Theatre Vertigo's One Page Play Festival

Just as it's wise to read outside your comfort zone, it's also good—and fun—to experiment with your writing as well. If you're not normally a playwright, you may find an upcoming contest from Portland's Theatre Vertigo a great opportunity to exercise those particular writing muscles. Here's the press release:

Words, words, words. Normally, theatres ask you for money when talking about fundraising but Theatre Vertigo is asking for your words. We are rapidly ending our 9th season as "Portland's Premier Acting Ensemble" and would like you to contribute to our next fundraiser. We are holding "The One Page Play Festival" in Portland, OR, Summer 2007 (date and location TBA) and need you to write a play.

Think it might be hard? Well, you only have to write A SINGLE PAGE. That's right. One page. The theme is Dirty Laundry: America's Best Unkept Secrets. Let your imagination take you from there. We are looking for just about any genre, so the sky's is the limit.

Originally conceived by Robert Caisely, Associate Professor at the University of Idaho, the One Page Play Festival allows every playwright to contribute to this exciting event. Don't think you're a writer? You have one page to find out. Please read the submission guidelines below and then write your play. We encourage all skills, ideas, and scripts!

If you would like to submit a play to Theatre Vertigo's One Page Play Festival, please submit your plays to onepageplays@theatrevertigo.org, following these guidelines:

1. Plays must be no longer than one-page in length (9–12 pt font)
2. Plays must not have been previously produced or published in any form
3. Maximum of 4 characters per script
4. Maximum of 4 entries per writer
5. Plays must address, directly or indirectly, the festival theme of Dirty Laundry: America's Best "Unkept" Secrets
6. Plays can either be comic or dramatic, in any style or genre
7. Plays must have extremely limited production/staging demands, as the play will be produced "without decor"
8. Entries must be submitted via e-mail as an attachment in MS Word format or PDF (and should include the author's name, address, phone number, a brief bio, and one-sentence description of the play in the body of the email. The subject of the e-mail should read as follows:
RE: "OnePagePlays/author's full name" (OnePagePlays/Jessica Rabbit)"
9. All entries must include a cover page (in the same file as the script itself) that includes the title, the author's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address
10. We will notify you when we have received your script and in the following weeks, we notify you if your script has been selected.
11. Deadline is May 1st.