| |
Literary Director Darcy
Hogan is currently seeking full-length play
submissions.
Do
you have to be gay to see your work produced at
Theatre Out?
Absolutely not.
If not, does the play have
to have a gay element?
Absolutely.
At Theatre Out, we are looking for plays that
examine the gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgenered "community" or experience
- regardless of the playwright's orientation. But
we do also produce pieces that may NOT examine
the LGBT community, if we feel the play is good
and the writer is an "out" member of
the LGBT community.
It's pretty simple - gay themed, or gay written.
What we are NOT looking for is your straight play
with an arbitrary character thrown in or quickly
re-written to be the "gay ingredient"
that makes your play a fit for our theatre. Trust
us, we know when we receive these pieces, and
they don't work for us. Please avoid it.
Does the play have to be an in-depth look at the
LGBT experience? No - plays that feature gay
characters or storylines are fine. We are not
looking to produce a season full of in-depth
looks into what it means to be LGBT or the
struggles the LGBT community has faced. While
those plays are fine to submit and often very
moving, it's also a-okay to submit your gay
comedy or your script that's not about
"being" gay, but features, say, a
lesbian couple or a drag queen.
So,
you think your play might be right for Theatre
Out? Great! Please follow these submission steps:
1) Please download the submission form (CLICK
HERE).
2) Fill out the form completely.
3) Email only 2 items - the completed form
and a 10 PAGE sample to darcy@theatreout.com.
Suggestions, hints, tips
...
1) While your play does not
necessarily have to be in proper playscript
format, I really REALLY prefer reading scripts
that are. Need help with formatting? CLICK HERE.
2) While I fully acknowledge
that there are many skilled playwrights out there
that have terrible skills when it comes to
spelling or grammar, and while I'll definitely
read your sample (regardless of the occasional
error), excessive
errors really make it difficult. I
recommend having your script proof-read, using
spell-check, etc - whatever you need to do before
you send it off (to me or to anyone else.)
3) Send me your best 10 pages.
It doesn't have to be the first 10 pages,
necessarily. Though, if it is NOT the first 10
pages, please send me a SHORT (please re-read ...
SHORT!) explanation of where we are in the
script. (Example: "Act II, Scene II - Joe
has just revealed that he and Gary ran off to
Mexico to be married.") If you have filled
out the submission form completely (and you
SHOULD), then I won't need more than one
sentence, maybe two, to clue me into where your
10 pages fall in the script.
4) You may be tempted to ignore
this submission process and send me your whole
script, and/or ignore the submission form. Tip:
Please don't. I won't read your script. Please
respect my submission process and I'll respect
your work.
5) You may be tempted to send me
a list of who should play which role, detailed
drawings of what you think the set should look
like, or the costumes, a series of MP3s I should
listen to while reading your play, etc. Tip:
Please don't.
In closing, I really am excited to read your
work. It's important to me that we try to give
the stage to a new script or playwright whenever
possible. I want to be a part of the inaugural
production of your new play. Please don't let the
process above scare you away. I love reading good
scripts. Is yours good? PLEASE SEND IT TO ME!
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: Will you reply when I send you my
submission?
A: Yes, I will reply to let you know that I've
received it. Or, if you've ignored all the
request above, I'll reply to tell you I won't be
reading it.
Q: But, will you reply with comments
after that?
A: Probably not. Most likely you'll only hear
from me again if I want to read the full script.
I'm sorry I can't respond on every submission.
Q: How long does it take you to read the
sample and decide if you want to see more?
A: It's tough to say. Anywhere from 1 day to 6
months? If you haven't heard from me within 120
days of sending a sample, most likely the script
just wasn't a fit for us.
Q: If I don't hear from you in XX days,
should I contact you to remind you?
A: Oh please - don't. Don't be that guy (or gal).
Q: But, my script is really good. You're
stupid for not liking it.
A: That very well may be. Still ... don't be that
guy.
Q: If you request my full script, how
long does it take for you to respond on that?
A: Again, I'll email you confirmation that I've
received your script. After that, it's tough to
say how long it will take me to read it. If you
don't hear from me, please don't email to check
up. If I request your script, it WILL be read. If
I'm interested, there is more to the process - it
must then be read by the managing director,
producing director and artistic director, etc.
Trust me, if we decide we'd like to produce your
script, you will be contacted.
Q: Will I get feedback on my full script?
A: Probably not. I'm very sorry about that. Most
likely you would only receive feedback if we're
considering it for production, but feel it needs
additional work, cuts or alterations. I really
wish I could give feedback on every play that I
read, but I just can't. It would take time away
from reading more new scripts ... and no one
wants that, now do they?
Q: What if I submit my full script, but
then it gets a production or publication
elsewhere that would make it tough (or
impossible) for Theatre Out to produce it.
A: In that case, I DO ask that you
contact me again. Just let me know to take it out
of consideration. And ... congratulations!
|
