Babes With Blades Theatre Kicks Off 2017-18 JOINING SWORD & PEN Playwriting Competition

Babes With Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) announces the seventh round of JOINING SWORD & PEN, the international playwriting competition dedicated to expanding the canon of quality scripts featuring fighting roles for women.

Founded in 2005, JOINING SWORD & PEN asks writers to take inspiration from a work of visual art, using it as the basis for a new play. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by Fight Master David Woolley, Society of American Fight Directors.

All submissions must be new, original works, inspired by the artwork that is the focus of the contest. The moment depicted in the inspirational image must be incorporated into the play.

Submissions must be received by BWBTC by March 9, 2017.

The winner will receive the Margaret W. Martin Award: the play will undergo development via BWBTC's Fighting Words program prior to premiering as part of BWBTC's 2018-19 season, and the playwright will receive a $1,000.00 cash prize.

Artwork, rules, and deadlines are available on the BWBTC website at babeswithblades.org/joining-sword-pen.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company uses stage combat to place women and their stories center stage. Through performance, script development, training, and outreach, our ensemble creates theatre that explores the wide range of the human experience, and cultivates broader perspectives in the arts community and in society as a whole.

JOINING SWORD & PEN asks writers to take inspiration from a work of visual art, using it as the basis for a new play that both features complex roles for women, and explores staged violence as a storytelling tool. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by Fight Master David Woolley, Society of American Fight Directors. Six JOINING SWORD & PEN winners have been produced by BWBTC to date, most recently the Jeff Recommended THE PROMISE OF A ROSE GARDEN by Dustin Spence. A history of the competition is available at babeswithblades.org/joining-sword-pen/jsp-history.

David Woolley is a Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors, a Senior Lecturer/Combat Coordinator at Columbia College Chicago, and Guido Crescendo in DIRK & GUIDO: THE SWORDSMEN! Woolley began his sponsorship of the Margaret W. Martin Award in 2007; prior to that he sponsored the Ballantyne Award. He directed and choreographed JOINING SWORD & PEN winners AN AFFAIR OF HONOR (SATISFACTION) (2006) and LOS DESAPARECIDOS (2008), and choreographed A GULAG MOUSE (2010).