Submissions Accepted from Everywhere in the US
Shows from outside NY and NJ can only run if the
entire cast and crew are from New York City.
Submissions must be between 30 and 90 minutes long.
ONE ACT PLAY WELCOME BUT THEY MUST BE 30
MINUTES OR LONGER.
a festival created by playwrights for playwrights!
Please read our introduction carefully. We assure you that, by the time you reach the end, it will be very hard for you not to participate. Over the past few years, we’ve gained an impeccable reputation, gathering praise for our dedication to and support of all the playwrights who participate in our festivals.
Browse through a few of the many testimonials we’ve received over thyears see: (Testimonial) to see how the playwrights we’ve hosted feel about us. We’ve also been granted a most prestigious award from the International Centre for Women Playwrights; a bit of recognition for our consistent and enthusiastic support of female playwrights.
As playwrights, directors and actors ourselves, it is our intention to give writers a chance to create their vision from the first stroke of their pen to the last scene of their play! Our festival is designed to offer writers a chance to put their shows onstage instead of placing their creative vision into other hands, as often happens with playwrights. We will help you to develop a sense of direction and staging, as well as the meaningful use of lighting and sound.
Thespis is not only a festival, it’s a competition as well. That means that there are prizes! The winner of the Best Play award will receive a prize of $3,500. Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director will each receive $500. Best Original play will receive $200. And a special $250 prize will be awarded to the Best Play in the Griot section of our festival.
- A 5-hour tech and the opening night on the same day so you have 7 hours in the theater to prepare…instead of being rushed in a tech that is merely double your show’s run time, you will have time to make it great rather than compromising your vision in a stressful rush.
- An incredible website on which all shows are listed by date, in alphabetical order and on an interactive calendar, and you will receive a dedicated page/post where you can upload all you need like a dedicated website, such as: SOUL OF A BLUE BUTTERFLY
- Amazing awards: you won’t find bigger prizes anywhere!
- A 10-week long festival that offers the opportunity for all cast you get that much inspiration in one place!
- Special guidance for playwrights staging their first show to help make their performances a success.
- Answers to all questions in a matter of hours and only from the festival’s founders. You’ll never wait days for an answer.
- Knowledgeable staff. We don’t fill our festival with seasonal volunteers. All those who work in the festival are dedicated and experienced members of our theater company, giving you real answers and a personal touch.
- A professional lighting and sound system-including 37 lights - that’s easy to use, even for non-techies.
- A free tutorial on how to use the light/sound/projection system, and expert technical guidance on how to paint the mood of your play.
- Storage for your props and set pieces during the entire run of your play. (This is an enormous time and money saver!)
- A large, varied collection of props to help stage your play. (Link to props). That means no more truck rentals and the risk of getting a ticket while you rush to unload your props. And we spare you the time and money it takes to search for & buy them. So, rather than use a few available rehearsal blocks or black folding chairs that make every play look alike, we offer you real furniture & set pieces.
- Free box office management.
- An extremely low participation fee
- Free insurance for all plays. That’s right. We pay for it!
- The incredible opportunity to hire a professional videographer who is part of the festival. She will film your show at one-third of the usual price.
- If you request it, we will also connect you with our professional tech director who can run your sound / light / projector for a low cost.
- Judges from Manhattan’s theater world who decide on the winners. No Audience Choice Awards, which usually translates as ‘the show with the biggest audience wins’. Many of our past winners presented very small, intimate and ‘unglitzy’ productions.
- An unforgettable award ceremony at the end of the festival that honors your talent in front of your artistic colleagues, similar to Oscar night!(past award Ceremonies)
- Above all, you will be treated with great respect, support and a real spirit of friendship.
I have worked in a variety of NYC festivals and I have never worked with a more accommodating venue. The management made my cast and crew
feel instantaneously comfortable. As artists we were given the support we needed to put on a well-polished production. I would highly recommend Thespis Theater Festival to artists of all ages.
Madeleine Rose Parsigiam -
Director of Cal and Grey -Second place, Thespis Festival 2013Thespis Theater Festival was an amazing opportunity for my cast and creative team to showcase our work at the professional level. As young
artists, it can be difficult to find affordable space and supportive people to sponsor us as we work towards polishing our aesthetic. The Thespis team was an invaluable resource to us, being warm, friendly and full of good advice as we went through the festival process. As this was my very first time participating in a festival, I feel very lucky to have had the wonderful folks at Thespis to teach me the ropes. Moreover, the opportunity to extend our show into the Finals portion of the competition was incredibly exciting and made the entire team feel as if they had accomplished something at a much higher level. Thespis Theater Festival has been an incredible experience - bringing together many artists into one
collaborative atmosphere. Thank you!
Lily Raabe -
Director of Eaten Voices & Winner Thespis Festival 2012I have been investing and producing in NYC theatre for over ten years. I have participated in financing two off Broadway productions of plays
that I have written. I have produced numerous showcases, stage and table readings of over seven different plays. The experience was the same for each; frustration, disappointment and great financial loss. In absolute contrast, the Festival was a joy to participate in on every level. The group made everything easy to accomplish and bent over backwards to be certain that our production would have every chance of success, both artistically and financially. Several of the members of my creative team had participated in other well known festivals in NYC and agreed that the festival was several notches above the rest. I can only hope that in the future I can write other plays that will be accepted into this wonderfully nurturing home for a playwright and creative team.
John Anastasi -
Transition
Thespis Theater Festival / Competition
wants to make staging your show a pleasure.
First-time writers are more than welcome!
We’ll help you with everything you need to stage your play.
THESPIS THEATER FESTIVAL IS FOR BOTH
NON-UNION / NON-EQUITY & EQUITY MEMBERS
Each applicant is fully responsible for
all elements of their production.
These include directing, casting, stage-managing.
