East West Players Announces 2042: See Change Initiative Kicking Off with National Playwriting Competition
East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, announces 2042: See Change, an initiative by East West Players to promote diversity in American theatre.
According to census reports, it is estimated
that by 2042, for the first time people of color will make up a
majority of the United States population. With this shift in
demographics, the face of America will look and feel different.
"We want to challenge other theaters to
prepare for this change by thinking differently in their artistic
programming and their audience development strategy," says EWP
Producing Artistic Director, Tim Dang. "In many areas, the change has
already happened. The future is here. 2042: See Change
is the perfect launch to initiate and innovate new works for the
American theatre that include more opportunities for people of color,
women, youth and ideas for the next generation of art making."
2042: See Change
will have three components which will be unveiled throughout the next
six months, kicking off with a national playwriting competition of the
same title.
Submissions should be unproduced new works
that explore this new reality and represent and reflect the future of
the American landscape.
Subject matter may include biracial or
multiracial identity; multicultural experiences;
international/transnational connections to America; conflict and
collaboration between cultures; American stories with Asian or
Asian-American characters in leading roles; or ethnic-specific themes
about Asian culture in the United States.
Type of material: Original full-length plays
and musicals. If submitting a musical, please enclose a musical sample.
No translations or adaptations. All submissions must be professionally
unproduced, unpublished, and with no existing attachments for
production.
Award: $5000 First Place; $2500 Second Place;
$1000 Third Place. The First, Second and Third Place winners will all
receive readings by EWP. All winners will be considered for further
workshops and/or production; EWP must have the first option to produce.
All three winners of the 2011 playwriting competition, Face of the Future, have gone on to world premiere productions: Eddie Borey's Christmas In Hanoi and A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekar were produced at East West Players, and Lauren Yee's Samsara opens February 2015 at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago.
Funding for the playwriting competition is provided by the generous support of the James Irvine Foundation.
Scripts will be judged by a distinguished
committee of theatre and industry professionals through a blind
evaluation process. Previous judges have included Tony Award-winning
playwright David Henry Hwang, playwright Julia Cho, and Carmen Smith
(VP Creative Development. Walt Disney Imagineering)
Submissions will be accepted beginning October 1, 2014 to January 5, 2014.
Submissions will be accepted electronically only, on eastwestplayers.org.
The submission must include:
· The online entry form
· The script (paginated but without your name on it)
· Two title pages. One with the title of the play, your name, address,
phone number and email, and a brief bio (optional). A second title page
which lists the title of the play, a 5 sentence or less description of
the play, and a list of characters but does not identify the author.
· A $20.00 entry fee
For more information, please check our website at www.eastwestplayers.org. You may also contact Snehal Desai, Artistic Associate (213) 625-7000 or sdesai@eastwestplayers.org. Please no personal deliveries.
