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Click to download 2013 10-MINUTE PLAY brochure
About
The Durango Arts Center is pleased to sponsor a 10-Minute Play Contest, which celebrates playwrights–emerging and professional–and culminates in a full production in September.
10-minute plays were officially introduced by the Actors Theatre of Louisville in 1977, when the genre was promoted as part of the Humana Festival of new American Plays. Often referred to as the “haiku of the American stage,” as well as “a streak of theatrical lightning,” 10-minute plays have become an engaging and popular genre for today’s audiences and playwrights.
Staged readings of the five finalists in the 2013 10-Minute Play Contest take place on May 17 at 7 p.m. at The Durango Arts Center in Durango, CO. The top contest entries will be presented as staged readings. The Judges will select the top five entries and the winner of the Grand Prize Award ($500). Audience members will select their favorite 10-Minute Play for an award of $50.
The 2012 10-Minute Play finalists were: Grand Prize ($500) Conversation Involving Doppler the Cat by David Brendon Hopes of Asheville, North Carolina; People’s Choice Award ($50) Eternity by Elan Garonzik of New York, New York. Read more about David and Elan here.
Contest Guidelines and Rules
- Only original plays, never before produced, are eligible.
- Each play should require two to four characters and minimal props and costumes.
- The play, exclusive of title and cast pages, may be no more than ten pages.
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The Judging Process
- A panel will judge the plays blindly.
- Ten finalists will be chosen. Only the finalists will be notified of judging results.
- Five winners will be chosen from the finalists.
- The Grand Prize Winner will receive the Grand Prize, $500, and a production of the winning script.
- Winning playwrights agree to permit the Durango Arts Centerto produce their contest entry play without compensation if the DAC chooses to do so. Authors retain copyright and full ownership of their plays.
- Authors may submit multiple plays, but each play must include a separate entry fee.
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2013 Schedule of Events
February 15, 2013 – Deadline for submissions (Entries must be postmarked on or before February 15).
May 17, 2013 – The top contest entries will be presented as staged readings at The Durango Arts Center in Durango, CO. The Judges will select the top five entries and the winner of the Grand Prize Award ($500). Audience members will select their favorite 10-Minute Play for an award of $50.
September 13–14, 2013 – The Grand Prize winning play and selected others will be performed at the Durango Arts Center.
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Contest Director
Theresa A. Carson is the artistic director and theater manager of the Durango Arts Center. For the past six years she served as the director of the San Juan College Theatre in Farmington, New Mexico. This is also her fourth year serving as artistic director of Sandstone Productions for the City of Farmington. Recent directing credits include Beehive, the ’60s Musical, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, and Always…Patsy Cline with the Durango Arts Center; Little Shop of Horrors, Glengarry Glen Ross, Sweeney Todd, and Wit with the SJC Theatre; and Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma!, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and Fiddler on the Roof with Sandstone Productions.
Artistic Consultants
Dr. Dinah Leavitt Swan, retired professor of theatre at Fort Lewis College, served as director of the highly acclaimed Theatre Oxford 10-Minute Play Contest in Oxford, Mississippi. An actor, director, and published playwright herself, she is both the competition and production contest.
Terry Swan, President of the Durango Arts Center Board of Directors, also brings valuable expertise from his work with the Theatre Oxford 10-Minute Play Contest. Mr. Swan is the former managing director of the New Stage Theatre in Jackson, and served as the Durango Arts Center’s producer for Mississippi, and served its highly acclaimed production of Always…Patsy Cline.
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For more information, email TenMinutePlayDirector@gmail.com.
