Spark Theatre Festival NYC Now Accepting Submissions For 2026

Emerging Artists Theatre is now accepting submissions for the Spring Spark Theatre Festival NYC. The Spring festival will be broken into two categories: workshop productions and fully developed new work. Additionally, some productions may be given more than one performance slot.

The festival will run April 6 – 26, 2026 at The 28th Street Theatre, located at 15 W 28th Street in New York City. Submissions of short plays, musicals, solo performances, dance, cabaret, sketch comedy, jazz, burlesque, monologues, storytelling, and subway musicians/acts are now being accepted. If you have an artistic discipline that isn't mentioned or is “out of the box,” please feel free to submit. 

Spark Theatre Festival NYC showcases polished works-in-progress. Many of the pieces that are showcased at the festival are being presented in front of an audience for the first time. Each participant is given the option of doing a talkback following their performance, where they may ask the audience for feedback on their work.

Artists showcase their works-in-progress, whether as a staged reading or an off-book presentation.

Shows run nightly Monday through Sunday at 7 pm, Saturdays at 7pm and 9pm, and Sundays at 2pm, 5 pm, and 7 pm. Presentation slots are 60 minutes. If you are submitting a short piece, you will be paired with another play or dance piece to create a 60-minute show slot. Submissions must be a minimum of 5 minutes for dance pieces and monologues. Productions may not be performed 3 months prior to or a month after the Spark Theatre Festival.

To submit a new work, please visit www.emergingartiststheatre.org/submissions

The deadline for submissions is midnight (EST) December 1st, 2025. Participants will be notified on a rolling basis starting in mid-January. There are no submission or festival fees, and participants receive a 50/50 box-office split when the required audience guarantee of 1 ticket per minute of performance is met. Past artists who have packed the house have made between $300 to $900 for 30 minutes to an hour presentation. All participants must be fully vaccinated. 

Application and submission guidelines are available at https://emergingartiststheatre.org/submissions