Mail all plays to:
Urban Stages
555 Eighth Avenue, RM 1800
New York, NY 10018
Full-length plays only:
- Bind plays in 3-ring binders, in presentation folders, with brass fasteners, with paperclips, etc (spiral binding is discouraged)
- No changes or revisions accepted after submission
- No double-sided pages.
- 5 actors or less (unless otherwise noted)…More than 5 characters are fine as long as no more than 5 actors are required
With your submission, please include:
- Biography and/or author’s history of the play
- Character breakdown
- Brief synopsis of the play.
- A small SASE envelope for a response letter.
*Whole plays will no longer be returned. All plays will be recycled.
Plays MAY HAVE BEEN developed or produced elsewhere, BUT NEVER PRODUCED in New York City.
No limit to the number of submissions, but we do ask you not to submit the same play twice.
Subject matter and character variations are open. We do suggest you take a look at our past productions.
There is no submission fee.
It usually takes up to six months for us to read and process your script.
We ask that you do not call or email our offices to inquire on the status of your play.
Plays from overseas and throughout the United States are accepted and considered (an SASE envelope for international submissions is unnecessary. You will be emailed)
BUT special attention will be given to playwrights who live in or near New York.
We recommend not spending extra money to send your play express, overnight or via other expensive services. We accept plays year-round and for special deadlines, we accept plays postmarked on the deadline date. For special deadlines, late plays are just entered among our general year-round submissions.
Play Submissions
Dynamic Duos
Due: September 30, 2023
As Urban Stages (NYC) celebrates its 40th-anniversary season, we are thrilled to announce a new play festival and invite submissions.
We are now accepting full-length plays that require 2 actors. Winning plays will receive a staged reading in January-February 2024 and will be seriously considered for a full production on our Off-Broadway stage.
Cast and Character Size: For this festival, we are interested in plays that work within the confines of a two-actor cast. However, there is no limit to the number of characters a play can contain as long as there is doubling, and two actors can perform the entire play.
*This festival will also accept musicals with up to five actors.*
Genre and Theme: There are no limitations when it comes to genre and themes. However, we suggest playwrights take a look at our previous productions to get a sense of the types of works Urban Stages leans towards producing. This includes, but is not confined to, producing plays from underrepresented perspectives, plays that center unknown histories, and plays that address pressing socio-economic issues, amongst many other themes.
How To Submit Plays: Plays should be full-length. For musicals, please include the book and music as well.
Please email your resume and play as .pdfs only to submissions@urbanstages.org by SEPTEMBER 30, 2023.
Due to the high volume of submissions we typically receive, we will only contact playwrights whose works we are interested in including in our festival. Please do not enquire about your work via email or via calling our office.
We are looking forward to reviewing your submissions and thank you for sharing your work with us!
Due: TBA
Only a small fraction of new plays produced every year are written by women. To encourage the development and production of plays by female-identified writers, we put out a special call for our Words by Women Reading Series periodically. These plays are given special attention and considered more immediately by our Literary Committee.
To enter, follow instructions above and write WORDS BY WOMEN on the envelope you send your play in.
Plays must be written by women-identified playwrights. While not mandatory, we encourage casts with a majority of women and plays exploring social issues facing women today.
*Words by Women submissions ARE eligible for The Emerging Playwright Award.
Words by Women
Emerging Playwright Award
No deadline. Year-round submissions are accepted.
It begins with submitting your play and being selected for step 1 of our process - a staged reading. Out of hundreds of submissions a year, we select 10-15 plays for staged readings a year. From these, we select 1-3 plays annually to go on to our workshopping phase. Our workshops are meant to prepare a play for our Off-Broadway stage. From our workshops, we select 1-2 plays for full productions, complete with a playwright’s contract and compensation (separate from the award).
Our $500 Emerging Playwright Award (coupled with press coverage) is given to playwrights who show excellence and dedication throughout this process – from development to the stage.
To enter, follow the instructions below:
Former Winners:
Will Snider - DEATH OF A DRIVER (2019)
Zhu Yi - A DEAL (2017)
Trezana Beverley - MABEL MADNESS (2016)
Oren Safdie - UNSEAMLY (2015)
Jim Brochu - CHARACTER MAN (2014)
Greg Kalleres – HONKY (2013)
Monica Bauer – MY OCCASION OF SIN (2012)
Joe Iconis – REWRITE (2009)
Stanton Wood – Various (2008)
Gino Dilorio – APOSTASY (2007)
Eisa Davis – BULRUSHER (2006)
Chungmi Kim – COMFORT WOMEN (2004)
John Picardi – THE SWEEPERS (2002)
Rob Santana – THE QUEEN BEE’S LAST STAND (2001)