The F. Gary Newton Foundation at the Players' Ring Theatre in Portsmouth, New Hampshire was created to commemorate the founder and artistic Director of the Players’ Ring. The Foundation will perpetuate Gary’s deep commitment to fostering the writing and producing of new plays created by local writers. In order to keep this commitment alive the Board of Directors of the Players' Ring Theatre inaugurated F. Gary Newton Memorial Play Writing Competition. The principal goal of this competition is to recognize the best playwrights in our area and provide them with the stage upon which their works will be premiered.
The Players’ Ring has selected a panel of judges who will select the winning play as well as a second and third prize work. The winning entry will be produced at the Players’ Ring theatre during the season following the close of the competition. In addition, a cash prize will be awarded to the second place finisher in the amount of $100. The third place finisher will receive a cash prize of $50.00.
All submitting authors must reside within a SIXTY (60) mile radius of the Players' Ring in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Members of the Board of Directors of Players’ Ring, Judges of this contest and their immediate family are not eligible for this competition.
An entry fee of $35.00 must accompany each play entered into the competition.
1) The competition is meant to foster the development of full length plays. Only full length plays will be accepted for consideration by the judges. Plays should have a running time of approximately one hour and thirty minutes.
2) All plays must utilize simple settings and common props, which can be constructed or assembled within the confines of the Players’ Ring.
3) Plays should be suitably constructed and staged for an intimate 70 seat, three-quarters round environment. The Players’ Ring stage provides a maximum performance area of 18 by 25 feet. All plays submitted must be capable of being performed within this area without loss of either artistic or theatric quality. Competitors who wish to view the performance area may contact the Players’ Ring at 1-603-436-8123 to obtain a schedule of performances at the theatre.
4) All plays which are submitted for consideration must be original works which have not been previously produced or published. The Players’ Ring competition committee does consider a staged reading of a play to be a production. However, workshop treatment for developmental purposes and private rehearsals are not considered to be previous productions of a work.
5) All submissions must be accompanied by a completed original Entry Form, a signed Release Agreement, and the entry fee. Each submission must be sent by mail to the F. Gary Newton Play Writing Competition, P.O. Box 1441, Portsmouth, NH, 03802-1441. Entries must be submitted in compliance with the deadline stated on the application form. Each entry Form and Release Form must bear the playwright’s original signature on them where indicated or they will be rejected.
6) All scripts which are entered in the competition must be submitted in duplicate. All scripts shall be prepared and presented in compliance with the following style requirements:
a. All submissions must be on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper and be firmly bound;
b. Typed on plain white paper with double spaced lines of type;
c. Each page of type shall have a margin of at least 1.25 inches on the top and bottom and at least 1 inch on both sides;
d. Each script must be written in English using a typeface of at least 12 points;
e. Each script submitted, including scripts on floppy disk or CD, shall have a cover page which contains only the name of the play and the total number of pages in the work;
f. Each page of the script, except for the cover page, shall be consecutively numbered. On the bottom of the last page of the script the word END shall appear above the page number.
7) The committee encourages, but does not require, that playwrights submit one copy of their work on 3.5” floppy disk or CD saved as a MS Word document If a copy of the script is submitted on a 3.5” Floppy disk or CD, the name of the play must also appear on a label firmly affixed to the disk or CD.
8) All materials submitted for this competition become the property of the Players’ Ring. None of the material which is submitted by a playwright for consideration in this competition will be returned under any conditions.
9) All entries must be accompanied by a completed Entry form and a Release Agreement. Theses forms may be obtained by writing to the Players’ Ring Competition Committee at the submission address listed above or by calling the Players’ Ring at 603-436-8123 and requesting the materials. Blank forms may also be downloaded from the Players’ Ring website at www.playersring.org.
All entries must be submitted by mail by October 15th, 2007. Entries which are postmarked after October 15, 2007 will not be considered. All material submitted becomes the property of Players’ Ring and will be disposed of at the conclusion of the competition by the Players’ Ring.
Players’ Ring will acknowledge the receipt of all scripts that are received in accordance with the competition deadlines. Playwrights notified by email or by phone.
Winners of the competition will be notified by telephone and by email. This information will also be published at the Players’ Ring website, www.playersring.org.
All entries in the competition will be individually read and judged by a panel of judges specially selected by Players’ Ring for this competition. The decisions of those Judges will be final.
Competition Release Form Competition Entry Form