10-Minute Play Festival

April 24 – 27, 2025

Hattiloo Theatre’s 10-Minute Play Festival is a short form theater event with all of the plays performed in its Black Box theatre. Each play is ten minutes or less and features some of Shelby County’s best theater talent – writers, actors, directors and crew! The Festival is an opportunity for artists to create unique stories about the Black experience that entertain and exhilarate audiences!

We are now accepting submissions for the 10-Minute Play Festival!

Six (6) winning scripts are selected by an anonymous committee according to established criteria for quality 10-minute scripts. We consider factors such as how well plays can be staged in our space and how well audiences might receive them.

What we’re looking for:

  1. We actively seek plays that reflect the Black experience.
  2. Each entry must be original and previously unpublished. The play may not have been previously performed in any public venue for an audience.
  3. Scripts must have simple set, lighting, and sound requirements. The scenery will be very basic with only a few set pieces.
  4. Plays with more than one scene, requiring set changes, will not be selected for performance.
  5. No nudity or extreme/explicit content. Adult content is acceptable in respectful contexts.
  6. Please refrain from racial/sexual/ideological prejudice and slurs.
  7. The script must include cast and set descriptions.

This competition is for 10-minute plays only; it is open to any playwright living in Shelby County, TN. There is NO submission fee, NO production fee. The rules are simple and are as follows:

  1. Any playwright may enter; please submit only ONE play per playwright. If a playwright submits more than one script, only the first one received will be considered and the others will be eliminated.
  2. The play must be a 10-minute play (meaning it will be approximately 10 pages long (dialogue). If it’s a monologue/one-person piece, it should come in under 10 pages).
  3. The play itself should only have the title and a brief synopsis; no identifying information should be contained in or on the 10-page script.
  4. To be considered, each script must be received by November 8, 2024.
  5. The contest is open to the first 30 entries received.
  6. Winning entrants agree to a full production of their scripts and video recording and presentation of their scripts.
  7. Each playwright submitting a play will receive a notice of receipt. No comments or feedback on the scripts will be given.
  8. Failure to follow these guidelines of submission will automatically disqualify a script from consideration.

That’s it! The top six (6 scripts) (as determined by the judges) will be performed by active members of the Hattiloo Theatre community. The six (6) selected playwrights will each receive $250 in prize money.

The script selection process is anonymous and therefore we won’t be posting notifications during the deliberations. We will announce the six (6) winners after the selection process is complete.

By submitting a script for consideration, the playwright agrees that Hattiloo Theatre may produce the script during the festival. The playwright agrees to waive any royalty for the production of the piece in the festival and relinquishes all rights to casting decisions or scenic choices.

All questions should be sent to: jarrod@hattilootheatre.org with “10-min Play Fest” in the subject line.

This festival is made possible by First Horizon through an ArtsFirst grant.

Submit Here