Playwrights often speak out in frustration that they do many readings and workshops of plays, but the play never sees a full production. Active will remain committed to selecting and developing only plays that we intend to produce.
Active will accept 10-page submissions from interested playwrights over the course of the current "season year" (September through August) with a specific "annual call for submissions" in March and deadline of May 1st. Submissions will be divided and read by members of the Active staff for preliminary evaluation. If a submission is deemed appropriate for Active's mission and goals and passes the first round of evaluation, it will then be passed on to a committee for further reading and evaluation. These readings will be "blind" (meaning the playwrights' names will be removed from the submissions so the readers will not be influenced by resumes or favoritism, allowing the actual text to be the central focus). If a submission passes this 2nd round of evaluation, the playwright will then be asked to submit the full-length script for review. From these submissions, a small number of playwrights will be invited to interview with Active's Artistic Director for final selection by July 1st.
Once the Active staff has made their selection for the annual play development series, the playwright will commit to a year-long process with Active's Artistic Director in exchange for a small stipend provided by Active. The development process will consist of numerous consultations and analyses of the script, rewrites and revisions, and 3 two-week workshops (6 weeks total) spread out over the course of Active's current "season year" (beginning in September and ending in August of the following year). Active will provide the actors and rehearsal space for each of the workshops. The first two workshops will each culminate in a reading for a panel of selected artists to provide constructive criticism and feedback on the play. The third and final workshop will be opened to the general public.
The playwright will be given a period of time for final revisions before submitting to the Artistic Director for final decision on its inclusion in Active's main stage season. Active reserves the right to choose NOT to produce a developmental project, if we deem that the script has not reached its full potential.
