PRESS RELEASE:
The New Deal Creative Arts Center of Hyde Park, New York is pleased to announce its very first Hudson Valley Theatre Festival scheduled for May 2024. The festival will take place throughout Dutchess and Ulster Counties on Friday through Sunday, May 3-5, 2024.
New Deal is excited to publicize submission information for playwrights who are interested in having their works entered for consideration. Interested playwrights should visit New Deal’s website, www.newdealarts.org, for complete guidelines prior to the open application period starting April 2, 2023.
New Deal is seeking a diverse selection of new works covering a wide variety of genres to make this an unforgettable and vast theatre experience. The festival will conclude with a ceremony and reception where multiple awards in several categories will be announced. Audiences will not be passive viewers, but will be able to weigh in and vote on their favorite work to be produced as a full stage production by The New Deal Creative Arts Center in 2025.
The New Deal Creative Arts Center will work with multiple businesses, historic sites, restaurants, and libraries throughout Dutchess and Ulster Counties to present a dozen new and unpublished plays to break outside of the traditional theatre setting and offer a unique experience during this weekend-long festival.
“It is nothing short of a thrill for New Deal to foster this tremendous theatrical event and host it right here in the Hudson Valley.” says The New Deal Creative Arts Center’s Executive Director, Teresa Gasparini. “We look forward to working with a wide variety of venues to support theatre, tourism, and small businesses in our area. We have all the right people in the right place working diligently to bring this event to our area.”
Follow The New Deal Creative Arts Center on Facebook and Instagram or their website for updates and details about the upcoming Hudson Valley Theatre Festival now through May 2024.
HUDSON VALLEY THEATRE FESTIVAL: MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of The Hudson Valley Theatre Festival (HVTF) is to celebrate and support new theatrical works by providing opportunity and accessibility to established and emerging local, national, and international playwrights. HVTF will also promote tourism to the Hudson Valley area by attracting visitors for this annual event and supporting local businesses in the process. Under The New Deal Creative Arts Center, HVTF is an inclusive program that welcomes playwrights, theater artists, volunteers, audience members, and affiliates of all ages, races, genders, sexualities, abilities and backgrounds.
HUDSON VALLEY THEATRE FESTIVAL:
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submissions for new plays will be accepted April 2, 2023 – May 1, 2023 with the following guidelines:
- This festival is open to local, national, and international playwrights.
- A 2024 Hudson Valley Theatre Festival application must be completed in full online.
- Only unpublished plays will be accepted – we are not accepting any musicals at this time.
- Running time of the piece should not exceed 2 hours.
- Only one play submission per playwright.
- There are no cast size restrictions for this festival.
- The play must be written in English.
- The submitted work should be intended as a stage play (not a radio play or a play meant for a virtual platform)
- We ardently support diversity and inclusion.
- All plays will be under jury review by a hand-selected and diverse reading panel made up of theatre professionals.
- There is no fee to submit your play to the Hudson Valley Theatre Festival.
- Scripts must be PDF format. (Dramatists Guild Formatting Guidelines)
- Play’s cover sheet should include author’s information (name, address, telephone, email).
- Inquiries can be sent to [email protected]
- Selected plays will receive either a reading or staged reading of their work which will be decided by the Production Committee of the 2024 Hudson Valley Theatre Festival. Reading panelists will recommend plays to be selected for the festival with members of the Production Committee.
- There is a cap of 100 submissions. A total of twelve (12) plays will be selected for the reading festival.
TIMELINE:
- Submission deadline: May 1, 2023
- Submission Period: April 2, 2023-May 1, 2023
- Unpublished work will be accepted until we reach our cap of 100 submissions.
- Selection Process: June-October 2023 (each play will be read a minimum of 5 times).
- Notification of Selections: November 2023.