Saturday, February 21, 2015

Splenetic

2 rancid derelicts on opposite ends of a subway.
populated w/ oozing sardine cans,
broken whiskey sighs. a zonked out druggie
 steering steel ward wheels, he whisper:
"Up On the Roof." lullabies slurred lolling.
down the aisle, his plexiglass eyes
stare off to frozen whorls of dust,
sweeping soiled newspapers spirals
up frosted fetid tunnels of arctic underworlds.

Empire state of minds. The anthem verse:
1 long tuberculoidial swing howl
keening through the sore postulates
of this endless winter march. here after.





Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Senectitude

I am starting to enjoy impairment
n-abilities to hear sharp sunder
parked between plosions and fricatives.
Slipped gears grind smoke and spark
in my ears which sprout mufflers of pubic tuffs
stretched cross stitches of skin seams.

Fried grease riots pop and splatter
glottal gristle still sizzling off
clapping skillets swearing tongues.
Spatter asper clangs on kitchen stoves.
This spreading splendor feeds
emaciated impressions, but for me
fete dribbles snippets
from my loosened slack. 

Come again? Could you regurgitate
scooped syllables off sawdust sentences? 
Words need to be spoon-fed softly.
Teeth shattered, so let me gum my meaning.  

Monday, February 9, 2015

Criteria for Great Theatre

Is it challenging?
-to my views
-to my categories of race, class, sex, gender
- does it reverse an -ism or -ology? Psychology, philosophy, nationalism, humanitarianism,

Is it inspiring/transformational?
- aesthetically transformational in its live performance
- spiritually and emotionally transgressive

Is it dangerous?
- dark primordial place
-terrifying and tapping into subconscious

Is it vital and timeless?
-both in the now and beyond it
-does it bridge the gap between immediate relevance and cross-generational

When I sit down to write something I'm reviewing these thoughts in my head. Time is short. Writing is arduous and lonely skill to funnel the immense abundance of creative power into the digest-able syllables. Where is the passion that keeps this going? Am I -as Wayne Dyer would say- being a host to angels or a hostage to ego? Do I dare to step out once again without knowing where this will go and how it will end? Trusting in invisible intuitions, instincts, guides. Piecing together clues, fossils, and scraps. Do I dare to hand my logical self over once again? Surrendering into the directionless dark pitch, spreading my arms and hoping that a gust will catch me.

I am removed from the answers and only have more questions. 

Sunday, February 8, 2015

new testaments

High as a Himalayan.
performance enhancing pills
syringe syncopated shots praying
over spinning gold tops
like disc jocks
and when the record skips
the zombies moonwalk
cross craters of California concrete
and  sidewalks have got stars under yr feet
cuz our eyes only look down
at gold sprayed names r 4 elites
because we don't recognize
our inheritance in ribcaged beats.
and the sharp treble ancestors cries
our names were written.
tagged in the sky.

RPMs of the 365 days
revolving round groove and black tie
events where the music plays
n' btwn the needle's sunrise.
Revolution's evolutionary
progression is 2 cause and seek
2 create more aggression
cause the music needs the drum line
of 12-gage shotgun impression.
Nowadays these dayglo designer
stayed glued 2 their grindr,
Tinder reminders
of circumferential situations
circumstantial collaborations
show me what u working w/
what's ur GPS situations?
And it's 1 small step 4 man
1 giant leap on2 greasy throbbing thought
erectile dysfunctional philsophies
ejaculating raw hypothesis
into bareback brains
gifting sexually transmitted proofs
of how the Egyptians raised the roofs
on tetrahedral cathedrals
amidst Hebrew upheavals
cuz slave rebellions and insurrections
red sea parts like chapters
in Alex Haley's Roots, our oppression
bloody leaves drip suggestions
that the life after
is the real heaven.
And they say master's whip
is just a test,
lashing sound like meter stressed
and this will make a good song
ur suffering is blessed
so smile, shake, twerk
while i stack pyramid profits
like pharaohs: i play while u work

simulated slave rebellions
surround sound IMAX HD,
of these midnight PEDs.
high as the himalayas
my mind 20, 000 ft above sea level
but my soul 100 yards down w/ devil
and my hands train like che rebel
turning tricks different times
like they're tidal charts
words laid on a mirror like white lines
this new testaments of art.




Tuesday, February 3, 2015

You Can Hide, But You Can't Run


Sour sop colognes the Carolina dirt hills.
Scoured pennies saved for the butcher’s saw
hacking smoked pigs spinning over a freedman’s
ember pit. Fevered eyes feast on the crackling crimson
snout and stiletto hoofs.Burnt vinegar vapors and
sepia filters on a world of my mother’s childhood.


***
Coiffed lacquered layers sway
as she steers to Broward County hospital.
My father in passenger side surrender,
a hostage buckled to his seat.


We listened to all the CDs,
tapes, and the afternoon radio
rattles male enhancement ads.
I break somber silence with a question: childhood?


My mother was a Carolina Tomboy
chasing brothers through mud puddles,
caked in the red clay song,
tossing back off warehouse cliffs
into cotton silos, tumbling nights
at the mill, sliding between the chain fences,
climbing to the warehouse summits
and flinging themselves down into clouds
pristine mound smudged by swan dives and belly flops.
***
My mother underneath a sackcloth
smuggled out of the Carolina hills
in a darkness, escaping whiskey cusses and
glass shard swears and blue bruises and
bloodsore blister eyes and cotton clouds
stained scarlet and a pale cold fleece of spittle and
his paranoid seizures and the whiskey’s bad and
its made that man delirious and
it’s made that man dangerous and
that family’s gonna end up dead and
he’s gonna kill them, he thinks they’re plotting and
everyone in town is scared of his rambling chaos and
his shadow clears streets and
closes doors, shutters windows and
his staggers scatters vulture dogs, and
that whole family is gonna end up neck slit
like they do that smoked swine and
we can’t help you cause we scared and
here he comes so stop talking to me and
stop your crying. You’re making a scene and
The truck leaves midnight and he can’t find out and
once you’re gone that’s it and
it’s an underground railroad for black women and
daughter, that’s been going on for a while, and
you will never see these Carolina hills again. And
when you’re older only remember this town and
this part of your life as a moonless night
smuggled underneath vinegar scents and sackcloths.  


***
Corn mash ferments in the closet
of a Miami apartment.
These concrete blocks stacked to sky
swing and shake with Southern women,
farm hands, cooks, washerwomen, maids,
butlers, teachers, voodoo charmers,
Santeria priestesses,
crowded on top of each other.


“This some good mash and,
this here sugar shine
is gonna get us out, lil brat.”


But she ain’t listening.
Still thinking red clay and smoked pork.
Her head is still in them Carolina cotton clouds.


The family bootlegged in the projects
like they was still back on the farm.
But plenty of field folks
prefered tasting bathtubs over breweries,
so money flowed while the closets kept closed
from social workers who liked to drop by unannounced,


“cause if you want to keep getting
checks you gotta be clean and respectable citizens,
and we know how you country peckers
like to live in filth, but this is the city
and if you want to keep your apartment
you gotta get inspected.”
Sugar shine so strong it kilt lice,
disinfected windows, blinded happy men.
But locked behind closet doors,
shine’s slight stench stayed unrecognized
by inspectors who don’t know what to look for,
don’t know how shine sings on the lower octaves.


***
We swerved into the visitor's parking lot
splashing asphalt puddles of rain.
The Miami humidity we call white gravy,
fogs our glasses, prickles the hairs on my arm.
The hospital's scarlet crucifix burns against storm clouds.


She’s never been back to Carolina
so that curse stayed in place,


“What if those cotton silos are still there?”
Astonished tears pool at the rims,
speckling her eyelashes.


And what if that mean old man is still alive?
In her mind, he’s still there.
Demented minotaur charging down
dirt roads. Moonshine flask sagging sack cloth slacks
moored with tent ropes. In her mind he’s still there.
Left in the darkness to wait and wander by the only road

out of town.

Monday, February 2, 2015

GET WHAT YOU WANT: February 2015



1.
BAU Institute-Camargo Fellowship Residency
Deadline: Feb. 15th
Website: www.bauinstitute.org/index.php?page=cassis-france-2015
BAU Institute is a non-profit 501(3)C based in New York City. The mission of the BAU Institute is to support visual artists, creative and dramatic writers, composers, performance artists and other arts professionals in the creation and exhibition of new work. BAU Institute offers residencies in France and Italy to provide uninterrupted time and space for the development of new work in settings of cultural interest and extraordinary natural beauty. The BAU Institute arts residency originated in 2004 in Otranto, Italy an ancient port city on the coast of Puglia and will again be in session June 2015.
In 2014, a new residency was launched in Cassis, France, hosted by the Camargo Foundation. The BAU at Camargo Summer Arts Residency provides BAU Institute funded Fellowships for the realization of projects in the arts. Creative professionals who demonstrate a serious commitment to their craft and a desire to work independently within an international community are welcome to apply. The one month residency will take place from July 22 to August 20, 2015. The majority of fellowships are for one month with a limited number of two week places available.
Optional group studio visits take place at the end of the residency. There will be a public exhibition and reading at FiveMyles Gallery in Brooklyn, NY in December 2015, to showcase and celebrate the new work created at the residency. The gallery will publish a catalogue documenting the exhibition.
The BAU at Camargo residency provides Fellowships at no cost to visual artists, writers, composers, and other creative professionals, who demonstrate a serious commitment to their craft and a desire to work independently within an international community.
Applications are open to international artists and writers. No applications will be accepted from current full time students. Fellowship selections are made by peer committees in Literary, Visual arts, and musical composition.
2015 Dates
One month: July 22 – August 20
First two weeks: July 22–5
Second two weeks: August 6–20
On-line applications are accepted between November 17, 2014 and February 15, 2015 at 11:59PM EST online via submittable:
There is a $40.00 application fee. Notification of the admission committee decision will be in late March. Upon acceptance a refundable security deposit of $250.00 is due.
BAU at Camargo provides live/work housing at no cost. There is no fee to attend.
Cassis: France
Cassis, France The BAU at Camargo Fellowship provides artists with live-work apartments in Cassis, France at no cost. The Camargo foundation staff is in residence to provide information and support for transportation, reservations, translation and regional information. A BAU Institute Director will be in residence at all times. The campus is located directly on the Mediterranean with breathtaking views of the harbor and Cap Canaille, one of the highest maritime cliffs in Europe. The buildings and grounds contain apartments, a reference library, a music-conference room, gardens, a Chinese Terrace, and an outdoor Greek Theater, all of which are available for use by the residents. The Foundation is a five-minute walk from the village of Cassis and approximately 30 minutes by train, bus, or car from Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. The train station in Cassis is a five minute taxi ride to the campus.
2.
Playa (Summerl Lake, OR)
Deadline: March 1st
Website: http://www.playasummerlake.org/
PLAYA is a retreat for creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work, and who will benefit from time spent in a remote location. At PLAYA, we offer seclusion and quiet in a natural environment and the opportunity for interaction, if desired, with a cohort of residents and the local rural community. A residency provides the time and space to create substantive work or to research and reflect upon one’s creative or scientific processes. Away from the urgencies of daily life, residents can focus on their projects, immerse in a desert landscape of basin and rangeland, and find inspiration through self-directed inquiry.
PLAYA is a nonprofit organization supporting innovative thinking through work in the arts, literature, natural sciences and other fields of creative inquiry. PLAYA was organized in 2009 and began its Residency program in May 2011. For all of the latest information, including upcoming residency opportunities go to our application page.
Located in the Oregon Outback, near Summer Lake in Lake County, PLAYA manages its Residency program and a range of community and educational outreach activities. Residencies are provided without a fee offering the gift of time and space to eligible applicants, and span two multi month sessions each year. When our regular Residencies are not in session, our program opens our facilities to groups or individuals whose primary focus and activities align with PLAYA's mission and values. In particular, we hope to bridge the dialogue between the arts and sciences through thematic place based programming, presentations, symposiums and workshops. The intention of all of our programming is to support creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work, and who will benefit from time spent in PLAYA's inspirational remote location.
PLAYA  provides a variety of opportunities to engage with the local communities of Summer Lake, Paisley and Lake County, Oregon through free programs and educational activities.
3.
Dora Maar House
Deadline: March 15th
Website: mfah.org/fellowships/doramaarhouse/dora-maar-how-to-apply/
In 1997, a friend of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston purchased the former residence of Dora Maar. In a five-year effort, the owner rehabilitated and updated this spacious eighteenth-century, four-story stone residence in the village of Ménerbes. Her goal was to make it a retreat for scholars, artists, and writers, where they could work undisturbed on their research, art, or writing, for one to three months.
In 2006 the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was asked to direct this project, which is now known as The Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House. Here outstanding midcareer professionals are offered fellowships that enable them to reside in the Dora Maar House and focus on the creative aspects of their work.
The Brown Foundation Fellowship provides
• one to three months in residence at the Dora Maar House
• a private bedroom and bath and a study or studio in which to work
• expenses paid for round-trip travel from a fellow’s home to the
Dora Maar House
• a grant based upon the length of stay at the Dora Maar House
The Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House is located in one of the most beautiful regions of Southern France, about 40 km southeast of Avignon, the Dora Maar House in Ménerbes is an 18th century residence. In 1944 Pablo Picasso purchased the four-story mansion for Dora Maar, an artist and surrealist photographer who was his companion and muse in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Dora Maar owned the house until her death in 1997. http://www.mfah.org/fellowships/doramaarhouse/residence/
4.
DJERASSI RESIDENT ARTISTS PROGRAM
Deadline: March 15th
Website: http://www.djerassi.org/
Djerassi Resident Artists Program offers 30-day core residencies (April-November) and 1-4 week winter residencies (Dec/Jan) for alumni at no cost to the artists. National and international artists in the disciplines of media arts/new genres, visual arts, literature, choreography, and music composition are welcome. The Program provides core residents with studio space, food and lodging and local transportation. Winter alumni residents are provided studio space and lodging.
In 2015, the Program will also offer six 1-week writing workshop/retreats led by alumni in the areas of television, young adult, and environmental writing as well as workshops in flash fiction and novel writing.
The Program invites 10-12 artists each 30-day period. Artists arrive and leave at the same time and are asked to share the evening meal (prepared by Chef Dan Tosh) to facilitate collegiality. Many artists make life-long friendships and launch collaborative projects subsequent to their residencies.
In collaboration with LEONARDO, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, the July session is devoted to a special themed residency--Scientific Delirium Madness--which links artists and scientists exploring the art/science continuum.
We trust artists. We believe artists deserve the gift of time. Residents are encouraged to free themselves from outside distractions during their stay and limit their trips "off the mountain". There are no work requirements--Djerassi is committed to exploration and the artistic process. This is a retreat in every sense of the word--very few outsiders visit. Three staff members live on-site to quietly assist you if necessary. The setting is rustic, natural and quiet.
The Program is located on a 580-acre former cattle ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 40 miles south of San Francisco. The secluded, private and remote property encompasses vast grasslands with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, cascading creeks, and woodlands thick with towering redwoods, ageless coastal oaks, and twisting madrone. Miles of hiking trails lead artists-in-residence to more than 50 site-specific sculptures created on the land by former residents.
5.
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts
Deadline: March 15th
Website: http://www.brushcreekarts.org/
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts offers time and space for artistic exploration through immersion in the extraordinary beauty of the West. We offer 2 and 4 week residencies, with preference given to those who prefer four weeks. Winter/Spring residencies are offered each year between January and May; application deadline September 15 of the previous year. Summer/Fall residencies are offered June through November; application deadline March 15th of the current year. Applications are received on Cafe' at www.callforentry.org.
The Foundation for the Arts is located on the historic Brush Creek Ranch, a century old, 15,000-acre guest and working cattle ranch at the base of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Saratoga, Wyoming. The residency program is situated in the riparian corridor of Brush Creek, in between the Sierra Madre and Snowy Mountain ranges. We are four hours from Denver by car with the nearest connecting airport in Laramie, WY. We are one hour and fifteen min. from the Laramie airport by car. We provide shuttle transportation both to and from Laramie airport and Brush Creek Ranch on arrival and departure days (add on 30-45 min for winter driving).
6.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park Artist in Residence Program
Deadline: March 24th
Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Artist-in-Residence Program seeks professional artists including writers, musicians, craftsmen, composers, painters, sculptors, photographers, storytellers, performance artists, and videographers whose work is engaged in issues that are relevant to the park’s interpretive themes.The program provides both uninterrupted time for artists to pursue their own body of work, and also the opportunity to engage and inspire the public through outreach programs. In exchange for the adventure of living and working in a national park, the resident artist has the opportunity to create works and experiences that promote an understanding of the need to preserve and care for this national treasure. Artists receive free furnished apartment inside park boundaries for 4-6 weeks, reimbursement for materials and expenses not to exceed $300, enrollment in Volunteers-in-Parks program which includes coverage for any injuries incurred under the scope of residency, and the opportunity to collaborate with artists at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Residents will be provided apartment housing at one of 3 locations inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Sugarlands, Elkmont, or Cades Cove. All apartments are furnished 1 bedroom or efficiency apartments in parklike settings within the boundaries of the National Park.
7.
La Napoul Artists-in-Residence
Deadline: March 30th
Website: http://www.lnaf.org/residency-information-eligibility/
La Napoule Art Foundation offers Artists-In-Residence a unique environment of interdisciplinary collaboration and creativity at the Château de La Napoule.
In an effort to preserve Henry and Marie Clews’ lifelong commitment to the arts, the Foundation promotes exceptional talents -- both recognized and emerging -- on the international scene, through cooperation with major organizations and leaders in the arts worldwide.
The Chateau de LaNapoule is located in the historic seaside town of Mandelieu-La Napoule on the French Riviera. Situated on a spectacular site overlooking the sea, the building dates to the 14th Century and is recognized as a Monument Historique for its incredible restoration and architectural details. The former home of early 20th Century American sculptor, Henry Clews and his architect wife, Marie, it is now a museum housing Clews’ atelier and work, an impressive collection of 19th Century Clews’ Staffordshire Pottery, and additional galleries for hosting exhibits. The six acres of magnificent gardens surrounding the property have been honored as a Jardin Remarquable. Set within this walled compound is the sunny Belle Epoque Villa Marguerite. This mansion, located just across the gardens from the beaches, was the former home of the Austrian Princess of Pless. The Chateau, the walled gardens, and the historic village are inspirational settings for artists of all disciplines. The climate and the incredible light of this region have attracted artists for centuries. Nearby are the Maeght Foundation and the Matisse Chapel. Museums dedicated to Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir, and Leger among others, are within a short distance. Just a few steps from the front gate of the Chateau, bus and train service is available which connects to the many historic and cultural sites of the Cote de’Azur: Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, and walled villages of the Feudal Era which have become artists’ colonies.
8.
UCSD: African American Experience
Deadline: Feb. 13th
Website: theatre.ucsd.edu/playwritingcontest
The University of California San Diego’s Theatre and Dance Department seeks from all enrolled undergraduate students submissions of previously unproduced, unpublished scripts highlighting African American experience in contemporary or historical terms.
Scripts must be original, unpublished, unproduced and free of royalty and copyright restrictions. Plays which have had staged readings are acceptable. Scripts must be 50 pages or longer, typed. Manuscripts must be submitted electronically (see below). You must also include your contact information (name, email, and address); play title, number of characters, institution affiliation, and a one page story summary.
Deadline for entry is a postmark entry of 2/13/15.
A $1000 honorarium will be awarded to the winning playwright.
A stage reading in April of the winning script in the Wagner New Play Festival. This festival is attended by students, local patrons, and twelve national theatre professionals.
Travel and housing costs to and from UC San Diego to be present for the performance.
9.
Orchard Project
Deadline: Feb. 16th
Website: http://exchangenyc.org/page/apply-orchard-project
Resident Artists are provided with rehearsal space (five rehearsal rooms and various writing spaces), company management, accommodation and communal dining and acres and acres of magnificent upstate scenery. The Orchard Project also has a world-class apprentice program, and companies are encouraged to take advantage of the great support our younger artists can provide. Transportation and honoraria/per diems are the responsibility of the sponsoring theatre company (or artist). One of the many reason for such is that it allows the Orchard Project to host companies of very different levels.
We have created this simple application process to free up our resources to devote to the actual residencies. APPLICATIONS WILL BE LOOKED AT ON A ROLLING BASIS. After receiving applications, we will ask some applicants for more info and possibly work samples. We usually hope to respond to applications by the beginning of March.
We often are asked how competitive the application process for the Orchard Project is. Selection is highly competitive, with an approximate 7-10% acceptance rate. Furthermore, we try to be as transparent as possible about our application process and how open it is. There are indeed a few companies and artists who are invited to apply to the Orchard Project by our staff and our advisory board. However, over 80% of our residents last year were from unsolicited applications.
If you have ANY problems with your application, please email us at info@exchangenyc.org.
Unlike other programs, we judge people, not projects. What that means is that the Orchard Project team and other artists who we have supported in past years assess whether the applicants are likely to create amazing work, and whether we think they will benefit from our program.
Please be sure to read the Orchard Project FAQ before applying. The FAQ includes details about the structure of the program and application process.
10.
Greyman Theatre Company
Deadline: Feb. 16th
Greyman Theatre Company is looking to foster the development of a new musical to be considered for the Araca Project, which culminates in an Off-Broadway production in Fall 2015. Writers will be given the opportunity to work with a full creative team through readings and workshops in order to prepare the piece for consideration.
Submissions may be in any stage of development but may not be licensed by a major licensing house or have had a fully-realized production in New York City. Shows that have had previous readings and workshops in the New York City area are eligible.
Writers interested in applying should submit the following by February 16, 2015:
Contact information and bios for the creative team.
Lyric sheets and demo recordings for 2-3 songs.
10-15 pages of the script. Please include a character breakdown.
A statement of objective describing your hopes for the future of the piece and specifically what you hope to accomplish by working with Greyman.
Previous production/development history as well as any upcoming dates
Please send all materials to greymantheatreco@gmail.com. If we believe the piece is a good fit for this opportunity, we will reach out with next steps by February 23, 2015. Due to a high volume of submissions, we may not be able to respond to every submission. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.
11.
Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship
Deadline: Feb. 28th
Nickelodeon is offering writing fellowships in live action and animated television to writers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Participants will have hands-on interaction with executives writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas. The program, developed to broaden Nickelodeon's outreach efforts, provides a salaried position for up to one year.
SCRIPT GUIDELINES
All applicants must submit a writing sample. Appropriate Spec Scripts must adhere to the following guidelines:
Must be Comedic; either Live Action or Animation
Based on a half-hour television series that is currently on-air and being produced for primetime network or cable (series must have been on-air for at least one season)
Typed in standard Final Draft (or equivalent) script format
In black ink
In 12pt courier style font
On 8-1/2 x 11, 3-hole punched white paper
With only two brass fasteners (top & bottom)
Applications and submission guidelines are available on our website at www.nickwriting.com.
12.
Cave Canem
Deadline: March 15th
website: www.washcoll.edu/centers/lithouse/programs/cave-canem-residency.php
The Cave Canem Residency at The Rose O’Neill Literary House includes a public reading as part of the annual Summer Poetry Salon Series. The Fellow is awarded the use of a private, single-family residence for the entire month of June, along with a $1000 honorarium for living expenses. The Fellow also has the option of a private manuscript consultation with the Director of the Literary House, poet Jehanne Dubrow.
Applicants should send a brief statement of purpose, a CV, and a 10-page poetry sample to Director Jehanne Dubrow:
The Rose O’Neill Literary House
Washington College
300 Washington Avenue
Chestertown, Maryland 21620
For the 2015 Cave Canem Residency at The Rose O’Neill Literary House, applications will be accepted if postmarked by March 15, 2015.
13.
Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship
Deadline: March 1st
Website: https://albeefoundation.submittable.com/submit
The Center is open from mid-May through mid-October, and can accommodate comfortably up to five persons at a time. Residencies are for 4 or 6 week periods of time. The standards for admission are, simply, talent and need.
Located approximately two miles from the center of Montauk and the Atlantic Ocean, "The Barn" rests in a secluded knoll which offers privacy and a peaceful atmosphere.  The Foundation expects all those accepted for residence to work seriously and to conduct themselves in such a manner as to aid fellow residents in their endeavors.  Writers are offered a room; visual artists are offered a room and studio space.  Residents are responsible for their food, travel, and other expenses.  The environment is simple and communal.  Residents are expected to do their share in maintaining the condition of "The Barn" as well as its peaceful environment.
The Foundation is pleased to accept applications AFTER JANUARY 1st for the 2015 Summer Season; applications must be post-marked no later than March 1st, 2015 and must arrive--through the mail--no later than March 8th.
Visual Arts: 6-12 images and/or 3 media files
•        Plays/Screenplays: A full manuscript (one act plays count as a full script)
•        Poetry: Up to 12 poems
•        Fiction: 1 short story or 2 chapters from a novel
•        Non-fiction / Memoir / Journalism: 2 essays/articles or 2 chapters from a book
Please note: writers who write in a foreign language should apply with English translations of their work.
You must be able to take full credit for the creation of your work sample. No collaborations unless applying as a team!
ALL APPLICANTS must also include:
•        An up to date resumé
•        2 letters of recommendation from professionals familiar with you and your work (your recommenders will be contacted for letters by us)
•        An artist’s statement explaining your current need for a residency, as well as the details of the proposed project while in residence
14.
2015 Trustus Festival
Deadline: March 1st
Website:  http://congaroo.org/
Trustus Theatre announces its Annual Playwrights' Festival, a national contest culminating in a production of a new play in Columbia, South Carolina.


Now in our 26th year, we are one of America's longest-running play festivals. Since 1988, many of our winners have been published and produced off-Broadway, in Hollywood or at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.


The winning play will receive a staged-reading and $250 in Fall 2015. During the following year, the playwright will develop the script for production as he/she wishes and in consultation with members of the Trustus staff and company. In August 2016, the play will receive a full production on the Trustus mainstage with local actors (mostly non-equity) -- and the playwright an additional $500, plus travel/lodging for the Festival opening.
15.
RAW Stages New Works Festival
Deadline: March 1st
website: http://www.historytheatre.com/


Playwrights may submit an idea for a script (which has yet to be written) OR an already-completed script (which has not been previously produced).
One entry will be selected for the festival.  The playwright will be awarded $1,500 and at the conclusion of the festival the script may be considered for a full commission and production in History Theatre's mainstage season.

Submissions must be in line with History Theatre's mission:

History Theatre entertains, educates, and inspires through creating, developing, and producing new and existing works that explore Minnesota's past and the diverse American experience. Its work provides a unique lens which links our past to the present, explores our common heritage, and illuminates our understanding of what it means to be American.
NOTE: History Theatre focuses on telling the REAL stories of REAL people (please do not submit ideas/scripts in the genre of historical fiction).
Treatment submission deadline: March 1, 2015

Playwrights should submit:

  • A one-page treatment which includes plot synopsis, cast of characters, and a statement of why the play would fit History Theatre's mission.
  • A 10-page writing sample from previous dramatic work (or from the completed script being submitted.)
  • Playwrights will be notified by April 1st if their treatment is selected and will have until Dec. 15, 2015 to submit a first draft.  The Raw Stages workshop and reading will take place in the first three weeks of January 2016.
Send submissions as an electronic Word or PDF document to the following address with "Raw Stages 2016" in the subject line: newplays@historytheatre.com

16.
Turn to Flesh
Deadline: Feb. 27th
website: www.turntoflesh.com/submissions.html


Turn to Flesh is a reading series Submissions must be submitted electronically to turntoflesh@gmail.com. Please address all correspondence re: the reading series to Laura Pittenger, Literary Manager.

Only scripts submitted between Feb. 1-28, 2015 will be considered for the 2015 Reading Series.*

Submission Package Must Include
A) A ten-page script sample in PDF format. You may submit any ten pages from your script.
B) Casting breakdown (M/F # of actors & short description of age/relevant casting info); approximate running time; intermission, special requirements.
C) The play’s workshop/reading history, if applicable. Please include any confirmed future workshops or productions of the play.
D) A brief cover letter telling us who you are and why you feel your play would benefit from a staged reading with TURN TO FLESH at this stage of development. Please include basic contact information, your city of residence, and your plan for attending and participating in rehearsals/the event in NYC, if selected.
The Reading Series Experience
No fewer than three (3) and no more than (4) scripts will be chosen for the 2015 Reading Series. One script per month will receive a reading during the following months: June, July, August, & September. The final order of the season will be reviewed by the Artistic Director and Literary Manager in collaboration with playwright’s needs.
Each play will receive 9 hours of rehearsal over a 3-day period in NYC. Each play will receive one (1) staged reading before a limited audience. Each play will receive a director and a full cast selected by private audition. The Literary Manager will attend all rehearsals and be available for dramaturgical assistance if requested. Audience feedback will be collected in written form, and given to the playwright following the reading performance.
If selected for a reading, playwright must be available for 9 hours of in-person rehearsal and/or present for an exclusive reading event held in New York City. Regrettably, TURN TO FLESH PRODUCTIONS cannot provide housing or travel stipend for out-of-town playwrights. We can only consider submissions from playwrights outside the larger NYC area if playwrights can provide their own travel/housing and be present for rehearsal and/or the event.
A small honorarium will be awarded to each playwright who participates in the series.
Further information will be available if your submission is selected.

What We're looking for:


  • Plays which encapsulate our banner: “Modern Themes. Classical Styles.”
  • Plays of 90 minutes or less preferred. Longer works may be asked to work only one act or a cut, if selected.
  • Cast size of no more than 5-6 actorspreferred.
  • Plays featuring strong and/or multiple roles for women are especially welcomed.
  • Verse plays are the signature style of TURN TO FLESH PRODUCTIONS. However, we welcome both other forms of poetry and contemporary language. We have a fairly flexible definition of “heightened text.”
  • Special consideration will be given to plays containing theatrical elements which would benefit from a partially staged reading (i.e. fight choreography, shadow puppets, radio drama SFX, etc.). Such elements can and will be integrated in rehearsal and performance, within reason.
  • TURN TO FLESH PRODUCTIONS is, per our mission statement, open to plays which explore the mysteries of both heaven and earth.
  • A history of workshops/readings does not disqualify a piece from our reading series. The ideal script for this series is a play not yet ready for production, but ready to be put on its feet. Again, your piece should benefit from a partially staged reading.
  • As stated above, playwright must be available for rehearsals and/or the event in NYC.As stated above, play must not have been considered for our 2014 Reading Series.
    Adaptations must either be pieces in the public domain OR adhere to copyright guidelines in the United States. You may be asked to provide proof of permission for material not in the public domain.


    17.
    FADE TO BLACK Festival
    Deadline: April 1st

    The theme and subject matters of the work is open to the playwright's imagination.  
    Scripts are open to African American playwrights across the U.S.

    Selected playwright finalists will be contacted no later than Friday, May 1, 2015.  

    There is no fee to submit. 

    Grand prize winner is chosen by audience vote and will be awarded a cash prize of $100.00.
        All selected plays will be performed in front of a live theater audience.

    To qualify for consideration, the scripts must conform to the following guidelines:  
    Must be an original, unproduced, unpublished work written by an African American playwright. 
    Must be at least 10 minutes long, but no longer than 10 minutes. (Generally 9-11 pages. | Industry standard - 1 page = 1 minute) 
    Should accommodate a “bare-stage” set requiring only a minimum of removable stage props and require basic lighting and sound cues.

    To submit: 
    Complete the script submissions form on website
     Email pdf of original work to: submissions@wmgellc.com
    Email header should read: Submission: Fade to Black. Include your name and the name of the play.
     On the front page of your script include your name, contact information, title of the play as well as any character descriptions. 
    Only three (3) scripts are allowed per playwright.
    All applicants must be at least 18 years of age..




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