Rules

ELIGIBILITY

• The competition is open to high school seniors currently enrolled in the Houston metropolitan area.
• Submitted plays must be unproduced and unpublished as of the submission deadline and not scheduled or optioned for production or publication prior to Feb. 7, 2025. Plays previously workshopped and developed are ineligible. Informal and privately staged readings are not considered as “produced” unless tickets were sold for the readings.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Submission deadline is 11:59 pm, Feb. 7, 2025. Plays may be of any genre; however, no musicals, monologues, or performance art (dance, poetry, etc.) will be accepted.
• Playwrights may only submit one work.
• All plays must be submitted in English.
• Plays should have no fewer than two and no more than six characters.
• Plays should be no more than 30 minutes in length.
• Plays require a single simple set, either interior or exterior.
• Plays should be in standard “play format,” 12-point Times New Roman font with numbered pages.
• Plays should be submitted as PDF documents. The cover page must include the title, writer’s name, phone number, and email address only.

PARTICIPATION CRITERIA

• Playwrights agree to collaborate with the assigned mentor, director, and DDTCo. staff
• .Playwrights agree to be available for at least three meetings with their assigned mentor prior to the official Meet and Greet in April.
• Playwrights agree to rewrite, revise, or polish their work, in consultation with their mentor, at least three times before the final submission deadline.
• Playwrights agree to be open to suggestions from other theatre professionals involved in the 2025 SPF.

SELECTED WORKS

• Selected playwrights will be notified via email and/or phone in late February 2025.
• Playwrights whose work is selected grant Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. the right to use the author’s name, likeness, play title, and production photos for promotional purposes, for both current and future festivals. In addition, selected playwrights agree to participate in all public relations activities, including, but not limited to, television, radio, and newspaper interviews, whether in person or remotely.
• Playwrights retain ownership of all work produced. Dirt Digs Theatre Co. will be appropriately credited in any future productions as follows: “Originally produced as part of the Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. Student Playwright Festival.”
• Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. reserves the right to reject or disqualify any work that it believes does not meet the festival’s entry criteria.
• By submitting the material, applicants agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the festival, its employees, volunteers, directors, representatives, and affiliates from any liability, claims, and damages in connection with the submission and from any fees and expenses, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees, that any of them may incur in connection with their submissions, the festival, the selection process, or productions. Those same protections are granted to Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. by applicants.