A PROGRAM OF THE MILES NADAL JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE SINCE 1999
This one of a kind competition recognizes the most outstanding, unproduced, Canadian plays with a Jewish focus. The winning playwright will receive a $1,000 prize plus a workshop and public reading of their winning play. The 2021 competition is co-presented by The Harold Green Jewish Theatre (Ontario), The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (Quebec), The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (Manitoba), and Neptune Theatre (Nova Scotia). Generously sponsored by The Asper Foundation. For more information https://www.mnjcc.org/theatre
DEADLINE: September 7, 2021
The Mnjcc welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
• Please submit plays via email as PDF attachments to deannad@mnjcc.org. Playwrights must use a pseudonym on the front page of their play so that the jury does not recognize their name.
• Please include a letter in the body of the email (that has the play attached) that outlines the history of the creation of this play. This letter should detail all related workshops/readings and dramaturgy. Playwrights must also include their real name and full contact information in this email. If there is a musical demo to submit, please do so via cloud-based link.
• Please make sure your play has numbered pages.
• Please note, jurors do not provide feedback on submitted plays.
SUBMISSION FEE:
• $36.30 in Canadian funds per play is to be paid with each submission on or before SEPTEMBER 7, 2021
• Click here or call (416) 924-6211 x 0 with a Visa or Mastercard.
ELIGIBILITY:
• Playwrights do not need to be Jewish but must be Canadian, or have a very strong Canadian connection.
• Play content should have a Jewish focus, depicting a prominent theme or aspect of Jewish life.
• Plays must be no less than one hour and no more than two hours in length.
• Plays must be in standard theatre script formatting.
• Novel, short story or poetry adaptations are accepted, but the playwright must have the rights to the original source, or the source of the adaptation must be in the public domain.
• Musicals are eligible. Please submit lyrics and/or musical tracks with your play.
• Plays must be in English.
INELIGIBILITY:
• Plays that have been previously produced under a Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA) production agreement. Workshops are eligible.
• Plays that have been previously produced outside of the CAEA agreements and staged for more than one week, except for Fringe productions.
• Plays that have been previously submitted to the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition in the last ten years.
• Plays that are not written in English.
• Screenplays will not be accepted.
PRIZE:
• The winning playwright will receive $1,000 (CDN) and an 8-hour CAEA ITA workshop with a director and up to six actors. This workshop
concludes with a public reading. (A virtual workshop and reading will take place in lieu of a live public performance if we are unable to meet
safely in person).
• The winning playwright will also receive one session with a dramaturge before the playwright, director and actors meet for the
workshop/reading.
• The winning playwright will be announced in January 2022.
• This program is generously funded by The Asper Foundation.
JURY:
The jury members are representatives of Manitoba (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), Ontario (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company), Quebec
(Segal Centre for the Performing Arts), and Nova Scotia (Neptune Theatre), Jewish-arts communities.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 7, 2021
For more information, contact Deanna Di Lello, Coordinator of Adult Arts and Culture at deannad@mnjcc.org
Click here to learn more about theatre at the MNJcc
CANADIAN JEWISH PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
Originally a program run by an independent group of dedicated volunteers, The Toronto Jewish Theatre Committee, the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition was founded in 1989 and operated out of the Bathurst JCC in North Toronto.
In 1999, the MNjcc adopted this program and ran it with a group of jurors from the professional theatre community. Before 2006 there was an average of six plays submitted each year. With more publicity and exposure, up to 20 plays are submitted from six Canadian provinces, the United States and Israel each contest year.
The competition is now a bi-annual program. The prize for the winning play is a Between Stages play reading (see below).
Program and presenting partners of the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition are The Harold Green Jewish Theatre (Ontario), The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (Quebec), The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (Manitoba), and Neptune Theatre (Nova Scotia). The Asper Foundation is a generous sponsor of the Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition.
Since 1995, the MNjcc has produced over 40 theatrical readings in an informal workshop environment. “Between Stages” has provided an opportunity for Canadian playwrights such as Dave Carley (A View from the Roof, the first Between Stages reading in 1995) and Alice Abracen (The Covenant, 2017 winner) to hear their work read by professional actors and receive feedback from a live audience.
For more information about Between Stages or The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition, contact Esther Arbeid, Director of Arts and Culture, Miles Nadal JCC, esthera@mnjcc.org
