Risk Is This… Submission Guidelines

Submit Your New Experimental Plays

We are opening up our submission window for our 2016 RISK IS THIS Festival again!**

The Cutting Ball Theater will be accepting submissions of new experimental plays from January 15 through February 15, 2015 for consideration for the 2015-2016 season’s RISK IS THIS Festival and possible future productions. We are eager to support the work of established and emerging writers who explore bold, challenging new forms in their writing.

Please read the following submission guidelines carefully before submitting your work.

  1. In order to effectively manage the volume of submissions, scripts will only be accepted between January 15 and February 15, 2015.
  2. All scripts considered for RISK IS THIS must be experimental plays – plays that employ unconventional, dynamic and imaginative language, structure, and staging. We encourage authors to look at Cutting Ball’s past productions and plays selected in previous RISK IS THIS festivals.
  3. All scripts considered for RISK IS THIS must not have previously received a professional production with AEA actors. Workshops, readings and non-professional productions are ok. Please do not submit material previously submitted to RISK IS THIS.
  4. Submission fee is $25* ($22 + $3 service fee).*
  5. All authors will receive acknowledgment of receipt of submission. Notifications about selections for the festival will be sent in the spring of 2015.

To Submit

  • Go to this page (which will be active beginning January 15) and follow the instructions.
  • You will receive a digital receipt in the body of an email. Forward this email to [email protected]. Change the subject line to “Writer’s Full Name_Play Name” (e.g. Samuel Beckett_Endgame). Attach your play submission. Submissions should be attached to the email as a Word Document (.doc or .docx) or PDF. No hard copies will be accepted.

All submissions must be in a single document, with page numbers and the author’s name and email on each page. Please title your file ““Writer’s full name_Play Name” (e.g. Samuel Beckett_Endgame). All submissions must include the following elements, in this order:

  • A title page, with the script title, the author’s name and contact information.
  • A one-page synopsis of the play, with a list of characters and other special requirements.
  • A production and developmental history of the play (including readings, workshops, and non-professional productions)
  • The script itself, in standard script format.
  • A one page resume or bio of the writer (optional)

Any questions about the submission process or the RISK IS THIS Festival should be directed towards the literary manager, Rem Myers (rem@cuttingball.com.)

*Why is there a submission fee?

As the submission process for RISK has grown, so have the administrative costs around handling submissions. All fees collected will go directly to costs related to the application process and to support the production of new experimental work here at Cutting Ball.

** To the playwrights who submitted in the fall **

Thank you for already submitting! Our literary committee has been diligently reading your plays and many have already sparked fantastic conversations. Please note that even though we have reopened the submission window, we are (of course) still considering ALL plays submitted to us last fall.