Premiere Play Festival
of new play development
Premiere Stages Play Festival
Submissions will OPEN on SEPTEMBER 1, 2025!
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting emerging and regional playwrights by developing and producing new plays. Since 2005, the Premiere Play Festival has offered playwrights the opportunity to develop their work in an encouraging, focused environment through discussions, rehearsals, readings, workshops, and Equity productions.
Through the Premiere Play Festival, Premiere Stages has developed many plays that have gone on to have successful productions in New York and at regional theatres throughout the country. We strive to facilitate relationships between writers and theatre professionals who we think will respond to their work, in hopes that plays developed at Premiere will go on to subsequent productions. We offer Play Festival winners the option to retain the coveted “World Premiere” brand on their plays. Additionally, Premiere’s productions are consistently reviewed, scouted by major publishing houses, and honored by the American Theatre Critics Association.
Submissions open
SEPT
1
2025
Submissions close
NOV
1
2025
Play Festival Guidelines
Submit Sep 1 - Nov 1, 2025
Premiere Stages will accept submissions of unproduced plays written by playwrights affiliated with the greater metropolitan area from September 1, 2025, through November 1, 2025. All plays submitted to the festival are evaluated by a panel of professional theatre producers, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, and publishers. Four to five finalists are subsequently selected for public Equity readings in Spring of 2026.
Awards
Following the Spring readings, one play is selected for an Equity production in the Premiere Stages 2027 season and receives an award of $3,000. The runner-up receives a 29-hour staged reading and $1,500. The other finalists will each be awarded $1,000.
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting a diverse group of writers; playwrights of all backgrounds, ages, and experience levels are encouraged to apply.
Submission Guidelines
PDF format submissions only
- Plays must be full-length and have a cast size of no more than eight.
- Plays must be unpublished and unproduced (readings and workshops are okay), with no productions and/or publication currently scheduled through September 2027.
- Playwrights must have strong affiliations with the greater metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware).
- Musicals, adaptations (of existing plays or other sources), and solo shows are not eligible.
- Submissions are limited to one script per playwright.
- Please contact Premiere Stages to inquire about submitting a script that has been previously submitted. Generally, playwrights are encouraged to submit a new script unless there have been significant revisions to the previous submission.
- Playwrights must be available for the development of their script (see the 2025 – 2026 schedule table).
- Submissions are accepted September 1, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. on November 1, 2025. Submissions sent early in the submission window are strongly encouraged.
- Names and contact information are welcome on cover pages of scripts.
- All plays must be submitted as a PDF via Submittable at premierestagesatkean.submittable.com/submit. Hard copies will not be accepted.
2025-2026 Schedule
Sep 1, 2025
Submissions open
Nov 1, 2025
Submissions close
Spring 2026
Finalists selected
June 2026
Finalists’ readings at Premiere Stages in Union, NJ
Summer 2026 - TBA
Festival winner and runner-up are selected for expanded development
2026 - TBA
Equity 29-hour staged reading of runner-up at Premiere Stages
2027 - TBA
Equity production (LOA referenced to LORT) of festival winner at Premiere Stages
Non-Agent Submissions
No Agent? No problem!
Premiere Stages now accepts full manuscripts for all submissions. Submissions must include:
- Brief synopsis of the play (no more than half a page)
- History of the play’s development (or statement that it has none)
- The playwright’s bio or resume
- Members of the Premiere Stages literary team will read at least 10 pages of every play submitted and will decide if the play should be further considered by the Play Festival Panel.
All plays must be submitted as a PDF via Submittable at premierestagesatkean.submittable.com/submit. Hard copies will not be accepted.
Agent Submissions
Premiere Stages will invite literary agents or theatre professionals affiliated with Premiere Stages to submit scripts directly.