Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest

SETC's annual Competition honors the winning playwright with a staged reading and critique, $1,000 cash award and an all-expense paid trip to the annual March convention.  The play will also be considered for publication in Southern Theatre magazine. 

Entries are now being accepted (March 1 - June 1). SEE DETAILS BELOW.

Congratulations to Beth Kander, 2012 Getchell Award Winning Play Scrambled

Beth Kander is a writer, actress and consultant.  Named Best Writer by the Jackson Free Press in 2011 and 2009, her most recent publication is Glubbery Gray: The Knight-Eating Beast (Pelican, 2010).  Her writing has also been included in collected works, such as Stage This! Volume 3 (FN Productions, 2009).  She has had scripts workshopped and produced by many companies, including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England; 11:11 Theatre Company, Boston; Heartland Theatre, Normal, IL; Spare Change Theatre, New York; Downtown Arts Center/BCTC, Lexington, KY; and Planet Ant in Detroit.  

As an actor, Beth has appeared in several short films, long-form corporate videos, regional TV and radio commercials, and numerous stage productions. She holds a BA from Brandeis University and an MSW from the University of Michigan.  A proud Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Fellow, Beth also serves as President of Fondren Theatre Workshop and Playwriting Chair for the Mississippi Theatre Association.  Keep up with her work: facebook.com/ByBethKander.

Synopsis of Scrambled

Sara is wisecracking, single, broke and secular.  Neshama is serious, married, infertile and Orthodox.  When fate, God and Sara's Episcopalian roommate bring these two Jewish women together, each must question what really matters, what they really want - and what they're willing to do to get it.  As Sara considers donating her eggs, and Neshama ponders accepting them, both women find themselves unexpectedly scrambled.  

2012 Respondent

The Southeastern Theatre Conference advocates experience and education.  

The annual staged reading of the Charles M. Getchell Award winning play is followed by an in-depth response session.  For 2012, we are pleased to announce Playwright Lisa Soland as respondent. 

Lisa Soland’s plays Waiting, Cabo San Lucas, Truth Be Told and The Name Game, along with the anthology The Man in the Gray Suit & Other Short Play are published by Samuel French Inc., but her work can also be found in “best of” anthologies through French, Smith & Kraus, Applause Books, and Dramatic Publishing. She has produced and directed over 80 productions and play readings, 55 of which were original.

Ms. Soland recently served as playwright-in-residence at Tennessee Repertory Theatre where she developed her new play The Hand on the Plough with Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, John Patrick Shanley.  She currently teaches in the theatre departments at both Maryville College and Pellissippi State. For more information, www.LisaSoland.com. 

Charles M. Getchell New Play Contest Background

Mission: The SETC New Play Project is dedicated to the discovery, development and publicizing of worthy  new plays and playwrights.  This project will select one "winning script," present a staged reading of that script at the annual Southeastern Theatre Conference Convention in collaboration with the playwright, and  conduct an adjudication of the play by a select panel of judges.

Eligibility: Playwrights who reside in the SETC region (or who are enrolled in a regionally accredited educational institution in the SETC region) or who reside outside the region but are SETC members are eligible for consideration.  SETC Region states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. 

Entries will be accepted between March 1st and June 1st annually. 

Guidelines:

1. One submission per playwright only.  Full length plays or related one acts; no musicals or children's plays.
2. Plays must be unproduced (no professional productions) and unpublished.  Readings and workshops are acceptable.
3. Plays must be submitted by email attachement in Microsoft Word or PDF format with the following guidelines:

• Text should be in 12 pt type and in a plain font such as Times New Roman.
• Script must include page numbers at the bottom of each page.
• The author's name should not appear anywhere in the script.
• Do not include resumes, playwright biographies or a history of the play.
• 1 copy, Word or PDF format, attached to an email.
• Completed Application Form included as separate email attachment.  Electronic signatures will not be accepted.

4.  No previous submissions will be accepted without substantial rewrites having taken place.
Notification and Award: The winning playwright will receive a $1,000 cash award and be designated as the winner of the Charles M. Getchell Award.

5. The playwright is expected to attend the SETC convention at the expense of SETC, attend the response sesion and receive the cash award at the annual banquet.  The play will be considered for publication in Southern Theatre magazine.

6.  The decision of the panel of readers will be announced in November of each year.

2011 Getchell Award Winning Play: Nicolas the Worm by Eddie Zipperer

Nicolas the Worm Act I can be found in the Fall issue of Southern Theatre.  Nicolas the Worm Act II is available here.  

Questions and Submissions should be sent to:

Chris Hardin, Austin Peay State University
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it