The Indianapolis Black Theater Company (IBTC) launched a new playwriting competition focused on Black stories.
The Black American Playwriting Competition, which is open to playwrights from across the country, features a grand prize of $7,500 and a production and development deal for the IBTC’s 2025 season. IBTC’s competition is accepting submissions for original, unpublished works that amplify diverse voices and stories that “explore and celebrate the depth and richness of the Black experience,” according to a press release.
“What we wanted to do is really pour our focus back on the writers because that’s where it starts,” Ben Rose, founding director of IBTC, told the Recorder. “We give a lot of attention to today and the performance and once we see it and touch it, but all this stuff starts in the mind of individuals, and we really kind of forget to support those writers.”
It can be difficult to put on new works, Rose said, because when people have not heard of a show, they might want to come out and spend money on something they are not sure if they will like.
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Through the American Black Playwriting Competition, both emerging and established playwrights will not only receive the cash prize, but have the opportunity gain national recognition as well as see their work brought to life on stage and live broadcast during the IBTC’s 2025 season lineup.
“A lot of things get written, and then they’re never produced,” Rose said. “So, we wanted to offer that so that we can really build a platform for either an up-and-coming writer or even, you know, somebody that’s farther into their career.”
A panel of 10 majority BIPOC theater professionals, scholars, artists and layman theater enthusiasts from across the country have been selected to read and judge script submissions in a blind reading process.
Rose said they hope to receive between 30 and 50 submissions in the inaugural year. The deadline to submit a script to the Black American Playwriting Competition is Jan. 15, 2025. Scripts featuring contemporary, non-traditional themes and unique perspectives with six or fewer characters are encouraged. Entries may not exceed 60 pages.
For more information about the competition, submission details, visit indyblacktheater.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
