Page to Stage
Page to Stage 2021 is open for submissions
*** If you submitted a play in 2020 and wish to reapply for 2021, please submit again ***
What is Page to Stage?
Page to Stage is the Writers’ Summer School’s miniature short-play festival. It exists chiefly to provide playwrights, whatever their level of experience, with an opportunity to develop a short script through brief rehearsal and performance.
Five-minute plays are submitted in the months prior to the Summer School. They are then read, as anonymous scripts, by an independent panel, which selects several to progress in the scheme. These plays are then cast, rehearsed and performed at Swanwick before a reliably appreciative audience. The focus is on encouraging and developing play-writing, but there’s also the added incentive of awards for the audience’s favourite scripts and performances
Five-minute plays are submitted in the months prior to the Summer School. They are then read, as anonymous scripts, by an independent panel, which selects several to progress in the scheme. These plays are then cast, rehearsed and performed at Swanwick before a reliably appreciative audience. The focus is on encouraging and developing play-writing, but there’s also the added incentive of awards for the audience’s favourite scripts and performances
Why should I take part?
Any of the following reasons! If you:
- have an interest in writing theatre scripts (even a completely new interest)
- would like to build a little experience by writing something short, to a deadline
- want to see what happens when a script you’ve written is taken up and performed by others
- would value the feedback that comes from the rehearsal and performance process
- want to see something you’ve written on stage, in front of an audience
- have a touch more experience and like the sound of the challenge of writing a complete play that lasts for only five minutes
How can I submit a script?
Quite simply, write a script and, between 1 March and 31 May, send it to the submissions email address, which is:
page2stage@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
There are a few core dates and criteria you need to bear in mind:
page2stage@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
There are a few core dates and criteria you need to bear in mind:
- The window for submissions is open from 1 March. It closes again at the end of 31 May. Scripts received after the end of May will not be considered.
- Only one play may be submitted per person.
- If you don’t receive an email acknowledging receipt of your script within a few days of sending it, please contact us (initially using the same page2stage email address) to check, as this may indicate that your script was not received.
- Writers will be notified of whether their script has been selected in the first week of July.
- Scripts should have a performance length of five minutes.
- Plays need to be suitable for performance in a small, simple space, with minimal props and furniture, provision of which is the responsibility of the writer. (See Guidelines for more details.)
- Casting of all plays will be handled at the Summer School, by the Page to Stage organisers. Do not pre-cast your play. This is the same system as in 2019, but is a change from previous years. If you participated in Page to Stage in the years up to to 2018, please note this change in procedure – don’t plan on bringing a pre-selected cast. (See Guidelines for more details.)
- Your play script should be anonymous. Identify yourself in the email you send with the script, but please do not write your name in the script. (See Guidelines for more details.)
- Please only submit one script. We won’t consider multiple scripts from the same writer. Do take part again in later years, though.
I sent a script last year. Will it be considered automatically?
No – please submit again this year. You can send the same script or a new one.
The whole process is starting over – it’s the fairest way.
The whole process is starting over – it’s the fairest way.
Those are the key details – enough to get started. However, as you go, you should also consult the more detailed Guidelines, which offer some further clarification and detail to the above. We have also compiled a list of tips for Page to Stage writers, built on the experience of previous years and on comments from our judges: well worth reading to help you on your way to penning a perfect script.
You can get an idea of the types of play that become big hits at Swanwick by taking a look at the YouTube videos of plays that have made it from page to stage in 2018 and 2019.
You can get an idea of the types of play that become big hits at Swanwick by taking a look at the YouTube videos of plays that have made it from page to stage in 2018 and 2019.
Thanks, in advance, to Stockport Garrick Theatre for judging the submitted scripts for the third year running.
Downloads
Page to Stage Guidelines
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Play-Writing Tips
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