What Is PlayFest?

PlayFest is a playwriting competition/event whose principal objective is to encourage the writing and production of new plays. The purpose of PlayFest is as follows:

• To encourage and promote the study of playwriting by all.
• To encourage and promote the writing of new plays.
• To provide a clearing house for the reading and evaluation of new plays in a working and teaching environment.
• To provide greater incentive to playwrights by establishing a working relationship between professionals, educators and playwrights.
• To produce new play productions. This may include staged readings, workshop productions, and new play seminars, annually at the T.E.T.A. TheatreFest Convention.

How Does PlayFest Work?

Plays are written and submitted to the PlayFest Committee for consideration. The plays are sent to readers/adjudicators throughout Texas for evaluation. The plays and evaluations are sent back to the PlayFest Chair for awarding. The Chair will notify all participants of the decisions of the PlayFest Committee. Submitted scripts will not be returned to the playwrights.

Successful participants will then be responsible for producing thier work. Workshop readings are the standard, but performances are encouraged. For production purposes at the convention, all successful scripts must be cut to one hour performance time. The production will have one and a half hours to rehearse at the convention prior to the performance/reading. One U.I.L. unit set will be provided for use. All materials brought for the production must arrive on the exact day of the performance. No storage space will be provided. Playwrights, who may not have access or connections with a school or any other acting company, can seek assistance from members of the Playfest committee to help search and find someone to produce or read their play.

The hour long performance/reading and a 20 minute audience "talk back" with the playwright and mounting company will take place on Friday, Saturday or Sunday of the convention. All materials will need to be cleared immediately following this 90 minute presentation.

What Awards Are Given?

Selected submissions will receive a certificate, a $200 check, and slot at the T.E.T.A. TheatreFest Convention for mounting the play. Two submissions will be selected for these awards in each category of: High School Student, College/University Student, and Texas Residence. The total awards will not exceed 6 per year. The PlayFest Committee reserves the right to not award 6 plays for a given year.

Who May Enter PlayFest?

PlayFest is open to any TETA member including any student attending a Texas high school, college, and/or university. Other Texas residents are encouraged to submit plays. Amateur and professional submissions are accepted. Plays that are currently published are not accepted. Membership must be paid at the time of submission.

Must I Register For The Full Convention?

To submit a script does not require convention registration but DOES require membership in TETA. However, PlayFest award recipients will require full convention registration for TheatreFest and must be paid by December 1.

Performers and technicians that attend TheatreFest only to assist with the mounting of the successful submission, and who do not attend any other part of the convention, do not have to pay convention fees. They must, however, pay membership dues by December 1. Dues are $20 for students and $50 for adults.

What Materials Will I Need To Enter PlayFest?

For each entry, participants must electronically submit the play including the playwright's information to the Chair listed:

• Name
• Contact information
• a valid e-mail for the playwright
• name of the school in which they are currently attending if student playwright
• the phrase "Other Texas Resident" for non-students

The participant's name and school affiliation will not be given to the adjudicators of the plays.

Plays are not limited to length, subject matter or language. They will be judged on the play's potential to be performed before an audience in a staged reading, workshop production, new play seminar, or production during next year's T.E.T.A. TheatreFest.

How Do I Enter PlayFest?

Send the PlayFest Entry Form found on the forms page of this website along with your membership dues & entry fee to the address on the form by October 1. THEN electronically submit the script (earlier submissions are encouraged) with PLAYFEST in the subject line to:

In order for the contest to have enough time to judge each entry, to determine and notify winners, and to include this information in the convention program, teachers using the contest as a classroom assignment are asked to limit the submissions to the two best from each class.

What Is The Timeline For PlayFest?

• Submissions are sent to the PlayFest Chairs and are required to include:
  • Name
  • Contact information
  • a valid e-mail for the playwright
  • name of the school in which they are currently attending if student playwright
  • the phrase "Other Texas Resident" on the cover sheets for non-students
• They must be submitted electronically no later than October 1 (earlier submissions encouraged).
• Submissions are divided and emailed to the readers/adjudicators within one week.
• Submissions and evaluations are sent back to the PlayFest Chair by Nov 1.
• All playwrights will be notified of the submissions chosen for awards and mounting by November 15.
  
• Successful playwrights must notify PlayFest Chair by phone or e-mail about their acceptance of the award, and guarantee of mounting the production/reading at the T.E.T.A. convention within three days of the email sent to the playwright by the PlayFest Chair.
• Successful playwrights will cut their scripts to a one hour performance/reading time, and make arrangements for the script to be mounted or read.
• PlayFest Chair will e-mail a production participation form to the playwright to complete and e-mail back to the Chair. Chair will forward this information to the Convention Registrar to confirm that all participants have paid appropriate convention fees and/or T.E.T.A. membership dues.
• Playwrights will register and pay for the full convention fees and T.E.T.A. membership dues by December 1. Production participants must pay for either the full convention fees and T.E.T.A. membership dues, or just T.E.T.A. membership dues if not attending the full convention, by December 1.
• Mounted productions/readings are presented at the TheatreFest in January.

What Will Cause My Script To Be Rejected?

Scripts will be rejected and discarded for the following reasons:

• Not sending the scripts electronically.
• Not being a current member of TETA.
• Not including the contact information required.
• Not including a valid e-mail for contacting the playwright.
• Submissions postmarked after October 1.
• Not accepting the award within three days of the e-mail from the PlayFest Chair to the successful playwright.

Who Should I Contact For More Information About PlayFest?

The PlayFest Chair, David Crawford, may be contacted for more information at the email addresses above.