Latino Playwriting Award
2012 National Latino Playwriting Award Announced!
Arizona Theatre Company is excited to announce Michael Mejias as its 2012 National Latino Playwriting Award winner for Ghetto Babylon. Mejias will receive $1,000 and a public reading in February 2013 during ATC's new play reading series, Café Bohemia under the direction of Marc David Pinate.
Ghetto Babylon centers around Charlie Rosa, a Latino kid with a free ride to the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, who is well on his way to pitching his beloved West Farms Warriors into the Little League Championship. Set in the summer of 1982 in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, Charlie’s plans are derailed when a letter arrives from Exeter requesting that he arrive earlier than originally planned.
Will Charlie choose between a childhood dream of pursuing baseball glory with his teammates or the educational opportunity of a lifetime? With his level-headed cousin Felix too busy chasing girls and a best friend who doesn’t necessarily give the best advice, who can Charlie turn to? He finds answers in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
"Our team of judges found Ghetto Babylon a humorous, whimsical and soulful piece about manifesting a future while honoring one’s past,” said Playwright-in-Residence Elaine Romero. “Set in a housing project in the Bronx, the play is a love letter to baseball, the projects and the written word."
The National Latino Playwriting Award was established by Arizona Theatre Company to create a greater awareness of the work being done by Latino playwrights. Recent recipients of the Award are Raul Garza, Carlos Murrillo, and Karen Zacarias. Felix Pire's winning play, The Origins of Happiness in Latin, was produced by ATC and Edwin Sànchez’s La Bella Familia was the first play to be featured in ATC’s inaugural season of Café Bohemia..
2013 National Latino Playwriting Award Guidelines:
Latino playwrights residing in the United States, its territories, or Mexico are encouraged to submit scripts for the Award. Each script will be read and evaluated by a culturally diverse panel of theatre artists. Finalists will be judged by ATC artistic staff.
Deadline for Submission:
Scripts must be postmarked by December 31, 2012.
Submission Procedure:
We respectfully ask that you adhere to the following application requirements:
- Submit one script, securely bound by brads, a three ring binder, a presentation folder or any other non-permanent binding system. Please do not send a script that has been spiral-bound.
- Please include a title page on the script that includes the play's title, the author's name and contact information (including a phone number, mailing address and email) on the front page.
- Include a cover letter of no more than one-page, describing the play's developmental history and any other relevant information about the play.
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Mail manuscripts to:
National Latino Playwriting Award
We do not accept scripts via email.
ATTN: Katherine Monberg, Literary Assistant
Arizona Theatre Company
343 S. Scott Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
Award
One playwright will be awarded $1,000 and the possible inclusion of the winning play in Café Bohemia, ATC's unique play reading series.
Eligibility
The award is open to all Latino playwrights currently residing in the United States, its territories, or Mexico.
Scripts may be in English, English and Spanish, or solely in Spanish. (Spanish language and bilingual scripts must be accompanied by an English translation.)
Plays must be unpublished and unproduced (professionally) by the time of submission.
Full-length and one-act plays (minimum length, 50 pages) on any subject will be accepted.
Selection Process
Scripts will be read by a culturally diverse panel of theatre artists. The award-winning play will be selected from a group of finalists by ATC's senior artistic staff.
Scripts
Scripts become the property of Arizona Theatre Company and will not be returned. In this case, "property" means the physical property of the theatre, not the intellectual property or any rights to the play.
Announcement
The winner will be notified by August 1, 2013.
For More Information:
Katherine Monberg, Literary Assistant
kmonberg@arizonatheatre.org
