Submissions are currently closed for the
Theatre Southwest - Readers' Theatre Matinee
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. If using U.S. mail entry must be postmarked by TBD. Scripts that are emailed must be timestamped by 11:59pm on TBD.
- 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