20th Annual Playwrights and Artists Festival: Nov. 17-26
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.
The Playwrights & Artists Festival was conceived to bring honor and awareness to Leonard Melfi and H.M. (Harry) Koutoukas, two playwrights from our area who were on the cutting edge of the experimental theatre breakthrough of the early 60’s, led by Edward Albee. We started the Festival by having artists read the plays, then creating art. Subsequently, we flipped it, and the playwrights created their plays from viewing the artwork. In this, our 20th year, the playwrights will be inspired by that same original artwork. Full circle.
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. Composers create musical pieces inspired by the artwork, which are also shared. We will be offering prizes for these categories: $300 for Best of Festival; $200 for Artistic Merit; $100 for Audience Favorite
Our audiences then become part of the process. After each performance, there is a talk back that includes the playwright, the artist, the composer, the director and actors. This mixed-media event draws inquisitive art and theatre lovers to KNOW, and it makes for an exciting night of theater.
If you wish to submit an original play inspired by the art, please see The Rules below.
The Rules
1. The play must be inspired by one of the works of art below.
2. The play must be written between the dates June 27, and August 27, 2023.
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 of August 27, 2023. 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 especially since this artwork is unnamed. Sample file name: Title_ artwork _blind or Title_ artwork_ name, I have included a code name under each work for ease of identifying.
They must be submitted to playwrightsfestatknow@gmail.
Please use the title of your work in the file name and whether it is the blind or named copy. This makes it easier for 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 choose our artworks carefully. We love to see where it takes our playwrights. Each piece of art has infinite possibilities of inspiration. We wish you all good luck writing and cannot wait to see the results.
This year’s artworks will be attached to this even as posts and found in the heading photo. If you wish for the artwork to be sent to you via email, please request at the above email.
We will be offering prizes for these categories: $300 for Best of Festival; $200 for Artistic Merit; $100 for Audience Favorite
As you may or may not know, this festival was conceived to bring honor and awareness to Leonard Melfi and Harry Koutoukas, two playwrights from our area who were at the cutting edge of the experimental Theatre breakthrough of the early 60’s led by Edward Albee. We started the festival with artists reading plays and creating art. In this our 20th year, your works will be inspired by that early Artwork. Full Circle.
