student playwrights festival
Submissions now open!
Students ages 5-18 are invited to submit their ten-minute scripts to our 7th annual Student Playwright Festival.
Selected plays will be workshopped with professional actors and directors, to be presented at a live staged-reading on Sunday April 27, 2025.
Submitted scripts should meet our guidelines:
Be 10 minutes or less when read aloud (roughly 1 written page = 1 minute of dialogue)
Includes a cover page with script title, author(s) name(s) and list of all characters.
Be formatted into one of two commonly accepted script formats. Please view our two formatting options here: How+to+Write+a+Play+V1.pdf and here: How+to+Write+a+Play+V2.pdf.
Be a completed draft of the entire play.
Our goal is for the Festival to be Family Friendly! Scripts with “G-Rated or PG-Rated” content are preferred. Scripts with a PG-13 rating can be accepted, but would be presented in a separate section of the festival. Scripts above a PG-13 rating will not be considered.
Classifications for above PG-13 rating are:
Plays that include explicit language.
Plays that involve realistic and extreme or persistent murder or violence.
Plays that involve overtly realistic and extreme or persistent sensitive content such as, but not exclusive to, substance abuse or other mental health crises.
Plays that do not meet the above criteria will unfortunately not be considered at this time. The deadline to submit will be Monday February 3, 2025
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Location: Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center, 3740 Blenheim Boulevard, Fairfax, VA 22030
Date/Time: Sunday April 27, 2025 at 11:00AM. We expect the Festival to run about 2 hours with an intermission.
Parking: The Sherwood Community Center has public parking. Overflow parking can be found at Van Dyck Park. Here is a link to Sherwood’s parking map: Parking Map.
General: The festival is free and open to the public. Families are welcome to record the event; please be mindful and fair to the viewing of all audience members.
About the Production: The festival will be presented as a staged reading. Act I is suitable for all ages. Act II scripts contain mature themes and are recommended for guests 13+. If you intend to leave before the second act please wait until intermission to depart.
Past Plays
2018
The Valentine Disaster by Evey M.
Fairies and Plants by Sophia C.
Monsters Above the Bed by Eliabeth V
Ace of Hearts by Tilly W.
Waiting for Something by Ryan J.
An Unlikely Bond by Mason J.
2019
The Adventures of Chip the Pretzel and Pretzel the Chip by Keaton B.
The Court Case of Confuddle by Lucas B.
Professor Parsley and His Newest Invention by Kaitlyn M.
The March Chaos by Evey M.
Private Oaks Prep by Hailey S.
Ali & Hamlet: Library Lock-In by Carly B.
Rock by Aiden B.
New Girl by Sophia C.
Our Movie by Ruby P.
Railway of Styx by Mason J.
Saturday Sun by Sofie S.
DMV by Joe M.
2020
Champions by Sophia S.
Clarice’s Quest by Sophia C.
Crisis in Bearland by Carly B.
Fame or Truth by Jane B.
Potato Fresh Out of the Oven by Keaton B.
SpaceMan by Claire D.
Teacher in Disguise by Stephen W.
The Meeting of the Future Spies by Ruby P.
The “Violin” Lesson by Graham B.
The Wonderful Life of Bob and Joe by Aiden B.
Not Your Ordinary Fairytale by Dahlia C.
What Means How by Lucas B.
Wonders of the Sea by Julia K.
2021
Writer’s Block by Aiden B.
A Mystery Class by Zara D.
Gnomed by Keaton B.
Naja and the Crazy Day Before Spring Break by Nisa M.
The Case of the Missing Encyclopedia: Chocolating it Out by Kate L.
Points of View by Kira G.
Night Walk by Lucas B.
Marigolds in the Shade by Reyna B.
#AfterSeptember11 by Rayan A.
2022
What We Know by Reyna B.
The Freighter by Lucas & Graham B.
The Case of the Missing Case by Keaton B.
I Didn’t Write a Play by Aiden B.
Care For Our Earth by Caroline Elizabeth L.
Royals Vs. Robots by Lillian K.
Oscar by Aspen C.
2023
A Chance to Believe In by Heidi H. & Annie W.
Chumbley’s Adventures Through Space: The Musical by Aiden B.
Eleanor Rigby by Keaton B.
Electroman: A Series of Tangentially Related Vignettes Involving Fathers, Sons, and Masked Vigilantes by Graham B & Lucas B.
Hide the Body! by Mary U.
Just an Ordinary Lunch Break by John H.
Popularity Problems by Leela B. & Sahana B.
Super-Spy Cici’s Adventure by Eleanor S.
The Anxious Kids Club (Or Really, the Kids Who Are Feeling Anxious Club) by Fiona M.
The Blackthorn Manor by Naomi H. & Jay W.
Waiter! Waiter! by Lauren D., Sravya K., and Sienna M.
When Two Paths Cross by Ishya A
2024
Oopsie Daisies by Eleanor S.
Journey to the Past by Ellen C.
Goldilocks and the Three Items by Emmeline M.
The Key to Inventing by Sophia S. & Molly G.
The Balloonfest of '86 by Keaton B.
Jazzercise by Gabriel A. & Mackenzie A.
Mirror, Mirror by Sidney W. & Alayna K.
The True Heart of a Villian by Shawn W. & Sunny S.
The Bat King: A Tweenage Wasteland by Lucas B, Graham B, Peter G, Silas B, and Aiden B.
Fortnite the Musical: The Journey: The Play by Mary Clare P.