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Step 1
Before you send any play anywhere, you want to have several valued friends read your piece and give you their opinion on it. This will give you time to rewrite before starting to send it out into the world, and giving you a better chance at sending out your best, most polished work. Theaters are inundated with bad writing, so you want to make yours great before taking up their time.
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Step 2
Go the bookstore and get a copy of The Writer's Market. There will be a section on playwriting. You can start by reading what each theater requires - sometimes you contact them by query letter, other theaters require that you send the whole manuscript. Try and only send to theaters that do your style of play - comedy, musical, drama, etc. This widens your chances of success, and lessens the number of submissions you have to make.
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Step 3
Go to local coffeehouses or theaters in your town. There are usually talent nights where people get together to put on different types of shows. You could find a group of people doing readings, and get your play on their schedule. These are usually free events.
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Step 4
Check with the drama department in community colleges in your area. There is often a renegade group of actors hungry to try out their skills. You might develop your own group using these actors as your cast.
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Step 5
Set up your own group by posting a flyer in arts centers, coffeehouses or colleges, and auditioning actors, then having the reading in a venue you choose. Or have an informal reading with a group of your friends in your living room first, to get a feel for the piece privately.
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Step 6
Pick up a copy of your local newspaper. There will be listings in the theater/arts/entertainment section for small local theaters. Contact these theaters and see if they accept submissions, or have a yearly festival or ongoing reading series. It's best to find a theater who will do a reading nearby so you can actually attend it.
Comments
chava812 said
on 3/15/2008 Cool information! Never thought of some of those!!