Geva Theatre CenterA Chrismas Story
What's on Stage?

Information for Playwrights

Professional Playwrights:

American Voices New Play Readings are one-day workshops (3 per season) of previously unproduced scripts with little or no development history. Following rehearsal, the script is presented in a public reading followed by a talkback with the playwright.

Hibernatus Interruptus Festival of New Plays is Geva Theatre Center's annual, two-week new play workshop cluster. Geva selects and/or commissions 2-4 new and/or unproduced plays, tailors the length and focus of each workshop to the playwright's needs, and usually presents the works-in-progress as staged readings, followed by talkbacks with the playwrights.

  • All unproduced scripts submitted to Geva are considered for the new play programs listed above. We do not accept unsolicited scripts from writers without professional representation. We welcome submission inquiries, including cover letter, synopsis, resume or production history, and 10 sample pages of dialogue, which may be sent to Jean Ryon, New Plays Coordinator, Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd., Rochester, NY 14607.
  • See the 2006/2007 schedule of readings and workshops

Rochester Writers:

Writers & Books and Geva Theatre announce the fifth annual Two Pages/Two Voices playwriting competition. Professional actors will read the winning scripts on February 4, 2008, beginning at 8p.m., in Writers & Books, 740 University Avenue, Rochester, NY. The submission deadline is Friday, January 4, 2008. Scripts to be submitted to Writers & Books, 740 University Avenue, 14607. Winners will be notified Friday, January 18, 2008.

Regional Playwrights FestivalThe Regional Playwrights Festival, a Geva Theatre Center/Writers & Books collaboration, presents two evenings each spring of staged readings of plays by local writers. Each reading is followed by a discussion with the playwright. Plays must be submitted between January 14 through 28, 2008.

The Regional Playwrights Festival will be held two separate nights, April 21 and April 28, 2008 on Geva’s Nextstage. Eligible playwrights must reside in the five-county area of Greater Rochester (Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, Livingston and Genesee). Full-length or one-act plays may be submitted, and plays submitted in the past can be submitted again if they have undergone significant revisions. Submissions are limited to two plays per playwright, and musicals cannot be accepted.

Selected writers will be notified by March 24, 2008. Submissions should be sent to Writers & Books, 740 University Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14607 (attn: Regional Playwrights Festival). Playwrights should include a self-addressed stamped envelope with each manuscript. For more information, please call Jean Gordon Ryon, Geva’s New Plays Coordinator, at (585) 232-1366.

Young Writers Festival

Geva Theatre Center invites submissions to its Young Writers Festival. Geva Theatre Center invites aspiring playwrights ages 13-18 to submit short plays for consideration for the Young Writers Festival.

The submission deadline is March 7, 2008 and winner notification, April 11, 2008. The script-in-hand performances will take place Saturday, May 10, 2008. Writers will be invited to the rehearsals of their work. The performance is free and open to the public.

We would prefer to see plays no more than 10 pages and having no more than eight characters.

Submit scripts to:
Young Writers Festival
Geva Theatre Center
75 Woodbury Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14607

Please include clear contact information on the script, including name, address and phone number. Also please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return of the script.

For more information, call Jean Gordon Ryon at 232-1366, or write her at jryon@gevatheatre.org.

For more information about Geva Theatre Center's new play development programs, contact Jean Ryon, New Plays Coordinator or Marge Betley, Literary Manager/Resident Dramaturg at gevatalk@gevatheatre.org.