1. MO-Thespians Playwrighting Program
Page to Stage
MO-Thespians Playwrighting Program

2. Playwrighting
Stage Management
Acting
Three Components

3. Playwrighting
DEVELOPMENT. The opportunity to work one-on-one with a Master Playwright who will help you revise and polish your script.
WORKSHOP. Rehearsal time with the Master Playwright, director and a cast of student actors, to realize your creative vision.
PERFORMANCE. A staged reading of your play for an audience of hundreds of your fellow students.
SELECTION. ONE student script will be chosen to receive professional coaching and staged reading at the 2013 Missouri State Thespian Festival.

4. Playwrighting Scripts must be between 10-20 pages in standard format
Playwright Application and Script are to be submitted via as Microsoft Word attachment to
No more than two scripts per school may be submitted
Script content must be appropriate for school—extreme profanity and questionable content could result in disqualification .
Scripts MUST be submitted by NOVEMBER 15TH.
NO LATE SCRIPTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

5. Playwrighting
A Reading Committee, made up of theatre go-ers, theatre teachers, playwrights and professionals will read and review all of the submitted scripts using a grading rubric (see attached).
The ONE script that has the highest scores from the majority of the Reading Committee will be selected. You will be notified via whether or not you were the selected playwright by December 1st.
If selected, you will work from December 1st through the time of conference with the Master Playwright on making edits and revisions of your script.

6. STANDARD FORMAT
We are asking for all plays to be submitted in the same format so that we can accurately compare length. This is “standard format,” and it’s what most professional playwrights use to present their work cleanly.
First page: Center the title of the play in the middle of the page, with ‘by’ and the author’s name below it. Center the author’s contact information (school, school address, author’s cell phone number and author’s address) at the bottom of the page.
My Brother and His Dog 1
(all pages numbered in top right hand corner)
(in the center of the page)
My Brother and His Dog
By Mortimer Fireside
(at the bottom of the page)
Hazelton High School
1234 South Onmystreet
Anywere, MO 12345
(314)
Second page: Left justify a character list (you can give a brief description of each, not more than one line), the setting and the time. Use CHARACTERS, PLACE and TIME as headers.
Second page example:
My Brother and His Dog 2
CHARACTERS
BOB SMITH, 40’s, high school science teacher in shabby clothes
PATTY SMITH, 25, his second wife
PLACE
The Germantown High School Science Lab
TIME
The present. Late Friday afternoon, after school.

7. Stage Management
We need a student stage manager for each play who will
film auditions
introduce the play and the author
read descriptions and stage directions
help with blocking of the play
upervise set-up and strike any chairs, tables or props used.

8. Stage Management
ON THURSDAY: Selected Stage Managers will be responsible for running one Workshop Session (1, 2 or 3 depending on the schedule for Page-to-Stage Auditions
You will film each students audition during your specific workshop time with a flip camera.
You will collect each students audition application information during your specific workshop time
ON THURSDAY NIGHT: You will be a part of the casting viewing during Thursday Late Night Activities and aide in the casting process.
ON FRIDAY: You will attend your Playwrights designated Workshop Session (4, 5 or 6) and aide in the rehearsal process with the cast.
ON SATURDAY: You will be responsible for organizing the cast, setting up any props/chairs/tables and assisting the Playwright.

9. Acting
FOR AUDITIONS—will be THURSDAY during the designated Workshop Sessions (please see the program at conference for the specific Audition Location.)
You will need to prepare a 1-minute monologue OR story to be video-taped by the selected Stage Managers during one of the aforementioned times on Thursday.

10. Acting
ON THURSDAY: you will perform your prepared 1-mintue monologue or story during the Audition time.
ON THURSDAY NIGHT: You will be notified by midnight (curfew) on Thursday Evening if you were cast in one of the play to be performed at conference
ON FRIDAY: You will attend your Playwrights designated Workshop Session and block and rehearse your specific play.
ON SATURDAY: You will be performing the script twice.

11. Performance
On SATURDAY, the selected play will be performed as a dramatic reading (with limited blocking and scenery)—there will be two performances.
There will be a “talk-back” with the Playwright, Actors and the Master Playwright
You can ask questions

12. Schedule
We will not know the specific schedule for conference until Registration is Complete!
Could be a SPLIT schedule… will plan accordingly with the Playwrights/Stage Managers to make sure you are on the same schedule.

13. Questions????

14. Send Questions, Scripts & Applications to: