Scripts are accepted from active CPI members on a rolling year basis for each season which runs September through November and February through April. Submissions for our play festivals, such as Lovefest 4 are accepted up until the deadline.
To become a new member or renew your membership, please click on the “Members” tab to submit dues electronically or by US Mail.
We accept groupings of short plays (10 minutes in length that together equal 40 or 80 minutes of run time) meaning they are a compilation of 4 or 8 ten-minute plays submitted together. We also accept One-Act (45 minutes run time) and Full-Length plays (90 minutes run time).
Playwrights may submit any number of scripts for the season. Plays that do not meet the required page length/ run time will not be accepted and asked to be resubmitted if the playwright chooses to do so.
We discourage submitting musicals due to the difficulty in staging and equipment costs.
Plays must be formatted in either Traditional or Modern format as indicated in the Dramatists Guild playwriting format shown below. Click on the red buttons to view.
Plays must be paginated with a blind title page, (no playwright name or contact information) character breakdown, time and setting pages.
Plays must be “New Works” which means they can not have been previously published or produced by CPI or elsewhere. Plays which have received cold readings are eligible for submission.
We do not accept AI generated scripts other than for editing purposes only.
If you’re uncertain about your play’s eligibility, please contact us at cincyplaywrights@gmail.com with your questions.
Plays must be submitted without contact information provided anywhere on the script (blind copy) and emailed as a PDF document to our CPI email address: cincyplaywrights@gmail.com
Upon review for residency, membership status, play length and formatting requirements having been met, the script will be sent to our Play Selection Committee.
Please list in the subject line the name of your play and that you are submitting either a Full-length, One-Act or grouping of Ten-minute plays for the season.
Play festival scripts should be listed in the subject line for that specific event and must be ten-minutes in length. Only 2 submissions are permitted for play festivals and only one script is eligible for selection in the festival.
Generally a play’s length is measured by page count, i.e. a 10-minute play is 10 pages of dialogue, a One Act play is 45 pages of dialogue and a full length play is 90 pages of dialogue. We realize that stage directions (which should be kept to a minimum) and sound effects may lengthen page counts.
We strongly recommend that you read your play so that you know how “long” it is with regard to run time prior to submission. Please be sure your play conforms to the play length you are submitting and that it meets but doesn’t exceed our run time requirements.
What Happens Next:
CPI will acknowledge receipt of your script. Within two months, CPI will send the playwright feedback based on the rubric review form with Comments from the Play Selection Committee. Your play will be evaluated based on the criteria/rubric shown in the attached New Play Review Form document shown on the red button below. Thereafter, the playwright is contacted ONLY if a script is chosen for a staged reading.
Any playwright can request to have a FREE cold reading of their script. Contact Arnie Shayne at schwara@ucmail.uc.edu to schedule a cold reading based upon venue availability. Arnie will send you our cold reading guidelines for your acceptance prior to scheduling the cold reading. Cold readings are a helpful developmental tool for playwrights to gain audience feedback prior to script submission for our season.
When a script is selected for a staged reading or a play festival, CPI will email the playwright a Letter of Agreement and Checklist to be signed and returned acknowledging acceptance of the responsibilities of the playwright to ensure a successful event.
The playwright will be contacted by the CPI President to assist in selecting a Director for your staged reading unless you have someone you want to select yourself. It is NOT recommended that the playwright direct their play. The Director will also be required to sign a Director’s checklist and provide a completed questionnaire for the Aronoff. Directors for our play festivals such as Lovefest 4 are chosen by CPI and assigned after play selections are made.
We encourage the playwright to take part in the process leading up to the staged reading by promoting it on social media to help sell tickets to the event as well as providing a logline, synopsis, overview, bio and headshot for marketing purposes, the program and a post-performance report to CPI.