Have a North Carolina Story To Tell? We’re Listening.
PlayMakers Repertory Company announces a call for new short plays by and about North Carolinians.
Whether you’re an experienced writer or a first-time playwright with a story you’ve always wanted to tell, we welcome you to submit. You might see your play read in Chapel Hill next February!
We’re looking for short plays (10-20 minutes) that capture authentic North Carolina flavors and experiences. These plays may be anything from a small family drama that takes place in Kannapolis, to a workplace comedy in Research Triangle Park, to a mythic musical fable set in the hills of Cherokee, to a historical tale on the beaches of Hatteras or a fabulous farce set in Fayetteville. The most important thing is to “write what you know” — we want to hear your voice!
- Submission period opens Sept. 1, 2026, and closes November 15, 2026.
- A large selection of works will be featured in readings presented in Chapel Hill February 17-21, 2027, as part of Carolina Performing Arts’ All. Together. Now. Festival.
- A smaller selection of plays will be fully produced for a state-wide tour as part of PlayMakers’ 2027/28 season.
Why this Project Now?
Over a century ago, UNC Chapel Hill Professor Frederick H. Koch proposed a new “native form” of theatre, recognizing that “if we speak for the human nature in our own neighborhood we shall be expressing for all.”
An audience watches a performance of Paul Green’s Lost Colony in 1940.
For decades, the Carolina Playmakers birthed and performed original plays based on “real, ordinary people’s lives, rooted in place, and shaped by their own background.” Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Paul Green and esteemed authors like Thomas Wolfe and Betty Smith were just a few of the writers who emerged through this burgeoning movement. The plays toured across the state and the southeast from the 1920’s through the 1960’s.
For its 50th Anniversary season, and the UNC Department of Dramatic Art’s 90th, PlayMakers Repertory Company reaches back to its roots in search of the newest North Carolina folk plays. The project opens a call for original short plays from every corner of the state in hopes of representing the vast mosaic of our life here in the 21st century.
Recent Examples of North Carolina stories produced at PlayMakers
Regional Premiere of Fat Ham by James Ijames
World Premeire of The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones by Howard L. Craft and Mike Wiley
World Premiere of The Game by Bekah Brunstetter
The Details
- There is no entry fee.
- Submissions must be original works rooted in North Carolina, with running times between 10 and 20 minutes. No translations or adaptations of existing works by other writers will be accepted.
- Submissions including songs or music are welcome (but the total running time should still not exceed 20 minutes). No need to include recordings — simply write lyrics or song titles into the script.
- Plays written in languages other than English are welcome (but must include English translations as part of the submission).
- Plays must not infringe upon the copyright of any other work, or violate the rights of any other person or entity, or defame any other person or entity.
- Only one submission per playwright (or team of writers) is allowed.
- Please note in the submission if the play has already been professionally produced or published elsewhere.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS
Electronic submissions are encouraged, and will provide you with confirmation of a successful receipt. Submissions will close at 11:59pm on November 15, 2026.
Use the electronic form to enter the title of your play, your name and your contact information (including address, phone number, and email address).
The manuscript must be submitted in PDF format. The title page should include the play’s title, a 2–3 sentence plot synopsis, and a list of characters with any relevant character descriptions (age, gender, ethnicity, etc).
SUBMISSIONS BY MAIL
Mail a hard copy of the script to:
PlayMakers Repertory Company
Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art
120 Country Club Road CB 3235
Chapel Hill NC 27599-3235
Please do not send the only copy of your play. Plays cannot be returned after the competition.
Folk Play Project Advisory Committee
Tiffany Albright
Amanda Cobb
Laurelyn Dossett
Georgann Eubanks
Akiva Fox
Cortland Gilliam
Joy Goodwin
Jaki Shelton Green
Lynden Harris
Jack Herrick
Leoneda Inge
Creighton Irons
Lormarev Jones
Jill McCorkle
Joseph Megel
Patrick Torres
Nancy Trovillian
Adam Versényi
Ford Worthy
The North Carolina Folk Play Project is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the support of patrons of PlayMakers Repertory Company.
FAQs
Folk arts and crafts represent peoples and their cultures, usually based on their communal customs, stories, and everyday lives. —This can take the form of everything from furniture to a face jug to a song to aplay—what matters most is that it binds the community together and conveys its traditions and stories to the outside world.
The submissions that interest us the most capture universal truth through stories that are specific to:
- Life across the state, in our communities, in the past, present and future!
- Unique perspectives informed by local communities and their traditions.
- North Carolina’s legacy through its people, places, and cultures.
Anyone who can complete the submission form by the deadline is eligible to submit.
While there are no residential requirements, North Carolina’s places and culture should be authentic and essential elements of the submission. That can include writers born and raised in the state, those who have adopted the state as their home, or those with family or historical connections to the state. Those who spent years studying in the state are also welcome to submit.
We do ask for disclosures identifying individuals as over or under 18 for the protection of minors. Youth submissions will include additional screening and review in compliance with any applicable university policy.
All submissions are evaluated on originality, vision, and connection to North Carolina.
One short play (10–20-minute running time) in PDF format and a completed application. Our submission portal allows for support files like music and/or images (not required; subject to Jotform capacities).
It is important to note that PlayMakers is a regional theatre producer. We will favor submissions that could be presented and/or produced in a live theatrical setting.
What that means is a submission should include some of these essential elements for interpreting what a live experience might be, to assist readers:
- A setting: Where and when is this taking place? Somewhere. Some time. Here. There. Now. Before. Way later.
- Characters: Who do we meet? Do we see them? Do we hear them? Are they people?
- Action or events: What happens? Sometimes there is a story—a causal chain of events connected in a specific order. Sometimes the narrative isn’t so linear
Here are some resources to support translating these ideas or experiences into a playscript format that can guide readers through your submission:
Free Downloadable Script Formats for Plays and Musicals
https://www.dramatistsguild.com/script-formats
Standard Playwriting Format
Form(at) and Function 1: The Essentials
https://www.playwrightsrealm.org/aspiring-playwrights-articles/format-and-function-1-the-essentials
Your play does not need to be ready for production, but please do your best to give us the clearest sense you can of the story you want to tell. We are looking for stories that intrigue us and a voice that is uniquely yours.
Big and fantastic ideas? We’ll figure them out from abstract works, docu-drama, hyper-realism, fantasy, and more!
Nov. 15, 2026 Initial Submission Deadline
Nov. 2026 – Jan. 2027 Submissions reviewed by reader-evaluators
Jan. 15, 2027 Playwrights whose work has been chosen for live reading notified
Feb. 19 – 21, 2027 Select North Carolina Folk Play Project works read at Carolina Performing Arts’ All. Together. Now. Festival
Feb. – March 2027 Review and selection of plays for full production.
Season 27-28 PRC Mobile announces state-wide tour of evening of short Folk Plays!
You will be notified in January 2026 as to whether your submission has been chosen for the reading series.
Readers include PlayMakers Repertory Company staff and faculty; artists and cultural figures from across the state of North Carolina; and selected community volunteers will evaluate submissions based on originality, creativity, and North Carolina connections.
We understand that timing and travel may be challenging, but please don’t let that discourage you from submitting. We will use digital communications and other means to connect writers with relevant artists and staff as the project progresses, but there is no requirement for attendance or participation that creates undue hardship.
Because of the volume of submissions we receive and our limited staff, we unfortunately can’t provide individual feedback on plays that weren’t chosen for the reading.