Where Cocoa Beach Meets the Stage

301 Ramp Road

Cocoa Beach, FL, 32931

(321) 783-3127

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Playwriting Competitions

The annual Playwriting Contest was founded in 2001 to offer local Brevard County playwrights an opportunity to present original full-length plays on Surfside’s stage with talented actors and staff.

During the pandemic, Surfside has hosted a number of 10-minute virtual playwriting competitions and readings.

The Annual Arlan Ropp Playwright Award

In Support of those who Write Stories for the Stage

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Original and never produced Full Length plays are solicited and assessed by an anonymous panel of judges. The submission deemed “Best Play” will be fully produced in its entirety. The winning playwright will also be awarded a cash prize of $500. Upon completion of the production, the playwright will be encouraged to submit the play to state and national competitions.

Current submission deadline s is April 30th.

Performance dates are July 26th – August 4th

 

CONTEST RULES (Please read carefully)

  • Submissions will be accepted by Brevard, Indian River & Volusia County residents only.
  • Plays should be a minimum of 90 minutes playing time including intermission.
  • Plays must be original, unpublished, and un-produced.
  • A full-length adaptation of a one-act play produced in another venue (for example, Playwrights’ Workshop of Brevard) is permitted for the Playwriting Contest.
  • Plays may be on any subject and of any style EXCLUDING musicals and children’s plays.
  • A playwright may submit only one entry.
  • All submissions will be made to bryan@creativedirection.biz.
  • An emailed copy of each play should be submitted with a title page indicating:
    • the title, type of play, author’s name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
    • a separate title page indicating the title and type of play only. The author’s name should not appear in the manuscript anywhere except the original title page.
  • Hand-written or printed scripts will not be accepted. Only emailed scripts submitted in PDF format will be accepted.
  • No revisions will be accepted once a script has been submitted.
  • Surfside Playhouse reserves the right to accept or reject any play submitted.
  • Surfside will select a director, and the director will control all artistic interpretations of the script; however, script changes requested by the director can be made with the playwright’s approval.
  • The level of cooperation between playwright and the rehearsal process shall be at the discretion of the director. This includes the playwright’s attendance at rehearsals.
  • Deadline for submission is April 30th, 2024 at 11:59pm.
  • Entries will be assessed by an independent panel of judges. Judges may choose to provide written critiques, but this is at the discretion of each judge.
 
 

For information, call 321-394-1956 or email bryan@creativedirection.biz