Thunder River Theatre Company announces an open call for Colorado playwrights (full-time residents only) to submit full-length plays for its new play development staged readings to be held August 10 and 11, 2013.

“Our company has always had a focus on outreach and a desire to help develop new works,“ said Lon Winston, Artistic Director of Thunder River Theatre Company. “A development series offers a forum for new voices in the theatre arts.”

The deadline for playwrights to submit works for this year’s opportunity is May 31, 2013. Playwrights are invited to mail scripts to Thunder River Theatre Company, New Play Development Series, 67 Promenade, Carbondale, CO 81623. Submission materials should include a vitae and all contact information. Plays must be new and unproduced.

A panel of TRTC and guest readers will evaluate all eligible submissions. One winning play will receive a staged reading at the Henry-award-winning Thunder River Theatre Company, named “Outstanding Regional Theatre.” TRTC reserves the right to decline selecting a winner in any given year based on the number and quality of submissions.

When a winner is selected, TRTC will rehearse the piece with an appropriate cast, culminating in a staged reading, presented free to the public at Thunder River Theatre Company. An audience talk back will follow each performance.

For a play to qualify, the playwright must commit to attend at least two full rehearsals. This allows minor rewrites to be considered if deemed appropriate. TRTC will locate housing for the winner in a theatre patron’s home. If a hotel is preferred, the playwright will be responsible for the cost. TRTC provides a small honorarium to help mitigate other travel expenses and meals.

“What distinguishes our development process,” noted Winston, “is that it’s designed to help playwrights find a path to production.” The theatre’s ideal goal is to help develop and produce new work from the development series as part of a future TRTC season, but there is no guarantee that any play selected for a reading will also receive a full production.

The Greater Good by Rebecca Gorman, professor at Metro State College in Denver, received a staged reading in 2011, and the 2010 development pick, Eudora’s Box by Kristin Carlson, was fully produced as part of TRTC’s 2011-2012 season.

For more information, E-Mail TRTC

• Please submit one, full-length, unproduced play per playwight.

• Employ a standard play format. If you are using Final Draft script writing software, do not format as a screenplay.

• Include your correct contact information on the front page of the script.

• Number the pages of the play only. Do not include your cover page, character description page, dedication page, and/or production history page in the page count.

• Please note that plays must be under two hours in length. A general rule of thumb is one minute of performance time = one page of dialogue.

• We will only accept a hard copy of your script (not an e-copy), unless you are specifically requested to do otherwise.

• Include a resume and a cover letter along with your play, as well as an SASE for response, not return of the play. Please understand that we cannot return scripts.

• Keep in mind that TRTC is an intimate 99-seat Black Box Equity Waiver Theatre. Extremely large casts and Broadway-musical sized sets would be prohibitive.

• We are looking for innovative, character-driven, thought-provoking plays and wish you the very best in creating them.

Good luck!