The Vermont Playwrights Circle seeks scripts for the Twelfth TenFest, a ten-minute play festival to be held at the Valley Players Theater in Waitsfield, Vermont. This year our dates and schedule are different. The Valley Players is celebrating their 40th anniversary! Since we must work around this exciting year of great theater they have planned, the timing of TenFest has changed. This year only, our performance dates, our focus, and our title will be different. We are proud to announce that “FantasyFest: A TenFest Halloween Extravaganza” will be going up on October 31st and run through November 3rd. For the first time ever, our program will include onlyplays of the fantastic, the weird and the wonderful. Specifically, we are looking for plays of a speculative nature, dealing with fantasy, fairy tales, science fiction, and horror. Well, it is Halloween weekend. Plays must deal with this theme to be eligible. In 2020 TenFest will return to the third weekend in August as usual.

Also, as usual, only Vermont playwrights are eligible to submit. A Vermont playwright is defined by VPC as anyone who currently lives in Vermont, was born in Vermont or who has lived in Vermont for three months consecutively at some point in his or her life. Please carefully read and follow these guidelines.

1. A ten-minute play is usually no longer than 8-10 typed pages. We are now stricter about running time and will time your play before passing it along to our readers. Please read your script aloud to check the time. Remember to add time for any non-verbal actions. Please do not send us a play that you know is longer even though you have squeezed it into 10 pages.

2. Only plays with five or fewer characters will be considered. Please note that we tend to have many more women actors than men, so plays with roles for women (or that can be cast as any/either gender) are encouraged.

3. Although, of course, there are exceptions, especially in dealing with the fantastic, please keep in mind that some of the very best ten-minute plays of any genre take place in one scene, with one set, in one continuous time span, i.e., without time lapses.

4. Simple sets with limited set pieces are encouraged and appreciated. This helps facilitate quick set changes between plays. Remember much of the fantastic is there in the audience’s imagination.

5. Only one ten-minute play per author will be accepted.

6. Re-submissions will be accepted. Please double check that you have followed all the guidelines and have made significant revisions if necessary to comply with any changed guidelines.

7. Format for submissions:

a. Please submit FOUR titled copies of the script, typed and in standard play format, such as http://playwrightscentersf.org/submissions/docs/PCSFPlayFormat2012.pdf. Use a font such as Courier, Arial, or Times, 12-point, with one-inch margins.

b. The playwright’s name should not appear on any pages of the script. However, the title of the play and pagination SHOULD most definitely be included on all pages.

c. Include the playwright’s name and contact information on a separate cover page only. No bound scripts. A simple staple in the top left hand corner will suffice.

d. Submit a one-page sheet with a full character listing, including a brief description of each character, synopsis of no more than 50-75 words, and a single tag line (ex: Two artists meet in a park, confusion ensues).

8. There is no reading/submission fee.

9. Playwrights will be notified on or near September 1st, 2019.

10. Postmark Deadline is July 1, 2019.

For info/questions: vtplaywrightscircle@gmail.com

E-mail submissions cannot be accepted at this time. Please mail scripts and forms to:

The Vermont Playwrights Circle

TenFest/FantasyFest Competition

32 Main Street, #184, Montpelier, VT 05602