High Point Community Theatre

New Play Contest for 2011 Summer Youth Repertory Theatre Guidelines

1) Only plays from students in grades 9 to 12 in the 2010-2011 school year will be accepted. If
there are two or more authors of a script, all authors must be students within the grades of 9 to
12 in the 2010-2011 school year. This year, this contest is only open to students attending high
school in the following NC Piedmont counties:

Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Davie,

Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Iredell, Johnston, Lee,
Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Moore, Orange, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson,
Rockingham, Rowan, Scotland, Stanley, Stokes, Surry, Union, Vance, Wake, Warren, and
Yadkin.

No other submissions from any other counties, states, or countries will be accepted this year.
All applying authors must reside in one of the above counties.

2) Only original, unpublished, plays may be submitted. No adaptions or translations of any

novels, television programs, films, musicals or other plays will be accepted. This year, no
musicals will be accepted.

3) Plays must not have been produced prior to submission. This includes staged readings open
to the public (regardless of whether or not admission was charged).

4) Submissions must be mailed as a hard copy. No electronic submissions will be accepted.

5) All manuscripts should be submitted in the following format:

○ Cover letter. In this cover letter, please detail your school’s name and your
grade.
○ One (1) letter of recommendation from a licensed faculty member at your school.
This letter of recommendation should also have contact info for verification.
○ Title page with the following: title, author(s) name, contact information.
○ Page that lists characters, scenes, settings, etc.
○ Plays should be submitted in the following format:
■ Character. Line
■ (Appropriate stage directions in italics.)
○ Author’s biography, in the third person, should conclude the submission. Such a
biography would detail the author’s credits (if any), school name, grade, hobbies,
 etc.

6) Submitted plays may not call for nudity. Furthermore, submitted plays may include some
profanity and suggested drug use as long as it furthers the story and the characters. If it is
determined that such profanity and drug use is used for “shock value,” the submission will be
disqualified.

7) Only one play per playwright will be accepted. This includes plays with multiple authors.

8) Submissions must be received by January 31, 2011. No other manuscripts submitted after
this date will be accepted. Submissions postmarked by January 31, 2011 but received after the
deadline will not be accepted.

9) By submitting your play to HPCT, you are giving royalty-free performance rights to HPCT.

10) Please include a non-refundable processing fee of $15.00 with your submission. Please
make checks out to High Point Community Theatre.

Please send submissions to:

HPCT Summer Youth Repertory Theatre New Play Contest

P.O. Box 1152
High Point, NC 27261

Selection Process:

● Once a play is received, an e-mail of notification will be sent to the author(s). If e-mail is
not available, a letter of notification will be mailed.
● The reading process will begin February 1, 2011. The submitted manuscripts will be
read by committee. The winning play will be be announced March 31, 2011. The
winner’s will be notified via phone call on March 31, 2011. Following the phone call, the
HPCT Blog will be updated announcing the winning play and author(s).
● Should your play not be selected this year, please feel free to re-submit it next year.
Plays may be submitted as many times as the author wishes. Those not selected will
be contacted via e-mail with tips on strengthening the play for possible re-submission,
should the playwright desire to do so.
● The winner will be invited to be apart of the production process as able.
● The playwright(s) will be invited to attend opening night and given four free tickets for
that performance (scheduled for Friday, July 22, 2011). During this performance, the
playwright(s) will be awarded for their work.