The Vegan Playwriting Competition

We are seeking several outstanding plays to be performed in Oxford in May/June 2016. Each play must be between 5 and 30 minutes.

No shorter.

No longer.

The play must require no more than THREE actors and at least one of the characters MUST be aged 50 or over.

The theme of the competition is ‘Veganism’.

“Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products.”

For further information please see this link

If you wish you can also take the Vegan Pledge

 

There is NO entry fee.

CLOSING DATE: 27th February 2016

THE PRIZE

The top plays will be performed in Oxford in May/June 2016. We will also be performing them in London. (Date to be announced). Plus the plays will be FILMED so even if you cannot come and see them you’ll be able to view the performances at a distance, spread the word, show your friends etc.

In 2015 we ran a Valentines Competition (click here) the winning plays were performed in Oxford (twice), London (twice) and in Poland (four times). Again, these performances were videoed and can be seen here.

You will also be sent three free tickets and, of course, bask in the glare of all the associated publicity.

We are an unusual theatre company – have a look round our site:

www.almostrandomtheatre.co.uk

 

COMPETITION RULES & REGULATIONS

1. Applications for the ART writing contest are open as from 6th February 2016.

2. The closing date for entries is 27th February 2016.

3. All entries must be by email to art.theatre.uk@gmail.com

4. Entries must be in a Word document. The entry must NOT include your name and contact details. A separate document should list these – and include a synopsis of the play. Failure to comply with this will mean the play is discarded, unread, unforwarded and sadly, unwanted.

5. The contest is open to everyone, except those listed on the About Us page

6. One entry per playwright is permitted.

7. Plays are to be written by a single playwright, excluding partnerships or committees.

8. Plays entered must be submitted in English. Musicals and dance pieces are not eligible

9. All plays must have a reading time of 30 minutes or less. This will be strictly enforced. If a Reader reads through the play and in the opinion of the Reader, the play is longer than 30 minutes then the play is sent to a second Reader. If this Reader also thinks the play exceeds 30 minutes then the play will be rejected.

10. All plays are judged blindly by ART staff. (See the section on Judges below)

11. All scripts must have pagination and be formatted in such a way as to be readable.

12. The play must not have been staged, read through in public or been published before.

13. We can only accommodate very basic sound/lighting. No sets or ‘effects’. Our time will be extremely limited in regard to technical rehearsals so writers, please adhere to this.

14. There will be no scheduled feedback from the judges. You MIGHT receive comments (good or bad) but this is not guaranteed for every entry.

 

VERY IMPORTANT

The plays do NOT have to be pro- or anti-veganism. They simply have to have veganism as a THEME. This is NOT a competition to promote veganism, but it IS one to stimulate discussion.

 

THE JUDGES

There are FOUR judges as follows:

  • Nick Myles

    nick myles
    Nick Myles studied Directing at City Lit, and Scriptwriting at City University (MA with Distinction). As a director he has worked at Soho Theatre, Arcola, Camden People’s Theatre and The Space. His plays have been performed at numerous venues including Arcola, Riverside Studios, Etcetera Theatre, Old Red Lion and in 2012 his work made the finals of both RedFest and the Off Cut Festival (“***** – deserves to win” Everything Theatre). He has also worked as a script reader for Writer’s Avenueand The Space, and as a talent scout for BBC Writersroom.
  • Helen McGregor

    Helen
    Helen McGregor is a writer, actor and academic. She currently runs the BA in Digital Film Production at SAE Institute, Oxford whilst working on her PdD thesis for Kingston University. Helen is an associate tutor at the National Film and Television School and was previously Head of Screen Arts at the Met Film School in London. She has also taught at Central St Martins and the University of Cambridge. As an actor she has worked widely in professional theatre including 14 months at the National Theatre. Most recently she performed a one woman version of Shakespeare’s Richard III at Oxfringe, the Edinburgh Fringe and Brighton May Fest. Helen’s first novel was published in the UK, Germany and the US. She is currently working on her second novel and a film script, which has garnered interest from several production companies.
  • Sue Moseley

    sue
    Two years ago Sue Moseley switched to a plant-based diet for health reasons and in doing so became more aware of the suffering involved in food production. In 2016 Sue will be launching a blog (www.plantandthrive.com), promoting a plant-based lifestyle and aimed at informing people about the health risks, environmental damage and the suffering caused by treating animals as food.
  • Almost Random Theatre

    140x140 logo.fw
    Depending on the volume of entries, other members of ART staff.