A Writing Competition Perfectly Suited to These Pandemic Times
Calling all playwrights, screenwriters and solo performers. Submit your monologue for a chance to win $5,000 in prizes and a shot at an online Zoom premiere of your work this Labor Day at the ‘Me & My Masks’ New American Monologue Competition & Festival.
Anyone who tells you their adjustment to life under soshedist has been smooth sailing, A-OK, is without a doubt one of those annoying frenemies who only present the rosiest picture of themselves to the world in an attempt to psyche-out the competition. Make no mistake, life during Pandemic, life under partial lockdown is merely an approximation of life for the living because human beings need human contact to thrive.
As a writer, I’ve found the past few months excruciating. Because while it may be true that writing itself is a solitary activity and actually depends upon the writer’s disciplined ability to end conversations, usher guests out the door and ignore phone calls in order to actually get the requisite alone time needed to write, writers, at least those who are consumed with questions of what it means to be human (which certainly includes those of us writing plays and films), need human interaction to feed the flame. I’m inspired every day by people I work with, people I love, people I grew up with, people I share a city block with, etc. etc. And I use the word “inspired” in the most neutral sense. People offer me fascinating stuff the chew on. Being consciously separated from the unpredictable chaos of other human people’s agendas for the past four months has driven me to a place called Zoom.
I go to Zoom to teach. I go to Zoom to see friends. I visit Zoom to rehearse, to debate and to learn. I even enter Zoom to spend a half hour with my 89-year old mother. And that may be the most painful adjustment of all.
I have enjoyed a number of theatre performances on Zoom as well, although there are certain limitations, most critically, the inability of anyone in Zoom to make actual discernable eye contact.
So… when it comes to making theatre, I’ve decided Zoom is best suited to the monologue.
Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, the American theatre has acquired some rather awkward habits when it comes to soliloquy. So I decided it was time to create a national competition for playwrights and screenwriters to celebrate and elevate the monologue.
It’s time for writers to clarify for themselves the distinction between storytelling onstage or on screen and monologue. Monologue is clearly spoken by a character who wants something and is speaking to achieve it. It may or may not contain within it a story or two, but it is more than simple narration. A monologue reveals much about character and draws us in to the speaker’s need, whether consciously or unconsciously. And finally, a monologue is always directed at someone specific. So in the end, what makes monologue so compelling as theatre is that it contains within it the essence, the problems, and the transformation of a relationship between two individuals at least. Now, there are certainly times in solo shows when the monologue is being directed to the audience but inevitably, there is a relationship there between the character and the audience which shifts over the course of the piece.
So how’s this competition gonna work exactly?
Submissions are now open. Submission deadline: August 15, 2020 at Noon, EDT. A National Circle of Judges comprised of playwrights, directors and actors will read and evaluate all submitted monologues through blind evaluation process. 12 Finalists will advance to the Labor Day event held on Zoom. The Finalist Judges will then announce the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners as well as a special “Most Daring” award. Our five Finalist Judges are: Kia Corthron, Julie Jensen, Gary Garrison, Kate Snodgrass and Doug Wright.
I certainly hope you’ll join us. The theme on which writers are being asked to write is ‘Me & My Masks.’ And we’re keeping it intentionally ambiguous. The masks in your monologue may be as literal or as figurative as you like.
How to submit:
For writers interested in submitting an original monologue for the competition, submission deadline is August 15th at Noon, EST. Visit our website for complete guidelines.
How to attend:
And for those of you eager to hear the best of the best of the nation, reserve your ticket today.
Originally published at https://www.extracriticum.com.
