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PlaySlam! 2020

A Fifth of PlaySlam!

Subject to change – check back for updates!

CALL FOR SCRIPTS:

A fifth-annual PlaySlam will be presented by Cary Playwrights’ Forum at The Cary Theatre, 122 E Chatham St, Cary, NC 27511,  on Saturday, May 9, 2020 at 7:30PM.

North Carolina-based playwrights are invited to submit original (new) scripts for the competition. The winning playwright takes home $100.00 cash on SLAM Day! It’s a high-energy evening, and loads of crazy fun and organized chaos.

Submissions should be sent by email to: “submissions@caryplaywrightsforum.org” by Mar 28, 2020 at 11:59pm

In a nutshell:

    •         The only submissions which will be accepted are those for which the playwrights follow the rules and meet the criteria. 
  •         Playwrights MUST be present at The Cary Theatre on the day of show, to direct rehearsals of their plays between 4:00PM and 6:00PM, and be present for the show that evening. Each playwright will be assigned two 15-minute rehearsal slots.  
  •         Shortly after Mar 28 the producers will inform all playwrights whether their scripts were chosen or not.

How PlaySlam Works:  

    •         Each submission consists of EXACTLY 2 scripts (1 play for each round) each running 1-to-3 minutes (no longer). The plays do not have to be related. Only one submission per writer.
    •         Playwrights will get email confirmation that their submission has been received, and later whether it has been chosen or not – if selected, further updates as details of PlaySlam planning progresses will be sent.
  •         CPF (producer) will cast the plays from an ad-hoc acting ensemble assembled by the producer; playwrights and actors may meet for the first time on SLAM Day (but actors will be emailed their scripts about a month beforehand, and you can interact by phone or email to discuss set, props, blocking etc – and new this year, IN-PERSON one time if so desired!).    

Day of SHOW Saturday May 9, 2020:  

    •         The acting ensemble rehearses all plays, directed by the playwrights (you get just 15 minutes per show, slotted between 4PM-6PM).
    •         Dinner is served to cast, crew and directors (pizza/salad)
    •         Curtain is at 7:30PM: Each of the 9 Round 1 plays are performed (actors with scripts in hand). An emcee (Thom Haynes) introduces each play by reading its brief description (tagline). After, the audience gets a minute or so to rate the play before going on.
    •         The audience votes on their 3 favorite plays.
    •         Scorekeepers collect and tally ballots during intermission.
    •         Authors of the audience’s 6 favorite plays move on to the Finals/Round 2 with their Round 2 play.
    •         The acting ensemble performs the 6 Finalist/Round 2 plays.
    •         The audience votes on their one favorite Round 2 play.
  •         The Scorekeepers tally audience ballots for Rounds 2. While this occurs the additional 3 Round 2 plays will be performed to keep the audience engaged and reward the writers and actors.

The playwright with the most votes from Round 2 wins cold, hard cash! 100 bucks of it!And bragging rights as the winner of the fifth CPF PlaySlam (not to mention a tiara)!

  •         Writers and actors need to help strike at end (we must be out by 10pm). Then we go drinking.

How to submit scripts for PlaySlam (and notes about rehearsal / performance):

      •         Submit 2 scripts in the same email to: submissions@caryplaywrightsforum.org by Mar 28, 2020. Subject in the email should say “PlaySlam Submission: <your name>”.
      •        In the body of the email put your name/phone (optional)/email address/NC home address (or at least ‘town’ if you don’t want to give complete address), and any questions or concerns you may have.
      •         SCRIPTS should be TWO SEPARATE DOCUMENTS, two attachments, in the same email.
      •         Plays must be submitted in a WORD or PDF File only.
      •         EACH DOCUMENT FILE NAME MUST include: play title; indication of one of the scripts as the Round 1 play, the other as the Round 2 play. Example: “Zoo Story – round 1”
    •         ONLY one playwright per submission (same person for each of the two scripts). If two people wrote it, choose one to Slam!
  • The plays should not have ever been performed in a previous PlaySlam anywhere. They should never have before been fully produced, alone or as part of a longer work.
  •         Each script should include the play title at the top, a listing of character names (and, if appropriate, brief description of character, and setting), and (very important) a tagline (a very brief description or “sound-byte” of your play, no longer than one sentence – try to make it clever, pithy, funny… unless the play is serious). You can also include a list of set needs or props.  
  • IMPORTANT: Documents should have NO contact information, they should be ANONYMIZED  
    •         Each play must run 1-to-3 minutes in length. Note: at the discretion of PlaySlam coordinators, performances of plays will be cut off at the 3-minute mark, or shortly thereafter. So, BEFORE you submit, please read your plays for time, out loud, and trim down if obviously well over 3-minutes.  Seriously. Mean it. We want to see your entire play performed, so do yourself a favor, and edit down to 3 minutes run-time.  
    •         Each play MUST have at least two characters, for two or more actors to appear on stage  (i.e. NO monologues). There is no specific limit, but these are 3-minute plays, so use common sense; your script may call for actors to be on stage who do not have to have speaking parts, but must be engaged in the action of the play. Suggest you keep it simple.
    •         We encourage scripts without too many characters (actors), and minimal set/prop needs for a reading. We also encourage variety in characters regarding gender, age, ethnicity, etc.
    •         You may have actors speaking from off stage; there will be a microphone off-stage amplified thru the house system. Do not plan to patch any SFX/MP3s thru the system.
  •         Playwrights will be completely responsible for bringing and maintaining ALL props and costume accouterments for their actors. There will be chairs and round tables (short and tall) you can use for set, and a rectangular ‘church’ table, that’s about it. The church table can be a ‘bed’, the chairs can be aligned as a bench.

Note on casting: We will make every effort to match the actor chosen for each character to the playwright’s request /description. If any problem is encountered, we will contact individual playwrights.

FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS OR OTHER STUFF,  PLEASE CONTACT THE CPF PLAYSLAM PRODUCER: thom.haynes@caryplaywrightsforum.org

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Check out this page for info on submitting for the CPF Radio Hour podcast show!

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Here is a PDF, video, and example covering “Standard Manuscript Format for Stage Plays”

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We had a successful interaction with Tiny Engine Theatre awhile back. Our playwrights will provide such a professional troupe with scenes that have already been through revisions after cold readings. The group will pick scenes that they can cast and would be fun to read; then they’ll share a read-through with us at our regular monthly meeting. The company will share their impressions about the characters and the story; Tiny Engine gave us a delightfully different experience than regular CPF meetings. Interested? Send your revised scripts to phil.lewis@caryplaywrightsforum.org. In your submission email, include your name, email address, copy of script (pdf), synopsis of character descriptions, and an affirmation if you’ve revised the script since a previous CPF read-through. If you are interested in a particular scene from a larger work to be read, please include any additional information (e.g., earlier pages) that the troupe should know.