Calling All Playwrights!

by Hope Evans
Marcia Legere Play Festival Coordinator 2012

From the 2011 Marcia Legere Play Festival

It is time to get ready for the 21st annual Marcia Legere Play Festival, which is set to take place March 10-11, 2012. The festival is named for an alumna of the University of Wisconsin who won the first Wisconsin Playwrights Contest in the mid-1940s. From there, her career took her to New York City and San Francisco, writing for TV and documentaries and in a number of other mediums as well. In an effort to give back to the university, Marcia Legere-Binns gave a generous contribution each year for the competition. Marcia passed away recently, but left an endowment fund so that the festival can continue.

Right now we are taking submissions by playwrights for the competition. All of the plays will be judged by members of the faculty from the Creative Writing/English and Theater fields and two to three winning scripts will be chosen. The winning playwrights will receive a cash prize and will have their names engraved on a plaque, which will be hung in the new theater after the remodeling project. And, of course, the winning plays will be performed during the festival.

This year we are looking for one act plays that can be performed in 40 minutes or less, written by current students of the university (undergraduate or graduate, enrolled through the 2011-2012 academic year). The plays can be written about any subject. Please DO NOT submit scripts that are meant to be screenplays, as the winning scripts must be ready for performance on a stage. Submissions are due to the by Monday, November 14 at 5:00pm. Please e-mail them to ml.play.festival@gmail.com or drop them at the Wisconsin Union Theater's office in Memorial Union.

Good luck to all!