TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Jane B. Cook Theatre
FSU Center for the Performing Art
January 8-10, 2027

Best Play: $500 Award

 

1. Eligibility — Plays must be the original work of persons who are residents of Florida.  In the case of collaborations, the residency requirement pertains to all authors. Applicants must be a minimum of nineteen (19) years of age.

2. Script Requirements —

Length: The play must run no less than 9 minutes and no more than 11 minutes. To ensure a correct running time, we suggest that you read your play aloud while timing it before entering the script in this competition; work which is too long or too short, in the opinion of our readers, may be disqualified. Plays which have been accepted but run overtime during rehearsal may be edited by the director.

Cast: No more than 5 actors. (More characters are allowed if actors may double.) A list of characters with a brief physical description of each should be included on the Entry Form.

Genre: Comedy, drama, mystery, thriller or monologue — but no musicals or plays for children.

Technical Limitation: Play settings should be simple, suitable for small stage or black box theatre, requiring minimal furniture or set pieces and limited technical effects. Our productions will use large wooden cubes where possible in place of most tables and chairs, simplifying the stage picture to emphasize the playwright’s work and facilitate set changes between plays.

Format: PDF or Microsoft Word, prepared using standard formatting for a stage play. Pages should be numbered. (A correctly formatted script is easier to read and evaluate. We suggest you download a free formatting guide from Dramatists Guild.)

Anonymity: The author’s name must not appear on any of the pages, allowing the script to be initially evaluated anonymously.

3. Originality — We seek plays that are new, inventive, fresh, and is not an adaptation of a longer play or another work. Submissions shall not have been previously presented as a full production before an audience of paying persons in any venue in Florida. The use of AI assistance is not allowed; entries which are found to have AI-generated content in whole or in part will not be considered. The online Entry Form includes the following Confirmation of Originality; by submitting the form to upload your script, you are confirming agreement with this statement:

I agree to Theatre Odyssey’s submission requirements and understand that Theatre Odyssey will only consider original work. Plays which are based on any other published work, including but not limited to novels, short stories, films, teleplays, other theatrical scripts, etc., unless also written by the submitting author(s), are ineligible. By submitting this form, I declare that the attached script is my original work, created without AI assistance, and conforms to Theatre Odyssey’s requirements for the Ten-Minute Play Festival. I understand Theatre Odyssey will make final production decisions based on the quality of the work and practicality of production, and such decisions shall be final. If my play is selected for inclusion in the Festival, I will provide a brief biography (150-word) and a high-resolution JPG photo.

4. Submission Limit and Fees |There is a submission limit of 3 plays per playwright. Regardless of multiple submissions, no playwright shall have more than one entry selected for production in the Ten-Minute Play Festival.

• There is no fee for the first submission. There is a $10 fee for a second submission and a $20 fee for a third submission.

• Submit one play = no cost. Submit two plays = $10. Submit three plays = $30.

• If more than one play is submitted, payment via PayPal will be required before the online entry form is made available.

5. Deadline — Completed Entry Form, uploaded script (and fee, if required) must be received by October 18, 2026. 

6. Uploading — Plays may only be submitted electronically via the online Entry Form.

7. Selection — The play selection process begins with evaluation by our team of readers, who will independently score each play according to their assessment of plot, character, dialogue, language, theatricality and their own emotional response.

8. Performance — The plays will be adjudicated by three theatre professionals without regard to production values outside the authors’ control, such as sets, costumes, lighting or acting. The winning play will be announced following the final performance, January 10.

Submit your play

If you are submitting more than one play, please complete a separate entry form for each play.

For submissions of a second or third play, please click the designated payment button below to submit your payment first.

After your submission fee has been completed, you should be automatically directed back to the site for confirmation. If you are not, click the “return to merchant” link.

You will also receive a confirmation email. Be sure to check your spam folder and add info@theatreodyssey.org to your safe senders list

Any play submitted without the required fee will not be reviewed.

Thank you! If you have any questions or concerns please contact us here