Here's a new opp I've found for playwrights...

Edinburgh fringe 2010 - one-act playwriting competition

Award-winning Edinburgh-based BigVillage Theatre Co. is proud to announce an exciting new competition for aspiring playwrights.

Following the success of their writing competitions in 2005 and 2007, the group is now offering writers the chance to win a full-scale production of their play at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010.

The winning script will be performed in a six or seven-night run at an established central Edinburgh venue in August 2010. The winning playwright will be welcome to attend rehearsals and will receive two complimentary tickets to each performance.

BigVillage founder Jacqui McIntosh says, "Bringing a new show to the Fringe can be a big risk, but BigVillage's base in Edinburgh all year round means we're really well-placed to deliver a good audience for new writing at the heart of the biggest arts festival on the planet.

It's a fantastic opportunity that we hope will excite and inspire a wide range of writers to enter."

The basic rules for entering the competition are as follows:

Plays must run at between 40 and 60 minutes.

Plays must feature roles for a minimum of six actors of any gender mix.

Plays must not have been previously performed, even as rehearsed readings.

Plays must be presented and formatted ready for the stage (i.e. not radio or screenplays).

Fringe-show conditions will favour scripts which feature a low budget, minimal set etc.

Playwrights must hold copyright or permissions for everything in their script, including any music.

Plays will be judged anonymously by three professional writers:
Lorraine McCann, Jim McSharry and Alistair Rutherford.

Entries must be in the form of a Word document with a title page giving the entrant's name and contact details. Entrant's names must not appear anywhere else on the script.

Please note: PDF files are not acceptable.

Maximum two entries per writer.

The winner will be announced within two months of the closing date. BigVillage reserve the right not to award the prize, if a suitable play has not been
received.

Closing date for entries is midnight on Friday 27th November 2009.

If you have any queries, please contact the BigVillage secretary, Anne Robertson at the email address below.

Please send entries to: AnneRobertson252@yahoo.co.uk

More details on the winner's contract, can be found at: www.bigvillage.org.uk/news

What formatting is that?

Thanks Mikey you're a little treasure. Yes you are. Yes you are.

Quote: Chappers @ September 27 2009, 9:29 PM BST

What formatting is that?

View original

Different scriptwriting softwares have slighly different Stage formats. The following rules from the recent Loft competition may help.

1) A brief description of the layout of the stage, props, lighting etc, as well as the characters in the play should be included at the front of the script.

2) The play should be set out with the name of the character about to speak in capitals or bold type on the left of the page in an undrawn margin. Look at any printed play for guidance on style if you are not sure.

3) All stage directions should be in brackets.

I think 2) is what distinguishes Stage from Film/TV formats.

Doh, minimum actor amount messes me right up.

Unusual for something to list a minimum though...

I use the ScriptSmart software in Word.