THINK FAST Short Play Competition

Finalists compete online for Audience Favorite and $500 Judges' Prize

MARCH 1-3, Friday & Saturday at 7:30 / Sunday at 2PM

Meet the playwrights online postshow

Vote for your favorite play

TIX: $15 on sale starting February 5


2025 submission guidelines are below; for tickets and info about the 2024 event visit TIX.


2024 FINALISTS
MATTERING by Donna R Boyd

THE REAL HOUSEHUSBANDS OF VERMONT by David Carkeet

MY NEW ASSIGNMENT by Bruce Deveau

BAAD NEWS by Abigail Espinal 

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MELONS by Kimberly Ferse

THE HIGH PRIESTESS AND THE FOOL by Elle Collins

STOCKED by Serena Norr

CLEAN by Emmett Spaw


THINK FAST poster announcing performance dates 1-3 on Zoom

TO SUBMIT FOR 2025

15-minute plays are accepted for review October and  November 2024 for the event in March, 2025.


Submission Instructions

  • Electronic submissions only
  • No fee to submit
  • Plays are accepted for six weeks each fall
  • Only one entry per author
  • E-mail your short play to: OneActFest@TheTheaterProject.org 
  • Include in the Subject line: “Submission + The Title of Your Play.”
  • Email submissions must contain this sentence in the body of the email: “If my play is accepted and I choose to take part in the festival, I understand that I will be responsible for the casting and rehearsal of my play and that I will be charged a $100 participation fee.”


If Your Play Is Selected

  • ​​​The Theater Project will supply a stage manager/technical director to oversee the Zoom recording process
  • Individual productions supply the actors, directors and make their own agreements with actors and directors regarding compensation


Production Fee

​Playwrights will be charged a $100 fee to cover the $500 prize as well as the cost of hiring the stage manager/technical director.


The Theater Project does not charge a submission fee for its THINK FAST one-act festival. We do, however, charge a $100 production fee to help cover the cost of the $500 prize as well as the hiring of a stage manager/technical director to work with the productions on their technical needs as well as supervise a rehearsal and record the final performance on TTP’s Zoom platform.


Although we would rather not charge a production fee, the reality is that without help from participating playwrights, we would not be able to offer this showcase for new works.

About the Competition


​The Theater Project’s annual short play competition awards the winner for Best Play a $500 prize. The contest is open to adult playwrights, 18 and up. There is no fee to submit your play for consideration, but there is a participation fee for the finalists who present (see below). Plays are accepted in the fall for a virtual event in March 1- 3, 2024. Eight to ten short plays are selected for three prerecorded broadcast performances.


At each performance, the audience will vote for their favorite play. After the final performance, judges will award: Best Play ($500 prize), Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Audience Favorite (play) certificates.

 

Plays can be either dramas or comedies but must be no more than 15 minutes running time. This restriction is absolute and plays that exceed 15 minutes will not be considered. Sets, lighting and sound requirements must be simple. No elaborate props or effects. Playwrights invited to participate must have plays that are ready-to-perform and supply their own actors and directors who are recorded via Zoom by The Theater Project.



MARCH 2023 FINALISTS:



Kim Ferse (Seattle, WA)

Helen Mao (Olney, MD)

Cindi Sansone-Braff (East Patchogue, NY)

Teddy Durgin, (Wake Forest, NC)

Michael Towers (Westford, MA)

Marcus Harmon (Brooklyn, NY)

Curt Strickland (Stoughton, MA)

Sarah Congress (Asbury Park, NJ)


A two row, four column lineup of actors' portraits.
PLAYBILL THINK FAST 2023

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE.

Our panel of judges agreed that this was an exceptionally strong field -- congratulations to all participants.


The nominees for best director:

  • Richard Caliban. FINAL JEOPARDY
  • Bonnie Webster, I AM SANTA
  • Jacqueline Youm, STUCK IN LIMBO

And the winner is: Bonnie Webster, I AM SANTA

 

The nominees for best actor:

  • Hartley Erickson, 20th ANNIVERSARY
  • Tony Hefner, I AM SANTA
  • Zack Dictakis, MOLTING

And the winner is: Hartley Erickson, 20th ANNIVERSARY

 

The nominees for best actress:

  • Kimberly Ferse, FINAL JEOPARDY
  • Lily Rogers, MOLTING
  • Miriam Salerno, NO REST FOR A SOUL

And the winner is Lily Rogers, MOLTING

 

AUDIENCE FAVORITE – an extremely close count -- The winner is a tie:

SPEED DATING, by Curt Strickland & MOLTING, by Michael Towers

 

The nominees for the Judges Prize and the $500 cash award:

  • 20th ANNIVERSARY by Marcus Harmon
  • MOLTING by Michael Towers 
  • STUCK IN LIMBO by Helen Cheng Mao

And the winner is MOLTING by Michael Towers 

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