I.T. TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL
ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF ORIGINAL PLAYS BY LOCAL AUTHORS
Every August, Island Theatre presents the TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL – a celebration of local plays, playwrights, actors and directors.
The centerpiece of FESTIVAL WEEK is the Ten-Minute Play Festival – a juried selection of plays by Kitsap County playwrights—both established and aspiring. The winning plays are fully staged and performed at Bainbridge Performing Arts in both evening and matinee performances.
The deadline for play submissions each year is Valentine's Day, February 14th. Sign up for our mailing list below to receive notifications.
FESTIVAL WEEK kicks off with Meet the Playwrights, a panel discussion and Q&A with the playwrights behind each year’s winning plays.
Each fall we host the TEN-MINUTE PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP -- a two-session course taught by a professional playwright and teacher that gives you a jumpstart on writing a play for next year’s Festival.
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The 2025 Island Theatre
Ten-Minute Play Festival!
Island Theatre is now accepting submissions of ten-minute plays for our 2025 Ten-Minute Play Festival! Submission deadline is February 14, 2025. The theme for the 2025 Festival is ESCAPE.
What does ESCAPE suggest to you? Is it an escape from. . . or an escape to? Is it a physical escape. . . or an escape in which one never takes a physical step? Is it bold or surreptitious? Sudden or long-planned? An act of choiceless desperation or one of powerful self-assertion?
Is “escape” the beginning of the story or the end? Or is it the pivot point that dramatically changes the action?
What you make of ESCAPE is up to you – just make sure it’s central to your story.
The competition is open to all Kitsap County playwrights – experienced and aspiring – high school age and above. To be a “Kitsap County playwright” means you currently live or work in Kitsap County, or you lived or worked here for a substantial period in the past.
Ten plays will be chosen from all the submissions by a panel of theatre professionals and the Island Theatre board of directors, and announced in April. The chosen plays will be performed during Island Theatre’s Ten-Minute Play Festival in August 2025.
Please share this with anyone you know who might like to enter. We’re eager to see what you create!
Submission Guidelines
The competition is open to all Kitsap County playwrights – experienced and aspiring – high school age and above. To be a “Kitsap County playwright” means you currently live or work in Kitsap County, or you lived or worked here for a substantial period in the past.
Play submissions will be judged on literary/theatrical merit and originality, as well as for creative use of the theme.
- ENTRIES. Submit up to three separate entries; however, only one entry per playwright will be selected for the final program.
- LENGTH. Plays should be no longer than 10 minutes; longer submissions will not be considered. (If you are uncertain about its length, please read the play aloud before submitting. Plays typically run a minute to a minute and a half per page of script.)
- STAGING. Set, lighting, sound, costume, prop and staging requirements MUST be MINIMAL.
- CAST SIZE. Plays must have no fewer than 2 actors and no more than 5 actors.
- SUBJECT MATTER. Content should be of interest to and suitable for high-school age and above audiences.
- SCRIPT FORMAT. All submissions should be in standard professional play format. The first page of the script should include the title, characters, and basic setting; title and page number should appear at the top of each page.
- SCRIPT HISTORY. Previously produced and/or workshopped scripts will be accepted as long as they weren’t produced or workshopped by Island Theatre or an Equity company. Adaptations will not be accepted.
- PRODUCTION AGREEMENT. Selected playwrights agree to permit Island Theatre to produce their contest entry with full cast, without compensation.
- JUDGING. Playwrights retain copyright and full ownership of their plays.
- PUBLICITY. Island Theatre reserves the right to use photography and videography from submissions to promote the festival and theatre company. (Plays will be video recorded during performance, though no video of any play will be published without consent of its author.)
Judging Criteria
THEME
- Is there a strong, clear use of a theme in this play?
- Is the use of this theme original and interesting?
VOICE
- Does the author show a strong, interesting writing style?
- Does the author have a clear viewpoint that’s well integrated into the play?
CHARACTERIZATION
- Are the characters interesting and compelling as written? Are they people you want to hear more about at the end of ten minutes?
- Do the characters seem credible and real (or appropriately stylized in support of the play structure)?
- Are these the best characters to propel this action?
- Does the main character change or develop through the course of the play?
PLOT
- Does the plot seem fresh, intriguing and original?
- Does something happen?
- Is there sufficient conflict and tension to sustain ten minutes?
- Will this plot seem active, vital and dramatic on stage?
DIALOGUE
- Does the dialogue fit the characters?
- Does the dialogue sound natural and credible for the plot and location?
- Does each character have their own unique voice?
- Does the dialogue seem fresh and compelling, not dull or boring or generic?
APPROPRIATENESS
- Is this play appropriate for a Kitsap audience?
- Is this play appropriate for high school students?
- Is this play appropriate for BPA’s stage facilities?
MECHANICS
- Will the play be ten minutes or under when performed?
- Does it fit the minimum props, costumes and staging proviso?
OVERALL EFFECT
- Is the play satisfying and memorable by the end?
Annual Festival Calendar
Annual Submission Deadline: February 14
Winning submissions announced: April
Actor auditions: May
Rehearsals: June – August
Meet the Playwrights (public Q&A with festival playwrights): late July or early August
Festival performances: three evenings and one matinee in August