A pair of Nanaimo Theatre groups are seeking submissions for plays, and now that people are encouraged to stay at home, it may be a good time time to finish off that script.
Yellow Point Drama Group has put the call out for groups or individuals to submit a play for its Short Play Festival, while Western Edge Theatre has launched a new contest that will see one mid-Island playwright win $250, have their play part of the Plays and Pie staged reading series and be considered for full production.
“Both at Yellow Point and at Western Edge we’re trying to encourage people to step into the theatre world if they haven’t done before, to perhaps write a play if they haven’t done before or even if they have … just to give them a bit of a push or a motivation to put pen to paper or to step on stage or to direct a show,” said Brian March, YPDG festival committee member and Western Edge artistic director. “Because sometimes those opportunities can be somewhat limited.”
YPDG is asking for original or published plays up to 45 minutes long. March said half the plays featured in past festivals have been originals, which he said is an encouraging trend. He said any genre of play is welcome and YPDG is hoping for variety.
“We try and keep it fairly balanced as to what the audience will be seeing,” he said of the festival. “We don’t want an evening of just heavy plays or all comedic or whatever. We try and balance it out so that it’s an entertaining evening.”
March said Western Edge has long been encouraging area writers to present their work and has debuted original, local plays at its New Waves Festival. He said plays submitted to Western Edge’s current competition will be judged on many aspects including quality of writing, characters, storyline, the issues the play broaches and entertainment value.
“We’re always looking for contemporary work, of course. Something that today’s audiences can relate to,” March said.
The fourth annual YPDG Short Play Festival is scheduled to happen at Cedar Community Hall from June 4 to 6. Submissions are due by May 1 with registration forms available from March at bribar@telus.net. There is a $50 deposit and $10 YPDG membership fee for all in the show. Meanwhile, July 1 is the deadline for writers to submit a new script of any length to Western Edge Theatre at artisticdirector@westernedge.org. No entry fee.
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