Submissions to Open for the 2024 Relentless Award Next Week

Submissions for The American Playwriting Foundation and Building for the Arts' annual Relentless Award will open Monday, November 20, 2023 and Will Close on December 20th, 2023. The writer of the winning submission will receive $50,000, the largest cash prize in American theater presented to an unproduced work. There is no fee to apply. 

The American Playwriting Foundation, established in 2015 in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and his relentless pursuit of truth in the theater, has presented the Relentless Award annually to a​ ​playwright in recognition of a new work. In 2022, the Award expanded its scope to include musical theater, in honor of Adam Schlessinger, and the recently launched Picket Plays, recognizing short plays written by striking members of the WGA. The Relentless Award has led the way in spotlighting some of theater’s brightest new talents​, ​includ​ing​ Clare Barron, Sarah DeLappe, and Aleshea Harris, whose winning plays have been produced around the country and internationally, to wide acclaim. 

Led by David Bar Katz, the Relentless Award Selection Committee places special emphasis on works that are fearless in their choice of subject matter, featuring passionate voices that are relentlessly truthful. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Relentless judge Lynn Nottage said, “The Relentless Award celebrates writing that disrupts and upends our notions of what can be presented on the American stage. We are looking for brave, fearless and imaginative writers, who despite the tug of the industry at large, remain unabashedly true to their own voices.” 

The Relentless Award subcommittee, led by Literary Manager and Artistic Producer Anna O’Donoghue, selects eight finalists from thousands of submissions using blind evaluation, keeping the writers completely anonymous throughout the process. Judges will have no knowledge of the identity, gender, or race of a work’s creators. Criteria for submission casts a wide net of eligibility – essentially any unproduced new play is eligible – and submissions by first-time playwrights of all identities are especially encouraged. 

The winner of the Relentless Award will be selected by a panel of judges including Eric Bogosian, Thomas Bradshaw, Lynn Nottage and Jonathan Marc Sherman. 

The winning playwright, along with finalists and semifinalists, will also receive opportunities to have their work developed at various theatrical institutions, including a series of staged readings at Theatre Row. 

Eligibility/Criteria for Submission 

• There is no fee to apply. 
• Only full-length plays are eligible for the Relentless Award.
• The work must be unproduced and cannot have had a previous professional production or a current production commitment.
• Applications are limited to plays by writers with United States citizenship, those who possess a green card, or those who are otherwise authorized to work in the U.S. 
• Writers must be at least 21 years old.
• Works may be based on underlying material, in which case proof of authorization or right to adapt the underlying material must be uploaded with the application if it is not in the public domain.
• Plays that have previously been recognized as winners, finalists, semi-finalists, or honorable mentions by the Relentless Awards are ineligible.
• Musicals are ineligible. 

The submission window is from November 20 until December 20, 2023. For details on how to submit and required materials, please visit americanplaywritingfoundation.org/the-relentless-award. 

Building for the Arts (BFA) expands access to the performing arts by providing creative space, learning opportunities, and hubs for artistic connection. BFA’s signature projects – Theatre Row, Music and the Brain, and the American Playwriting Foundation– nurture artists, audiences, and youth with a focus on accessibility and inclusion. 

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