Guidelines

General rules and eligibility requirements:

1. Writers who have had their work produced in New York City in a venue with more than than 99 seats are not eligible.
2. As per Equity guidelines, plays that have had an Equity showcase within the past year, or will have an Equity showcase within a year after the Summer Play Festival, are not eligible.
3. Applicants may only submit one script per Festival.
4. Applications for the Festival must be completed online.
5. The website will only accept one attachment per application. Please be sure to include title page and all acts in a single document.
6. Scripts will only be accepted in the following file formats: doc, pdf, or rtf. Please note that we are no longer accepting fdr. Documents in fdr must be converted to pdf in Final Draft.
7. Please include the title and playwright’s name on the header of each page.
   Scripts must have page numbers.
8. Only full-length plays and musicals will be accepted.
9. We do not accept adaptations of existing works, or one-person shows.
10. We accept English translations of new work from other languages, providing all other eligibility criteria are met.
11. Previously submitted work can be resubmitted.
12. Writers who participated in past Summer Play Festivals are not eligible to reapply. There are no fees to submit.

Additional rules and eligibility requirements for musicals:

1. Musical theatre writers who have had a New York production in a theater over 99 seats are still eligible to submit musical theatre pieces only, providing the piece has not received any Festival, Broadway or off-Broadway production in New York City.
2. Submissions of musical scripts must be made through the website application. Please do not send musical scores.
3. Applications additionally require two CDs of recorded selections from the musical. CDs can be mailed to:
   SPF Submissions (Musical Theatre)
   P.O. Box 778
   New York, New York 10108

Additional rules and eligibility requirements for work for children’s theater:

1. Works for children’s theatre cannot exceed one hour in length.
2. Adaptations of existing novels and literary works are acceptable for children’s theatre only if writer has the production rights to the play, or if the work is in the public domain.
3. Writers who have had a major New York production in a theater over 99 seats are still eligible to submit children’s theater pieces only.