Competition Rules
IF DYLAN MET THOMAS HARDY - A short play competition
- The competition is open to anyone aged 11 years and over.
- We can only accept one entry per person
- The play must be an original, unperformed and unproduced piece of work
- We cannot accept musicals, prose writings, radio pieces or screenplays
- The play must be a minimum of 5 minutes in length and a maximum of 15 minutes. We recommend reading it out loud – perhaps with family and friends to check timings.
- The play can have any number of characters but it must be possible to be performed using a maximum of four performers and with the aid of a minimal additional props.
- The entrant must exclusively own and control all copyright and all other related rights to the submitted script.
- The submitted play must be available for production and unattached to any theatre or company. Any scripts that have been professionally optioned, produced or published will be disqualified.
- We will accept plays that are co-authored by more than one writer. Please ensure that only one entry is submitted with one set of contact details.
- The author’s name must not appear on the cover page or anywhere within the script.
- All plays should be written in English.
- Scripts should be in Word or .pdf format and uploaded to info@dylanthomassociety.com
- The entry fee is £5.00 payable through PayPal.
- The information that you give us will be held on a database so that we might contact you in future. We will not pass this on to a third party and you can ask for this to be deleted if you wish
- The plays will be judge anonymously without knowing the writer’s name.
- The judges, made up of representatives of the Dylan Thomas Society, the Thomas Hardy Society, Lighthouse Theatre Company, will read all the entries and judge the shortlisted plays on the following criteria:
* Does it meet the competition rules and eligibility?
* Does it respond to the theme ‘If Dylan met Thomas Hardy’
* Does it have dialogue which is speakable and that carries an individual voice for each character?
* Is it a story that takes its characters and the audience on a journey? - The three shortlisted plays will be performed at the Dylan Thomas Theatre as part of The Beginning Hardy and Thomas conference on 28th October 2023
- Shortlisted authors will be invited to attend the performance
- The plays will be judged by the audience and the winner announced later in the evening.
- The entry deadline is noon on 7th October 2023