StageQ announces a call for short play script submissions for our annual festival of LGBT plays, Queer Shorts 2.1! Now in its 12th year, Queer Shorts has been a series of sold-out, smash hits and we invite you to be part of the fun again this year!

This year’s theme is Queer Love

Submissions will be taken between August 1 through October 20.  Our script raters this year will be evaluating all submissions using the following criteria:

• Fits Theme – This is the biggest one, all scripts MUST follow the theme to even be considered.
• Grammar/Format – Call us language snobs, but synopses and scripts full of typos, spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors are not going to knock our socks off.
• Length – Scripts should average anywhere between 5 or 10 minutes. 15 at maximum, but that’s pushing it. We like to have around 9 or 10 plays fill 2 hours with a 15-minute intermission.
• Set Complexity – Queer Shorts is known for its minimalist set, using only blocks and cubes for set pieces and the cast/crew using only props and costumes they can find on their own. The less complex the set, or minimum set requirements the better.
• Number of Cast – While having 2 characters in a play is acceptable, our most recent season’s performance was made up of 9 two character stories. Plays with 3+ characters will have better consideration in the final decision process as it allows more opportunities for our local actors.
• Overall Story – And of course, having a story that resonates with our audience is key. When putting everything together for the final line-up, having a string of quality stories is a challenge we like to be faced with.

Keep in mind, we read anywhere between 100-300 scripts for Queer Shorts each year and accept 10 or 11, so make yours easy for us to love. We acknowledge all scripts received, so if you don’t hear back from us within a couple of weeks, we likely have not received your submission. All submissions will receive a response whether your script has been accepted or rejected. This response will come at the end of November at the latest.

Queer Shorts will be performed for two weeks in early February (a departure from our annual summer time slot to better fit the theme with the holiday) at the Bartell Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin in the Drury auditorium.

Please send submissions to queershorts@stageq.com

Thank you all, and good luck!