Submissions are open for the
Theatre Southwest - Readers' Theatre Matinee
All dates are subject to change and will be finalized by December 2025 at the latest.
General guidelines are listed below and are subject to change.
20th Reader's Theatre will take place TBD 2026
Approximately 8-12 selected plays will be read and voted on by the attending audience. One $100 prize will be awarded to the play voted on as audience favorite.
General guidelines:
- Limit of two entries per playwright of an original work that has not been published or produced.
- Monologues and one person plays are not accepted.
- All genres are accepted (light comedies, heavy dramas, thrillers, mystery, sci-fi, satire) with no regard to language or subject matter).
- All plays should be 5 to 10 minutes long, no exceptions. (If using standard play format a good gauge is 4-11 pages, excluding title page).
- Plays should be conducive to Readers' Theatre with simple stage directions and a story expressed mostly through dialogue, not action.
Submission guidelines:
- Scripts are accepted via U.S. mail or email (to heaton_it_up@hotmail.com). If using U.S. mail entry must be postmarked by Jan 2, 2026. Scripts that are emailed must be timestamped by 11:59pm on Jan 2, 2026.
- Scripts will not be returned.
- Scripts should have a title page that includes the play title and playwright's contact information, as well as a list of characters and a brief synopsis of the play. Script pages should be numbered.
- ALL mailed in scripts should be stapled in the upper left-hand corner.
- There is NO ENTRY FEE.
- Approximately 8-12 plays will be selected to be given a performance level read.
- Playwrights selected will be informed prior to the event.
Mail (or bring) entries to:
Theatre Southwest
8944 Clarkcrest
Houston, TX 77063
Attn: TSW-RTM