Context for New Submission Guidelines

CPT is dedicated to producing bold, adventurous, new work. We champion creators of new performance-devising ensembles, directors, playwrights, choreographers, performance artists, and etcetera. Though we seek projects from national and international artists, we also make a special investment in local creators.

CPT receives submissions in three ways:

• Request For Proposal application process exclusively for local artists to submit work for Big BOX, Little Box, Leap/Conceive, and other development series.
• Request For Proposal process exclusively for local artists open to directors, choreographers, performance artists, and playwrights for consideration for our season of full productions.
• The General Submission process for our season of full productions.

Historically CPT receives around 200 general submissions. Of these general submissions we typically request 10 scripts. However, in the past 15 years not a single general submission has been selected for full production.

We felt this process was wasting valuable time of playwrights and was an unfunded drain on artistic resources. However, since we specialize in launching new projects and producing bold, new work, the idea of ending general submissions felt counter-intuitive. Therefore we have developed a new general submission process.

The new General Submission process will require more from submitting playwrights, but through this process we can better guarantee that each application receive more attention from Associate Artistic Director Beth Wood or Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan. We also hope to reduce our response time which has now gotten as long as 18 months. The whole purpose of these guidelines is to increase the chance of us selecting work from general submissions.

New General Submission Guidelines

Step One: Familiarize yourself with CPT’s past seasons by following these links. If you can see a show at CPT this would also help. Please note that over 70 percent of the past submissions we have received are not even remotely connected to what we do.

Step Two: Honestly assess whether your project fits well in CPT’s aesthetics and at our level of productions.

Step Three: Fill out the following application and submit via email as a word doc or pdf to artistic@cptonline.org. Please note that CPT will only accept submissions electronically.

Step Four: Receive an email notification within 9-12 months. The email notification will be a standard rejection notice or a request for a full script submission. Playwrights who are offended by standard rejections or do not have complete scripts for submission should not submit.

CPT will not receive general submissions that do not utilize this application process.

CPT Application for General Submission

Please send the following materials in an email as a single attachment-Word or PDF. Send email to artistic@cptonline.org. The three questions must be answered in two pages. Your resume is not counted in the page count and can be as long as you feel is appropriate.

Above all, please be frank and honest. We at CPT apply for many grants and as artists we have all submitted work to other festivals and theatres. We understand that it’s difficult to assemble this material and to answer these questions without becoming either over-the-top conceptual or snide and ironic.

1. Describe why your project fits well in CPT’s programming agenda.
Use specific examples of past CPT projects that you feel are parallel to your submission in some way. Explain how your work is particularly bold or adventurous, by noting its unique aesthetic, manner of connecting to audiences, or path of investigation of a particular theme. Note why you feel the themes/aesthetics will be important to CPT audiences and how you feel it will challenge artists and audiences alike

2. Summarize your project.

3. Please explain how you hope a CPT production will be of service to you in your ongoing growth as an artist.
Do you hope to develop the script further, or is it pretty much finished? How will it impact you as an artist? Do you have resources to travel to CPT for a production or do you think that you would use royalties from the CPT production to travel to CPT (not necessary for selection)? Please note if your submission is for a world-premiere, or second/third production. Also, please note if you have any other artists already attached to the project (director, actor, etc) and any potential partnerships (theatres or interested organizations).

Please include an appropriate resume or bio. Only list scripts that have been produced at some level or published. Summarize: production level (staged reading, workshop, full production), location, producer, director, publication. List other relevant experience in theatre or film. If you choose the “bio” format also include a list of plays as noted above.