This is a call for playwrights who are exploring controversial matters and/or matters for which it is difficult to find words. The scenes need to have the potential to provoke conversations on more than one side of an issue. In other words, we are looking for dialogue rather than polemics. We will select two playwrights.
Participants will need to be available for two 6-hour workshops, one to be held on Friday October 20th and another to be held on Friday November 3.
In the first workshop session, scenes will be read and discussed at length with a group of actors who will portray the roles. The playwrights will then revise the scenes in the intervening weeks. The second workshop session will include a morning of rehearsal and an afternoon reading presentation before an audience. The presentation will be followed by a moderated discussion.
The director of the workshops is Eastman Professor, Anna Deavere Smith.
Deadline: Candidates for participation should submit an outline of a proposed scene by TUESDAY (week 1) 10 OCTOBER 12 noon. The outline submission should be no more than four pages single-sided and double-spaced A4 minimum font 10. Playwrights shortlisted may be asked to have a short online conversation with Anna Deavere Smith as part of the selection process. If selected, playwrights can choose to work on either one or two scenes, but the total pages will be limited to ten, and make use of no more than four actors.
Submissions should be sent to english.office@ell.ox.ac.uk and sent from your University of Oxford email address as your contact. Any enquiries before the deadline should be sent to the same email address.
Eligibility: Applicants must be students (undergraduate or postgraduate) of the University of Oxford in any subject who are on course in Michaelmas term 2023. No previous experience in playwrighting is required.
