses” move on to Round 2.

In Round 2, Readers evaluate applications according to a rubric and select three finalists. The elements on the rubric are: 1) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that is immersive and/or will leave audiences more connected to each other; 2) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work connecting to and/or elevating the humanity of the artist’s identit(ies); 3) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that explores playfulness, curiosity, and/or haunting (in whatever way the artist defines it); 4) The application demonstrates a desire to generate work that has qualities of an evolving form, and/or expands or elevates the genre(s) the artist works in; and 5) I want to hear more from this artist.

In Round 3, Readers interview each finalist and choose one artist. Finalists will be compensated for their interview time at a rate of $22/hour for about 2 hours.

queercatproductions.com/offering

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BETC’s New Play Development Program

Butterfly Effect Theater of Colorado

DEADLINE: June 15, 2022

INFO: BETC’s new play development program, Generations, features work by parent playwrights with children under 18. The name comes from BETC’s goals for the program: to welcome all generations into the theater to see new plays and empower playwrights to generate new work.

Each season, BETC selects one playwright through a national competition to join us in Boulder for a one-week residency.  During the residency week, the playwright works with a professional director, dramaturg, and actors to develop the selected script.  The week concludes with a public reading and post-reading conversation.

betc.org/programs/generations/2022-generations-competition/

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NARRATIVE PRIZE

Narrative Magazine

DEADLINE: June 15, 2022

INFO: THE $4,000 NARRATIVE PRIZE is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

narrativemagazine.com

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2023 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative

Illinois State University

DEADLINE: August 1, 2022

INFO: The 2023 Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative welcomes submissions for full-length, unproduced plays by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) playwrights in accordance with the mission statement of the Crossroads Project (see below). A diverse panel of judges including faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members will select one playwright as the winner.

The winning playwright will receive:

  • An invitation to Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, IL as a guest artist in residence for a one-week new play development workshop, culminating in a public staged reading. This residency may also include class visits and other University events.

  • Travel (within the U.S.), housing, and meals during the residency.

  • An honorarium of $500 for the residency.

To be eligible to win, the playwright must be available for a one-week residency in mid-to-late April 2023 (exact dates TBD). If the play has multiple writers/creators, we can only provide funding for one person during the residency. Other writers/creators are welcome to participate in the workshop by self-funding the trip or joining virtually for rehearsals and events.

The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. (central daylight time). There is no entry fee. We only accept electronic submissions in PDF format. Because our staff and resources are limited, we can only consider the first 100 submissions.

Please include in your submission:

  • A representative sample from your play up to 15 pages. These do not have to be the first 15 pages of the play.

  • A synopsis of the play (max. 250 words).

  • A character list with short descriptions for each character (age, ethnicity, gender, occupation, family relationships, etc.)

  • A playwright’s statement (max. 400 words). In the statement, describe your inspiration for writing the play, address where you are in the development process, and discuss how a workshop in a university setting can facilitate that process.

Please follow these guidelines when submitting your play:

  • Submissions must be:

  • A full-length play.

  • Musicals and plays with music are eligible for the program. However, we can only provide piano accompaniment for rehearsals and the staged reading.

  • The primary language of the play must be English. Other languages in the play may be presented through English translations (provided by the playwright) for the staged reading.

  • There are no other restrictions in subject matter or style.

  • A playwright may only submit one play per year. The work must be submitted by the playwright rather than a literary agent or other third party.

  • Submissions must be the original work of the playwright, which may include adaptations of fictional or factual material. Translations of other playwrights’ work are not accepted.

  • The submitting playwright must be either the owner and controller of the copyright or provide written proof that they have acquired the legal right to use copyrighted material in their work.

  • Plays that have been produced or published professionally are ineligible for the competition. Plays that have been presented through staged readings, workshops, university productions, or community theatre productions are eligible.

  • A playwright may submit a play that they submitted in a previous year (including finalists) if there have been substantive revisions.

  • The Crossroads Project reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted play for any reason.

We will contact semi-finalists by November 2022 and ask them to submit the full play.

The winning playwright will be notified by mid-January 2023.

forms.illinoisstate.edu/forms/diversevoices