Script Submissions

Overview

Thank you for your interest in sharing your work with A.C.T.!

We accept script submissions from professional theater agents, writers, and artists with whom we have established collaborative relationships. Additionally, writers residing within 50 miles of San Francisco may submit scripts to us each July via an online form (we’ll post a live link to the form here at that time). We will reach out if there is interest in a further conversation; unfortunately, we cannot respond to every submission due to the limited time of our small staff. 

Before submitting, we encourage you to review our mission, values, and EDI commitment and production history over the last five years. Please consider and share with us: what would make A.C.T., in particular, a good home for your work?

If you’re curious about our broader philosophical approach to literary submissions, please feel free to read on!

Background

We believe in transparency of process, in addressing long-standing inequities in our field, and in ecosystemic collaboration between new play development organizations and theaters.  

As A.C.T. is primarily a producing organization, we generally do not have the capacity to develop plays outside of our commissioning program and our production season. When considering plays for our seasons, we prioritize robust collaborations with theatrical and literary colleagues, particularly those dedicated to identifying and cultivating new voices. This allows us to spend less time duplicating others’ efforts and to focus on work consistent with our mission. Consistent with our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, in order to provide equal opportunity to artists from marginalized communities, we believe in prioritizing active artist outreach and relationship building over passively awaiting submissions. 

We know the journey to find the right home for your play can be murky and circuitous. We hope to encourage playwrights towards the most promising paths for success. We pay careful attention to new work festivals and awards across the country (and world!). Organizations like the Playwrights’ Center and the Dramatists Guild offer great compilations of these submission and development opportunities. Locally, Playwrights Foundation and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep host festivals and labs dedicated to new work.