a unique opportunity for theatre artists ages 13-18

Read thru all of the guidelines & requirements below BEFORE submitting your play.

Young playwrights (ages 13-18) from across the Jersey Shore region are called to submit their scripts to the first Jersey Shore Young Playwrights Festival. Plays must follow the content and formatting guidelines posted below in order to be eligible for consideration. Deadline for script submissions is January 31, 2026.

Up to six (6) plays will be selected for presentation at the Festival and will be presented as staged readings at the Grunin Performing Arts Academy in Toms River on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Plays received by the submission deadline will be read and adjudicated by theatre professionals using the attached rubric. Readers will offer written feedback to each author regardless of whether or not a play is selected for presentation. Late submissions will not be accepted, critiqued, or considered. 

• Playwrights must be between the ages of 13-18 and residents of Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, or Cape May counties, or attending a school in those counties, at the time of the festival.

• Plays must be the work of a single writer. Collaborations will not be considered at this time.

• Plays must be original works. Adaptations, or works derived from other stories, or source material, will not be considered.

• Plays can be about any subject, but writers should consider that this is a high school event and that some language and material may not be suitable for our audience.

• Plays cannot include copyrighted material such as music, song lyrics, poetry, etc.

• Plays should have a running time of 20 minutes or less (approximately 20 typed pages).

• Include a cover page that includes the following information:

  • title of the play

  • playwright’s name

  • playwright's email address

  • parent/guardian name

  • parent/guardian email address

  • county in which you live

• Include a brief, one-paragraph synopsis of the play and character list on the page following the cover page:

  • include the name and a brief description of each character that speaks or appears onstage

  • characters that are spoken about but who do not appear onstage should not be included in the character list

• Follow the formatting guidelines recommended by the Dramatists Guild, which can be found linked here. Scripts that do not follow this format will not be considered for production. 

• All selected playwrights have the opportunity to revise their work based on feedback from the judges.

• Each selected playwright must attend rehearsals and staged readings of the play at the festival.

• The festival will be held at the Grunin Performing Arts Academy on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm.

All work is copyrighted the moment it is created and the writer retains exclusive control of their material. By submitting their work, playwrights agree to allow Stargazer Performing Arts (SPA) to mount a staged reading of the work (if chosen) and for artists from the organization to critique the play. SPA may also publish your script in whole, or in sections, on its website or other marketing materials. All other rights remain the exclusive property of the writer.