2022 Playwrights and Artists Festival: Nov. 18-27
When we look at a piece of art, each person has a different interpretation. That is the beauty of art and the challenge to our playwrights.
Each year, we offer three works of art and ask writers for plays as they are moved or inspired by the artwork. We blind-read the submissions, select two for each artwork and produce them. The art is exhibited, we perform the play and ask the audience for feedback. Musical pieces inspired by the artwork are also shared.
Our audiences then become part of the process. After each performance, there is a talk back that includes the playwright, the composer, the director and actors. We also like to include our artists, if possible. This mixed-media event draws inquisitive art and theatre lovers to KNOW, and it makes for an exciting night of theater.
Call for playwrights
Here are the artworks for the 2022 Playwrights & Artists Festival:
- Ken Weir – “Jonestown”
- BIll Gorman – “Boats and Sunrise”
- Alexandra Zalesski – “Reflections”
We will be offering prizes for these categories:
- $300 for Best of Festival
- $200 for Artistic Merit
- $100 for Audience Favorite
The Rules
1. The play must be inspired by one of the works of art.
2. The play must be written between June 29 and Aug. 28, 2022.
3. The play length needs to be between 15 – 20 minutes.
4. Cast size maximum, 5 characters. Set should be implied.
5. Plays submitted MUST be a complete play and must include a beginning, middle and an end and contain a conflict. Our judges will be adhering to strict parameters during the adjudication process.
6. Playwrights may only submit one play for the festival.
7. The playwright would need to attend at least one of the two weekend performances (which take place in November). In person is preferred but we have in the past skyped with playwrights. As our festival is starting to reach a greater number of people in wider locations, we feel that we must take this into consideration. We always hope our playwrights can attend in person and feel the energy and excitement of having their work performed onstage for the first time, but we understand that sometimes this is not logistically possible.
8. Plays must be submitted by midnight on Aug. 28, 2022. This submission must include 2 copies of your play in either word or PDF, one “blind” version without name but including which artwork you were inspired by and one with a full title page. If you could paste the painting onto the cover page that would be great. Sample file name: Title_ artwork _blind or Title_ artwork_ name. They must be submitted to playwrightsfestatknow@gmail.com. (Please note this is a new email from previous years.) Use the title of your work in the file name and whether it is the blind or named copy. This makes it easier on the person coordinating the files and sending them on to the adjudicators. We receive many plays and do not want anything to get lost in the mix.
There are no exceptions to these rules. We love the idea of fresh work based on the inspiration of our chosen art. We love to see where it takes our playwrights. Each piece of art has infinite possibilities of inspiration. We wish all good luck writing and cannot wait to see the results.
You can request jpeg images at playwrightsfestatknow@gmail.com
