Are you interested in submitting a play for consideration for Cottage Theatre's 2011 season? Here is an outline of the application and selection process, along with the criteria the Artistic Committee will use to evaluate submissions. If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Eldridge, Artistic Committee Chair (heidi@cottagetheatre.org).

The complete play submission packet is available here in MS Word or Adobe PDF format. 

• Read through the Play Selection packet (see link above) in its entirety.

• Complete the Play Submission Form and submit it to the Artistic Committee with all necessary material by March 1, 2010.  Remember to include with your Play Submission Form:
  

1 copy of the script
1 copy of a CD or tape of the music (if submitting a musical)

**The Committee understands that scripts for musicals can be difficult to obtain. Please email heidi@cottagetheatre.org if you need assistance.***

• You will be notified about CT’s decision regarding your submission by July 1st, 2010. Scripts and CDs/tapes will be returned.

Selection Process

• The Artistic Committee will read the submissions and present a season proposal to the CT Board. The proposal will include the following information:

For the six plays and one CT Extra show that the Artistic Committee suggests for the 2011 season:

• Director’s Play Submission Form
• Brief explanation of why the submission is a good candidate for the upcoming season.
• Rough budget.
  

For all plays that are not accepted:

• Director’s Play Submission Form.
• Brief explanation of why the submission should not be accepted for the upcoming season.
• If applicable, recommendations for how the director could improve his/her chances of directing in the future (e.g., more experience, assistance choosing plays that are more feasible given CT’s budget and resources, etc.).
  

• The CT Board of Directors will approve or disapprove the proposed season at the June meeting. If the Board of Directors rejects the Committee’s proposed choices, the Artistic Committee will have one week to revise and resubmit a new schedule, based on recommendations from the CT Board of Directors.
• The Artistic Committee Chair will notify all directors about the final decision regarding their submissions by July 1st, 2010.
• For the 2011 Season, the Artistic Committee will be looking to select six shows for our subscription season, and one show for our CT Extra program.  Typically, the subscription season contains three musicals and three plays, with a mix of comedies and dramas. The CT Extra program is a place where we may try out shows that are a little more experimental in nature, appeal less to a wide market, or may be written by local or unknown playwrights.  If submitting a show for consideration as a CT Extra production, please keep in mind that these shows typically have a much smaller budget, and a much shorter run (generally two weekends only) than our mainstage productions and choose your submission accordingly. If we receive a submission for the subscription season that we feel is more appropriately placed as a CT Extra show, we may contact you about your willingness to be considered for this slot.

Selection Criteria (in no particular ranking or order)

• Director’s Experience in Theatre

Directing is not a skill that you want to learn on the fly. If you are a potential director with no previous experience such as directing, assistant directing, or stage managing, please consider gaining more experience before tackling a show of your own.

• Director’s People Skills

CT is a 100% volunteer-operated organization. People volunteer to participate in productions because they love theatre. No matter how brilliant your vision, your ability to work with people will determine whether or not those volunteers return in the future.

• The Play Submission Form

The Play Submission Form is your chance to "sell" your play to CT. The level of preparation, organization and thought that goes into the assembly of your packet could be seen as indicative of how you might run a production.

• Appeal of Play to Audience

Given that the sustainability of CT depends heavily on ticket sales, the marketability of your play is crucial. If your play is not especially well-known or is not written by a well-known author, you might strengthen your submission by discussing what aspects of the play could be emphasized in publicity to hook an audience.

• Balance of Material and Roles

CT strives to offer a variety of comedy, drama and musicals during any given season. Furthermore, we try to balance the number of male and female roles. You may want to think about submitting both a comedy and a drama, or if submitting a male heavy show, consider submitting a show that has mostly female roles as well.

• Ability of CT to Produce the Play

Across seasons, CT’s financial situation and available resources vary. Please feel free to talk to the Artistic Committee Chair (or CT Artistic Director Amanda Ferguson) about what can be realistically produced.

Other factors not listed here also go into the Artistic Committee choice. Think of the above as guidelines, not a guarantee that your show will be accepted.

** In the event that not enough appropriate submissions are received, the Committee reserves the right to solicit other submissions.**