For nearly three decades Long Beach Playhouse (LBP) has given both novice and experienced playwrights a chance to have their work presented during a staged reading at its New Works Festival, established in 1990.

Now in its 28th year, the annual competition is encouraging submissions to have unproduced work considered for a prize, staged reading, and a moderated talkback with the audience and critiques from theater professionals, LBP announced today.

The festival’s mission is to “help established and emerging playwrights develop new works as a part of LBP’s commitment to the arts. And to give each winner a quality reading that focuses on the words of the playwright to service the objective evaluation and critique of their work.”

Following the June 30 submission deadline, each play is evaluated by members of the Literary Committee, then winners are selected. Criteria for submitted plays are that they have never been produced, are full length and are not musicals. The $10 submission fee offsets the cost of staff time needed for auditions and videotaping of the readings, according to New Works Festival Co-Chairs Laura Claggett and Anna Kate Mohler.

“It’s an honor to read the plays and to put on the staged readings. We feel like it’s important to nurture playwrights and are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of a play’s progress from creative inception to actual production,” LBP Executive Director Madison Mooney said in a statement.

The New Works Festival will take place one weekend at the end of March, when each day one of the winning plays will be presented as a public staged reading in the LBP’s Studio Theater. Playwrights will get to hear their words brought to life by actors, followed by audience feedback, detailed written critiques by professional theatre critics, in addition to winners receiving a $100 honorarium and a digital recording of their reading, according to the release.

To submit a play, please visit the link here for requirements and to download the submission form.

Asia Morris is a Long Beach native covering arts and culture for the Long Beach Post. You can reach her @hugelandmass on Twitter and Instagram and at [email protected].