VSA Playwright Discovery Program

Each year outstanding disabled writers from around the world are selected to participate in the Access/VSA Playwright Discovery Program. In addition to receiving a $1,000 award, these talented young writers enrolled in secondary school (generally, ages 14-19) participate in a script development program and explore the theater industry through exclusive workshops.

The program focuses on developing works in the 10-minute script format. Multiple winners will be selected by a panel of theater industry professionals.

The program includes:

• Virtual and in-person script development sessions
• One-on-one sessions with a professional dramaturg
• A trip to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for a session with professional actors and theatrical designers that mimics a first day of rehearsal
• Workshops covering key business-related topics
• Networking opportunities

Eligibility:

To be eligible to enter the Access/VSA Playwright Discovery Program applicants must meet the following criteria:

• The competition is open to U.S. and international applicants. However, all pieces must be submitted in English or ASL; pieces submitted in other languages will not be accepted.
• Can be either an individual or co-author. Co-authorships of up to two students are accepted, but both authors must fulfill eligibility requirements and at least one must be a student with a disability. Co-authors do not have to be in the same grade level. The application must include information for both authors. Co-authors will share the financial prize equally (i.e. each author receives $500 USD).
• Entrants must be a student with a disability or a co-authorship that includes a student with a disability.
• Authors must be students enrolled in senior high school (generally, ages 14-19) on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 in order to apply.
• Previous applicants are eligible to reapply in subsequent years until they win or age out of the competition. Any applicant may win only once.
• Winners must be present for all Access/VSA Playwright Discovery Program workshop events (virtual date Saturday, March 29, 2025; in-person dates July 6-10, 2025) in order to be eligible for the award.

If selected as a finalist, applicants are required to provide proof of age and disability, and must be willing to publicly disclose that they have a disability for all materials and public appearances associated with the Access/VSA Playwright Discovery Program.

Selection Process:

An advisory panel of distinguished theater professionals and educators will assist with the selection process.

Submission Rules:

• All applications must be submitted through the online application form.
• Provide a synopsis of your script (up to 250 words) in the provided text box.
• To request application materials in a different format, please email vsainfo@kennedy-center.org

Script Rules

• Pieces must be submitted in English or ASL; pieces submitted in other languages will not be accepted.
• All entries that are scripts must be in the ten-minute play format. A ten-minute play is a play with at least two characters. It is not a scene, skit, or sketch. Structurally, it should have a beginning, middle, and end, just as any good one-act or full-length play. Since we only have ten minutes to bring the story full circle, a dramatic conflict should be posed as quickly as possible. The resolution of that conflict is what plays out across the remaining pages. The true success of a ten-minute play is reliant on the writer’s ability to bring an audience through the same cathartic/entertaining experience that a good one-act or full-length play accomplishes. Ten-minutes means eight or nine pages, but certainly no more than ten pages. Read your play out loud to see how long it takes.
• Pieces may be submitted as written scripts, video, or audio files (if applicable).
• Authors may submit only one script, whether under their name, a pseudonym, or as a co-author.
• Entries must be original, unproduced, and unpublished at the time of submission. Pieces with previous readings or workshops are acceptable, as long as they were not produced for a paying audience and have not been publicly reviewed.
• If an entry includes any material that is copyrighted or otherwise owned or controlled by someone other than the authors (including but not limited to, poetry, music and/or lyrics, characters originally created by others in any medium, and/or stories based on real people and/or other people’s lives) the author must provide proof of written permission to include such material in the script.
• All entries should follow these formatting guidelines:
• Include a cover sheet listing the title of the piece and the cast/character list.  IMPORTANT: Do not show your name, address, or any identifying information on the cover or any page of your entry.
• Typed in 12 point Arial font.
• List page numbers on each page of the piece (not counting the cover sheet).
• Set the page layout to portrait (no landscape, please)
• Before uploading your file, please re-name the file as the TITLE OF YOUR SCRIPT