OVERVIEW - CLOSED FOR 2023

Amazing Theatre Company has received partial support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) for its 3rd Bi-Annual 10-Minute Play Festival. This year, the Sandy Spring area has been selected to stimulate collaborations between individuals, groups, and organizations with similar interests in the performing arts. The festival will take place, in-person, on Saturday, November 4, 2023, from 12-5 p.m. at the Sandy Spring Museum, 17901 Bentley Road, Olney Sandy Spring, MD 20860.

In addition to stimulating collaborations, our goal is to reach the largest possible audiences and all ethnic groups; particularly, the participation of Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African Americans, Native Americans, and Arab theater companies or individuals.

AmaZing Theatre Company is also happy to announce that in addition to producing the plays selected the Theatre will be awarding 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners a monetary prize.

PLAY SUBMISSION FORM

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL GUIDELINES: SCRIPTS DUE - SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Individuals, groups, organizations, and/or other theatre companies are invited to submit 10-minute plays. The festival's theme this year is Blessings, and Playwrights are expected to interpret the word "blessings" and write a play based on their inspiration and creativity.

Please read the following guidelines and requirements carefully. Plays not meeting the requirements will not be considered. No application fees are involved.

The play should be ten-minutes or less in length.
The play must have no more than FIVE performers.
Playwrights who can arrange to cast and direct their work will be given extra consideration.
Playwrights may submit two scripts, only one may be selected for production.
The play should be in the International or American "play format" making it easy for the readers.
Use 12-point, easy to read fonts, such as Arial Times, New Roman or Calibri.
Your 10-minute script must be 10 pages or less.
Directors are encouraged to have plays thoroughly rehearsed for timing.
Submitting your play to the festival grants Amazing Theatre Company the right to produce your play at our festival and photograph and /or videotape it for archival purposes, if it is selected.
There will be children in the audience; therefore, please do not include unnecessary profanity. Scripts with excessive offensive language are less likely to be selected.
If your play needs to be edited, you will be notified immediately and given an opportunity to work with us or to withdraw your script.
The set is bare stage, a few furniture pieces that may include tables, folding chairs, some cubes, and a few props.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES - SUBMIT PLAYS VIA EMAIL ONLY to: info@amazingtheatre.org. For additional information contact Alice Thomas at atamazingtheatre@gmail.com or call 301-503-3403.

Your play, in script format, must be received no later than September 8, 2023 to be eligible. Only Email submissions will be accepted. Rules below MUST be followed, or your submission will be disqualified. Send one copy of the play with ALL contact information on the title page:

Play title
Your name
Your mailing address
Your phone number
Your email address

WRITING TIPS:

YOUR PLAY MUST HAVE A BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END

BEGINNING

In the beginning your 10-minute play should ask a question or take a character on an adventure. It can be any question or go on any kind of adventure. Keep the question simple, like “What would happen if you visited a love one in the hospital and they told you they were dying.” Or, you might want to ask a simpler question like “How to make friends with people you don’t like.” If your story is about an adventure, it might be for example; “Exploring the Land of Giants” or “Emperor’s New Clothes.” Whatever your question or adventure, make this the central point of your play. Keep your story focused on its purpose.

There is no time to write a long exposition; in other words, very little in the way of an introduction is needed. Present a situation for the audience to unravel. Get them engaged and curious immediately in a story. Human beings are captivated by the unknown! So, give them just enough to hang around to find out the ending.

Remember, you only have 10 pages to tell the story. Don’t add unnecessary dialogue that adds nothing to your story, the time lost will detract from your story. Your purpose is to get your story across in as few necessary words as possible. Include only what your audience needs to know to understand the story.

By the middle of the first page, your exposition should be stated, we should know the setting, characters, and conflict. In writing the play every element must relate to the action of the play. You have no time for any unnecessary points. For example, if you are writing a play about crime, when the curtain goes up the crime should be presented immediately to the audience. More than anything else, this will give your play a sense of unity.

MIDDLE

The middle is where your main character seeks the answer to the question or explores the strange new world of their adventure. Whether the protagonist is in search of an answer to a question or exploring a strange new world. They will almost always find themselves in some sort of crisis and conflict. At this point in your story the main character will experience an inability to find the answer to the question, or seemingly insurmountable obstacle placing his adventure in peril. In as few words as possible the main character must discover and display some unknown characteristic in themselves to face the crisis and the conflict.

END

The end is the final confrontation in which the hero or protagonist finds the answer or overcomes their obstacles or antagonist. The ending may be happy or tragic depending on the outcome the writer chooses. Keep in mind happy endings reflect rewards and tragic endings reflect punishment. Tell how your main character is rewarded and your antagonist is harmed or disciplined.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Show your character in action and speaking to get what he wants. Reveal the dreams of your character and how they make her/him unique. Show how their dreams are fulfilled, or not fulfilled.

There should be some dissonance in your character that depicts him/her off-balance in some way. Show any excesses or deficiencies in the character. Display the disparity between what your characters are saying and what they are doing.

Acting is about showing, so, don’t waste time talking about anything you can show. Every protagonist must have a journey. You must take your character through something. Take your main character someplace very different from where he/she started. Avoid having your character saddled with a mundane existence. Ensure that they experience a life-altering change or event. If your protagonist ends up in the same place he started, he must go through an inferno to get back there.

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO CONSIDER

Give the play a premise
Limit the exposition
Give a tight structure (almost never change scene or setting)
The beginning of the play starts at the POINT OF ATTACK.
There are usually fewer than four characters.
By the end of the first page or the top of the second the argument or conflict is generally presented.
The play usually has only one conflict and one plot line.
The end of the play falls very close to the climax. Only a few lines are devoted to resolution.
Most plays deal with the exceptionally brief, but powerful moment in a character's life.

LAYOUT OF PAGES

Set up the world of your main character. (Pages 1 to 2)
Something happens to throw your character’s world out of balance. (Pages 2 to 3)
Your character struggles to restore order to his world. (Pages 4 to 7)
When your character is about to restore order, something happens to complicate matters. (Page 8)
Your character either succeeds or fails in his attempt to restore order. (Pages 9 to 10).

OVERVIEW - CLOSED FOR 2023

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL GUIDELINES: SCRIPTS DUE - SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

PLAYS SELECTED

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