Playwrights must either be a native of KY, or a current resident of KY (adjacent counties in Indiana and Ohio are accepted).
Plays should not have received more than 1 professional production in the Louisville, KY area.
Playwrights may submit up to 2 scripts...so send your best!
Plays should be properly formatted. We do not require you to be precise with the industry standard, but please take a moment to review the formatting info below to make sure you are following the standard to a great extent.
Plays are expected to be between 8 and 12 minutes. Plays noticably shorter or longer than that window will not be considered, regardless of merit.
PLEASE NOTE: SUBMITTED PLAYS MUST
EITHER BE SUBMITTED IN PDF OR MS WORD FORMAT
HAVE A SEPARATE TITLE PAGE WITH PLAY TITLE AND PLAYWRIGHT'S NAME. (NO PAGE NUMBER)
A SECOND PAGE WITH CHARACTER LISTINGS (DESCRIPTIONS, IF YOU HAVE THEM), SCENIC DESCRIPTION, PRODUCTION HISTORY IF APPLICABLE. (NO PAGE NUMBER), AND A PLAYWRIGHT BIO OF BETWEEN 100 AND 200 WORDS.
HAVE PAGE NUMBERS FOR THE PLAY ITSELF
UTILIZE 12-PT FONT AND 1-INCH MARGINS
BE 8 PAGES OR MORE (NOT INCLUDING TITLE PAGE AND DESCRIPTION PAGE)
BE 13 PAGES OR FEWER (NOT INCLUDING TITLE PAGE AND DESCRIPTION PAGE)
All genres accepted; however, plays with inordinate amounts of technical requirements are rarely selected. Our focus is on the play--the story, the performance of it. If your 10-minute play has numerous scene changes, elaborate lighting needs, or a live band from Tupelo, we will probably think it is fascinating, but we won't be able to produce it.
Due to the overwhelming number of submissions we've received in the past 12 months (over 1300), we are currently no longer able to accept OPEN submissions.
submissions via agent will continue to be accepted. before having your agent submit, though, please be sure to view our previous productions to get a sense of how well your play might fit with bard theatre.
we embrace comedies and dramatic pieces...we look for plays with engaging characters, honesty, and a love of words. Our space is intimate, and seek plays that would translate well in such a space. Small casts, great stories with pace, unit sets--we love these.