http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/index.php?topic=contests Here is a great play writing contest and this one too (http://www.aact.org/cgi-bin/webdata_contests.pl?cgifunction=Search). The first one is a fun and amazing group of writers that meet in the French Quarter every year to celebrate the life and writing career of Tennessee Williams, who lived and wrote there. He wrote "A Streetcar Named Desire" while he lived there and the title is from an actual streetcar on a route by his apartment and the marque on it was "Desire" - he loved the French Quarter. It was home.
While I was a senior in college 1983 doing my seminar on this accalaimed American Playwright he died in a hotel room in New York. He choked to death on a bottle cap in 1983. He lived an interesting and differnt life and his writing reflects what he experienced throughout his life.
This is the 25th Anniversary of the festival 2011 & would be his 100th Birthday - The festival always ends on his birthday with a party and "Stella" yelling contest. It is a fun week in the French Quarter.
Another writer that I admire is Agatha Christie and her mysterious life. Watch the video and then click on the writing contests around the world in her honor & I am all about honoring Women Playwrights.
http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=arts&bcpid=1740037436&bclid=1740131685&bctid=1713834736
Some Agatha Christie information on writing contests:
http://www.agathachristie.com/christie-week/christie-week-2010-full-programme/
http://www.agathachristie.com/forum/book-club/plays/where-can-i-find-these-plays/
http://www.newmysteries.org/
http://www.atlantistorquay.co.uk/Pages/2010%20Agatha%20Christie%20Week.htm
Here is some info about a good playwright John Byrne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byrne_(Scottish_playwright)
Another exceptional writer the world lost in 2008 along with Phyllis Whitney (see short story structure) was the Prize winning playwright Harold Pinter. Famous for his deliberate use of silence and pregnant pauses; a dramatic syle now known as "Pinter-esque" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Pinter
Here is a basic format for a one-act play & I will e-mail the pdf file to you if you want it. e-mails sent to irvingtonpress@yahoo.com
Centered Title Goes Here
CENTERERED CAST OF CHARACTERS (NOTICE CAPS)
CHARACTER A, late 40s to 50s
CHARACTER B, 21, a guy
(EARLY MORNING. You should put a brief description of time and place here.
Set up the opening of your play. Keep this as brief as possible. Brevity, in fact, is
the key when publishing a play.)
CHARACTER A Character’s name in CAPS, then 2 spaces, then begin dialogue.
Doing this saves space. This is called the English style of play publication. We’re
not English, but we like their style. Paper costs a lot, and England had to face that
fact well before we did. Keep stage direction to absolute minimum. When there is
stage direction that interrupts dialogue, put it (briefly) in parentheses. No comma
before or after parentheses. (If stage direction is a complete sentence, kindly put a
period at the end, before closing parenthesis.)
CHARACTER B (into phone) Two spaces is the rule of thumb. Notice there is
no colon after the CHARACTER’S name. Two spaces before the stage direction,
two spaces after. Single space between sentences. (It saves space.) Two lines
between characters’ dialogue.
CHARACTER A There’s another thing to remember. KEEP THE ALL CAPS
TO A MINIMUM. REMEMBER THEY INDICATE SCREAMING. YIKES!
There’s nothing more to know about getting your play published at Bayou. We’ll
edit for punctuation, and you’ll be asked to reduce stage direction to a minimum.
Life will be beautiful then, and all will live happily.End of format.
I love plays - so I hope to generate followers that enjoy live theater. In Indianapolis this March is the Divafest that commemorates Women Writers - hope to see some of my followers there. There will be a playwriting contest for it for 2012 & the details will be coming soon.
http://www.indyfringe.org/divafest
Good writing to all!
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