44th Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2021 Open Play Applications

The 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) runs July 17-25, 2021 with playwrights invited to apply in September through October 16th, 2020. Following a flourishingly successful online Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2020 that gathered audiences and artists from all over the world, Playwrights Foundation applications are now open for the 2021 Festival.

One of the oldest and most successful new play festivals in the US. Established in 1976 by Robert Woodruff, the festival has continuously discovered original and distinctive new voices in the theater, and invested in the development of their work .BAPF has offered over 500 gifted and diverse emerging national writers a showcase for their newest work within an intensive creative crucible. Over 80% of the plays developed have gone on to successful productions, winning awards and accolades. The application window will be open through October 16 or until 750 scripts are received, whichever comes first.* Playwrights can find the full application guidelines on Playwrights Foundation's website at https://playwrightsfoundation.org/2020-21-play-applications/.

"The opportunities of BAPF2020 being online deepened our mission to serve as a launchpad for emerging writers by increasing ticket sales by 50% and theatre professionals attendance by almost 425%..." remarks Executive Artistic Director Jessica Bird Beza. "Although we don't know what 2021 will bring in terms of the pandemic, we are prepared with multiple scenarios to serve our playwrights and keep our artists and audience safe. We will continue to listen, innovate and adjust while hoping to keep an online aspect regardless of what happens."
New guidelines this year include shifts within the application that promote more inclusion and equity, with direction for allowing new theatrical works written for an online medium. The guidelines include a sliding scale application fee starting from $5-$30 to provide wider access with a closing of the application window if 750 scripts are received before the October 16th application window.*

"We want to be nimble in responding to the moment we're in with the pandemic and calls from the community for anti-racist theatre-making." states Literary Manager Heather Helinsky. Heather continues"This summer we spent time in conversation with the Dramatists Guild and the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas about best practices for new play development festivals. We then began brainstorming what kind of visible changes needed to be made to our policies that reflected Playwrights Foundations' values with these and other changes made in future seasons demonstrating our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion." Playwrights whose scripts are chosen for Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2021 will participate with two readings of their plays over the course of two weeks.

Each reading has a week of rehearsal before it where the playwright works with a director, dramaturg, and actors. The second developmental reading takes place during a Theater Professionals Weekend, which draws scores of theater professionals from across the country to connect with playwrights and scout new plays. Many of the hundreds of prize winning, nationally significant playwrights got their first professional experiences at the BAPF. Examples include Pulitzer Prize winners Nilo Cruz, Annie Baker and Sam Shepard, MacArthur Award winners Sam Hunter and Marcus Gardley, Lauren Gunderson (one of the most produced living playwrights in the U.S.), and Katori Hall prior to her Broadway debut.