Writers, if you’ve visited this site before, you may notice that there have been a few changes. All of these changes were prompted by a desire to clarify all aspects of the application and selection process.

First up, clarifying when and how we consider scripts for SNC. When the project was first announced, we were open to any play that might be a companion to any of Shakespeare’s other plays and planned to accept scripts on a rolling basis. However, it can sometimes take 5-10 years before we cycle back around to one of Shakespeare’s titles, and we don’t want to leave playwrights and their plays in limbo while they wait for the Shakespeare play to come back around. Therefore, we will only be considering 2 – 4 Shakespeare titles at a time. (For the first round, they are The Merry Wives of Windsor; Henry IV, Part 1; The Comedy of Errors; and The Winter’s Tale). We also wanted to clarify within the theatre how the selection process fits with our other needs (like casting, announcing the rest of the season, etc); as a result, after the first round (deadline February 15, 2018), we will be accepting scripts for consideration for the second round from June 1 – August 1, 2018 and anticipate similarly timed summer application windows for future rounds. This will allow us to better consider and support the selected projects.

Another notable change: we are now asking that all scripts be submitted to us with the writer’s name, contact, and any other identifying information removed.  This blind reading process helps ensure that our readers evaluate projects based on the strengths of the script itself, rather than any knowledge about the writer’s identify. (And our online submission form keeps your contact information separate from your script so that we can still stay in touch regarding the status of your application.)

There have been a number of smaller changes made to the Frequently Asked Questions page to give writers a clearer sense of what it is that we’re looking in submissions, both in terms of artistic qualifications (Shakespeare’s Staging Conditions, unproduced, etc) and in terms of technical qualifications (script formatting). We’ve also added information regarding what happens to your script once it comes to us in the hopes of demystifying the reading and selection process .

Lastly, some of the changes that we’ve made are ones that you can’t see. These are changes to how your application data is processed after you hit “submit” and how scripts are assigned to members of our reading team. If these changes are successful, you will feel respected by and informed about the selection process.

If you have any questions at all, about Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries and its application and selection processes, please don’t hesitate to be in touch (email sncproject@americanshakespearecenter.com). We look forward to reading your work!