Prize: $5,000
Generously sponsored by the Dan School of Drama & Music at Queen’s University.
Award Submission Guidelines:
- The playwright must be a full or supporting member of Playwrights Guild of Canada in good standing. (Faculty of Queen’s University and The Dan School of Drama & Music are not permitted to apply for this award.).
- The play must be a minimum of 60 minutes in length.
- The play has not yet had a premiere production as of March 1st, 2024. The play could have been workshopped, but it hasn’t had a professional production. If it has been produced during the Fringe it is still considered eligible. Please contact PGC for plays that have been selected for further production (i.e. Toronto Fringe’s Next Stage Festival) or juried festivals such as SummerWorks.
- The work must be written in English or be an English translation. Please note: If the winning play is an English translation and both creators are PGC members, the playwright and translator will split the award evenly.
- Theatre for Young Audience musicals will be accepted.
- You cannot submit this musical to any other award category.
- An original work.
- Adaptations are accepted, but must involve substantial changes in form and/or expression. If the adapted work is not in the public domain, the playwright must include written permission from the original creator.
- Plays that were submitted to the 2023 Award program are ineligible unless substantial changes have been made.
- Provide recordings of 5 sections from various songs, (up to 10 minutes maximum of total music submitted). NOTE: The sections do not need to represent 5 different songs. The recordings do not need to be professionally recorded (piano & vocals will suffice). This is to give the jury an idea of tone.
- All scripts and song selections are read and listened to as blind submissions. This means that all names and identifying features must be removed prior to submission.
- There can be no hyperlinks to music or hyperlinks to anything else in your script.
Please note: All scripts are read blind. Please remove the playwright’s/creator’s name(s) from the script. Scripts submitted with creator’s names will not be accepted into the competition. Please also remove the playwright’s/creator’s name(s) from all music files. Music files submitted with creator’s names and or identifying features will not be accepted into this competition.
Please note: This form cannot accept files larger than 10 MB. If your files are larger than 10MB, please send through WeTransfer to marketing@playwrightsguild.ca
Questions? Contact Mindy Doherty Griffiths, Public Relations Manager for Playwrights Guild of Canada at 416-703-0201, or email marketing@playwrightsguild.ca
Please note that our staff does not work on Saturday or Sunday and cannot respond to your questions during that time.
DEADLINE: Complete application forms must be submitted by March 21st 2024 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
Entry Fee
The entry fee is $24.50 per title entered. No Refunds for incorrect submissions.
PGC cannot provide feedback for plays submitted to this award.
There are two steps for the submission process this year.
Step 1: Please click on the link to access the registration form with details pertaining to your submission. Once your membership has been verified, you will then move onto step two.
Step 2: You will receive a link to the email address you provided in your submission form for uploading your play and paying the submission application fee.
Submissions open February 5th, 2024 and close March 21st, 2024 at 11:59pm Pacific time.
Late applications will not be accepted.
Incomplete submissions will not be considered for an award. Once an entry has been submitted, it cannot be changed, updated, or otherwise altered in any way. Entrants seeking to correct errors or provide updates must re-submit again using the same process as the first entry (including the fee).
If this form does not meet your visual or accessibility needs, or if you require a different format, we are happy to assist with a different process. Please call our office at 416-703-0201, or email marketing@playwrightsguild.ca.
Not a Member of PGC? Click HERE for Membership.
