Theatre Odyssey

Bringing plays to life

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL STUDENT TEN-MINUTE PLAYWRITING FESTIVAL

May 2025

Eight new plays will be accepted for production. A panel of judges will select Best Play and Runner-Up, with playwrights receiving cash scholarships of $1000 and $500, respectively.

Entries may be submitted beginning November 10, 2025.

1. Eligibility | Plays considered eligible for production by Theatre Odyssey in its annual Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival must be the work products of persons who are legal Florida residents and who reside in the Gulf Coast area of Florida (Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Sumter counties). In the case of collaborations, the residency requirement pertains to all authors. Students must be in grades 9 through 12, or homeschooled equivalent, during the school year.

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 characters.

Structure: This is not a screenplay. Short plays for performance on stage are most effective when they contain only a single scene.

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, prepared using standard formatting*. The author’s name must not appear on any of the pages, allowing the script to be initially evaluated anonymously. Pages should be numbered.
 

3. Originality | We seek work that is new, inventive, fresh, and is not an adaptation of another work. Submissions shall not have been previously presented as a full production before an audience of paying persons in any venue in the territory shown above. The Online Entry Form includes the following Confirmation of Originality; by submitting the Entry 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, song lyrics, etc., are ineligible. By submitting this form, I declare that the attached script is my original work and conforms to Theatre Odyssey’s requirements for the Student Ten-Minute Playwriting 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), a JPG high resolution photo, and a one-sentence description of the submitted play. I agree to be present at the final performance.
 

4. Submission Limit | There is a submission limit of one play per playwright.

5. Deadline | All submissions must be received on or before February 19, 2026.

6. Selection | The play selection process begins with three qualified readers reading each submission. The identity of the authors remains anonymous. An independent scoring system using a uniform matrix guides the readers in choosing the most worthy plays for production. As many as 8 plays are selected for a full production each year.

6. Judging | Three highly respected judges, selected by Theatre Odyssey, will choose a runner-up and the best play at the 2025 Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival. The winning play and runner up will be announced following the performance May 11. The winning playwright receives a $1000 cash scholarship plus a trophy to be displayed at their school. The runner-up receives a $500 cash scholarship. Authors of other finalist plays receive $100. In the case of collaborations, awards will be shared among the winning authors.

*A correctly formatted script is easier to read and evaluate. We suggest you download a free formatting guide from Dramatists Guild.

Please watch this short video, Writing a Ten-Minute Play, featuring award-winning playwright Connie Schindewolf.

And check out these suggestions from the judges of previous festivals.