2023 Call for Play Submissions

Stages continues to celebrate Latinx/Latine voices and stories reflecting the diversity of local Texas communities with the 6th installment of Sin Muros: A Borderless Teatro Festival. The festival weekend will be filled with public events for audiences and local theatre-makers, including readings, workshops, and networking opportunities.

Four scripts will be selected to be workshopped over a one-week period, resulting in public readings/showings. Readings will be produced under AEA Staged Reading 29 Hour contract, allowing twenty-nine hours of rehearsal and performance combined.

Each script will be assigned a director and actors. Playwrights will be in the rehearsal room and may rewrite as little or as much as they prefer. An honorarium, travel, and lodging will be provided by the festival to selected playwrights.

There is no fee to submit.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Works by Latinx playwrights, either Texas born, raised, or based in Texas will be considered. Submissions in both English and Spanish will be accepted. Submissions are limited to one play per playwright. Selection will be based upon:

• Excellence in the writing craft of the play
• Originality in the voice of the play
• Potential impact for the artist, field and/or audience.

Only new full-length pieces that have not yet received a full-production or been reviewed will be considered. Solo shows are eligible for consideration. Playwrights must be available for the week of May 22nd – May 28th, 2023.

Sin Muros: A Borderless Teatro Festival is committed to gender equity/parity.

• Submissions are due by November 20th, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
• Winners will be notified by the end of December, 2022.
• A press release will announce the winners in January, 2023.
• The Sin Muros Festival will be held the week of May 22nd – May 28th, 2023.

If you have any questions or concerns about the submission process, schedule conflicts, or other queries, please contact our Artistic & Community Engagement Administrator, Elizabeth Keel, at ekeel@stageshouston.com.

ABOUT STAGES

In January 2020, Stages opened our new $35.4 million home, The Gordy, ushering in a new era for this iconic Houston institution. Founded in 1978, Stages is a professional Equity theater that makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly. We hold up a mirror to our community in order to crack open the question: “What does it mean to be human?” Stages presents a broad scope of plays and musicals in an intimate setting, generating critical acclaim and creating a devoted community of patrons and artists who share a true sense of engagement, inclusion and connection.

Stages is one of only a handful of Texas theaters that offers year-round employment for creative professionals. On average, Stages produces 10 productions per year offering hundreds of performances and reaching 75,000+ patrons. Almost all of Stages’ shows are rehearsed and constructed on-site in Houston, brought to life by an exceptional community of locally-based artists and craftspeople along with occasional guest directors, actors and designers from around the world.

For more than a decade Stages has made a strong investment in nurturing emerging artists and craftspeople who have now become field leaders and working professionals. Stages’ learning opportunities include student matinees, performance and production mentorship programs, and conservatory-style training for middle and high school students. Stages engages our larger community through a host of partnerships and programs including community conversations, festivals, ticket donations, reduced-price programs, sensory-friendly and ASL interpreted performances, and offerings outside our permanent home.