​1. There is a broad theme selected each year for the competition that entries for that year must adhere to.  There is no restriction to style.

1.2 - Submissions for the 2018 competition will be accepted between June 1, 2017 and December 1, 2017. Submissions received outside of this period will not be considered. The theme for the 2018 competition is "A mystery about a Great Lakes legend or event."

2. The competition is open to any playwright, but only one play per playwright may be entered per biennium.

3. Entries must be original, full-length plays or musicals. They also may be co-authored, based upon factual material or an adaptation. The applicant must be the owner and controller of the copyright.  The legal clearance of materials not in the public domain is the full responsibility of the playwright. 

4.One-act plays and works previously entered in playwriting competitions sponsored by Northern Michigan University are ineligible.

5. Submission is restricted to plays that have not been previously produced or published.

6. No revisions will be accepted once a script has been submitted.

7. No written or oral critique will be given on plays submitted.

8. Once theme information has been decided, submissions will open June 1, 2017 and must be received no later than December 1, 2017 to be considered. The winner will be announced in March. A staged reading/workshop will be scheduled for summer of 2018. The full production will be scheduled in the 2018-19 season, and may happen in any of our performance spaces.

9. Northern Michigan University reserves the right to accept or reject any play entered in the contest.

Submission

10. Scripts should be submitted electronically either in PDF or Microsoft Word format. They can be submitted via email to newplays@nmu.edu. Please include contact info in the email but not on the script. If your ONLY recourse is a paper script, then the script must be loose leaf bound in a 3-ring binder or with a binder clip. Scripts bound with staples are not acceptable. They must be either typewritten or word processed. Entries not meeting these criteria will be disqualified.

11. By submitting a paper copy of the script the playwright agrees to allow their work to be scanned into a PDF.

12. Paper scripts will not be returned. It is suggested that playwrights retain copies of their scripts.