The New American Theatre One Act Plays Competition

The 2026 contest is now closed. Thank you to all the playrights who submitted their work. We are inspired by the creativity of this year's submissions. Finalists will be announced later this Spring. 

The New American Theatre is seeking new one act plays for our 2026 Festival of New American One Act Plays.

The New American One Act Competition was founded to support new plays and the playwrights who bring them to life.The competitions are in line with The New American Theatre's on-going commitment to inspire, educate and nurture artists and our community towards a thoughtful and humane world view through the art of story-telling. We help theatre artists find their voices, cultivate social consciousness and prepare for a lasting career. We support new and established playwrights and incubate new plays. We seek to make a lasting, life-long impression on our community – inspiring the audience to continue provocative conversations long after the curtain closes.

Since 1995, The New American Theatre has presented over 130 Los Angeles or World Premieres Plays. Each year, The New American Theatre accepts worldwide submissions of original one act and full length plays that have not been produced in Los Angeles.

FINALISTS

• A selection of 5-7 finalists will be selected for performance in Hollywood.
• Productions will be directed by Artistic Director Jack Stehlin and performed bymembers of The New American Theatre.
• Finalists will be invited to be members of the New American Theatre Playwrights Circle. 

SUBMIT YOUR PLAY(S) TO THE FESTIVAL

The New American Theatre is seeking new one act plays for our 2026 Festival of New American One Act Plays.
​Submission dates are:

• Regular Deadline: January 15, 2026 (11.45 pm / Pacific)
  $12 administration fee
• Late Deadline: February 15 , 2026 (11.45 pm / Pacific)
  $15 administration fee
• Extended Deadline: March 15, 2026 (11:45 pm / Pacific) 
  $20 administration fee

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ABOUT THE NEW AMERICAN THEATRE

The New American Theatre is a critically-acclaimed actor-driven theatre company best known for exploring and supporting new and challenging work in the American theatre and for producing classic plays with modern, cultural relevance. The New American Theatre is dedicated to the support and growth of all artists who participate in the collective imagination that is theatre.

Named by CBS Los Angeles as one of the top five 99-seat theatre’s in Los Angeles, The New American Theatre has also enjoyed critical acclaim, awards and nominations from the Los Angeles Times, LA Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage West, LA Weekly, LA Stage Alliance Ovations, and many others.

Supporting Playwrights and New Works
The New American Theatre supports new artists and new works. Since our founding, we've presented over 130 new plays on Los Angeles stages, three of which we later moved to an Off-Broadway run. Plays that received world premieres on our stages have become feature films, short films, and a Lifetime movie event. Several plays have been widely published, and one play was turned into a novel. World premiere plays and world premiere adaptations have won prestigious awards and accolades.
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Notable playwrights who have had their plays produced by The New American Theatre include John Bunzel, Colette Freedman, Jack Kenny, Shem Bitterman, Chuck Rose,Stephen McFeely, Greg Kalleres, Bara Swain, Moira Walley-Beckett, Deanne Stillman, Mark Harvey Levine, Brendan Brandt , Andrew R. Heinz, Hal Corley, Jerry Lambert, just to name a few.

FESTIVAL GUIDELINES

• The finalists will be selected by our judging panel and Artistic Director Jack Stehlin. 
• All submissions must be written in English. Worldwide submissions are accepted.
• One act plays must not have been previously produced in Los Angeles, CA
• Plays with simple staging requirements are favored. 
• Running time should be no more than 12 minutes.
• Playwrights may submit more than one script, but each script must be accompanied by a separate payment transaction number. 
• Plays may not be under option or scheduled for professional production or publication at the time of submission. 
• All submissions must accompany an Administrative Fee per entry. The fee will go towards producing the festival.
• The New American Theatre reserves the right to not choose any entries for production, without a refund.
• All submissions must include the order number in the submission form. 
• Contact information should be on the cover page of script.
• The author’s name must not appear anywhere in the script (other than the cover page) in order to preserve anonymity in the judging process. 
• Submissions should include title of the work, author’s name, address and contact information, and a brief biography. 
• Online submissions will receive a confirmation email.
• Notification will be made some time in late Spring, 2026.
• If chosen, the playwright and The New American Theatre will enter a letter of agreement before rehearsals commence. 
• Plays will be presented without royalties to the playwright.
• By submitting a script and paying the entrance fee, it is assumed that the playwright agrees to the festival guidelines.
• The New American Theatre reserves the right to change the rules of the festival at any time. 

Questions? Email [email protected]

The New American Theatre reserves the right to reject any script for any reason. The New American Theatre reserves the right to not choose a winner for any given year and reserves the right to determine the ineligibility of a winner. 

BY SUBMITTING THE MATERIAL, THE APPLICANT HEREBY AGREES TO INDEMNIFY, HOLD HARMLESS, AND DEFEND THE FESTIVAL, ITS EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, REPRESENTATIVES, AND AFFILIATES FROM ANY LIABILITY, CLAIMS, AND DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE SUBMISSION AND FROM ANY FEES AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, THAT ANY OF THEM MAY INCUR IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.