Stage Rights Announces Winner of First Ready to Publish Award

Stage Rights has announced that Laura King is the recipient of the first ever Ready to Publish Award, which will be given annually in partnership with the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC). Laura was selected from five finalists who pitched their scripts at this year's SETC Annual Convention held in Greensboro, North Carolina.

As the winner of the Ready to Publish Award, Laura will receive six months of development for her play, ?Independence Day at Happy Meadows? in preparation for publication in the 2017 Stage Rights Catalog of Plays and Musicals. Additionally, Laura will receive 2017 SETC Annual Convention registration, a cash prize, and a reading of her play sponsored by the SETC Playwriting Committee.

Featuring a cast of women in their 70s, Independence Day at Happy Meadows follows four fed-up residents of the Happy Meadows Nursing Home. It's the 4th of July and these women have independence in mind! They're fed up with the rules, the regulations, and especially the food. When senior resident Holly receives a cry for help from her grandson, she rallies her comrades in arms and the women plot a break out. However, even the best laid plans often go awry.

Laura King is a member of the Hollins Playwrights Lab and an instructor of theatre at Gordon State College. She has had 10-minute plays produced across the country. Laura's full-length play Blood Will Out premiered in June 2014 (New Origins Theatre Company). Her holiday play The Harmony Baptist Church Ladies Auxiliary Christmas Jubilee premiered in December 2015 (Lionheart Theatre). Laura's plays are available at YouthPLAYS, Polychoron Press, the New Play Exchange, and now at Stage Rights.

Independence Day at Happy Meadows joins Getchell Award-winning Scrambled (by Beth Kander), LA Weekly Award-winning Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes (by Jaime Robledo), and the off-Broadway hits Application Pending (by Greg Edwards & Andy Sandberg) and The Marvelous Wonderettes (created by Roger Bean) as the latest award winner in the Stage Rights Catalog of Plays and Musicals.

Based in Los Angeles and founded in 2000, Stage Rights is one of the foremost independent theatrical publishers in the United States, providing stage performance rights for a wide range of plays and musicals to theater companies, schools, and other producing organizations across the country and internationally. As a licensing agent, Stage Rights is committed to providing each producer the tools they need for financial and artistic success. Stage Rights is dedicated to the future of live theatre, offering special programs that champion new theatrical works.