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Education:
KidsWrite Festival
Submission Deadline: TBD
Performance Dates: May 24-25, 2024
Every spring, Burning Coal Theatre receives play submissions from local 6th-12th graders that are then professionally produced for the public.
Education:
KidsWrite Festival
Every spring, Burning Coal Theatre receives play submissions from local 6th-12th graders that are then professionally produced for the public. Burning Coal has assembled a team of skilled theatre artists to bring these young writers’ stories to life.
The KidsWrite Festival was created in 2004 to encourage young writers in central NC by producing their original one act plays. Finalists are chosen from numerous submissions. Those scripts are produced at the theatre and then published in a book available for purchase.
WHAT IS KIDSWRITE?
The KidsWrite Festival was created in 2004 to both encourage and support student writers between the sixth and twelfth grade located in central North Carolina. Every spring, Burning Coal Theatre receives numerous submissions of original one-act plays that are reviewed by a group of readers in order to select the finalists. The chosen scripts are then professionally produced by a team of hand-picked, skilled theatre artists. Burning Coal then holds a festival for the public showcasing the new plays, as well as publishing them in a book available for purchase.
The 2023 application is now closed. We will open applications for next year in January 2024.
THIS YEAR'S SELECTIONS
Thank you to all the students who submitted their original plays to KidsWrite! this year. We are so impressed by your level of creativity and skill.
Here’s the lineup for KidsWrite 2023:
ACT 1 – Directed by Josue Ruiz Elizondo and Allison Nicole Acuff
LOST WITHIN ONE’S MIND by Dana Anger
THEY WEEP FOR US by Emma Briceno
ACT 2 – Directed by Amy Lloyd
WHO DID IT? by Neil Joshi
GOING UP by Caleb van Doornewaard
THE WILD DREAM by Anna Bryan, Audrey Fagin, Katie Haynes, Sadie Hancox, Daniel Sanders, Mackenzie Kuntz, Jasmine Rigda
ACT 3 – Directed by Alison Nicole Acuff
IN THE COURTYARD by Ellene Warner
DAMN CIGARETTES! by Izzy Richman
VELIOUS by Addison Florio
OVERDUE by Nina Ridley Clayton
HOW CAN I SUBMIT A PLAY TO KIDSWRITE?
Created in 2004, Kidswrite will be accepting submissions of one-act plays from students and producing a number of them each year at Burning Coal Theatre (The Murphey School Auditorium). Please help us spread the word and help our next generation of writers!
The 2023 application is now closed. We will open applications for next year in January, 2024. The deadline each year for submission is March 1st.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Original one-act plays, less than 45 pages (NOTE: average script length is about 20 pages) in standard theatre manuscript format* written by a student, grades 6 -12, are eligible.
Writers, please send submissions along with a letter including your name, address, email address or phone number, grade and school.
*STANDARD FORMAT
– Act and Scene headings are centered.
– Character’s names are centered and capitalized.
– Stage directions are indented one tab and italicized.
– Character’s names in stage directions are capitalized.
– Page numbers in the footer
You may also submit your work by email to:
coalartisticdir@ncrrbiz.com
Or, in the mail at:
Burning Coal Theatre, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC 27604.
Writers are notified by mid-March. All writers will receive written feedback.
PLAYWRIGHTING TIPS
Feeling stuck? Piedmont Laureate Tamara Kissane gives her tips on how to start writing a play in this brief Youtube video. Remember, you can write about any topic for KidsWrite!
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Sponsor KidsWrite! or other Burning Coal educational events for $100 – 500 (tax deductible). Sponsorships may include program ads, curtain speech recognition, and / or social media shout-outs. Email development@burningcoal.org or call (919) 834-4001 to learn more.
WHEN (AND WHERE) CAN I SEE THE PERFORMANCES?
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
The KidsWrite! Festival will take place on May 24-25, 2024 at the Murphey School Auditorium (Burning Coal’s usual performance space at 224 Polk St. Raleigh, NC 27604). All selected plays will be performed both days.
TICKETS will be available. Tickets are $10 per person.
The selected plays will be published in the KidsWrite Collection 2024. The KidsWrite Collection 2023 is still available for purchase here.
For additional information, please call 919.834.4001.
Thank you. Your being here and your support makes it possible to bring live, inclusive, innovative theatre to Downtown Raleigh, NC, and beyond.
Burning Coal Theatre Company is funded in part by the City of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission. Burning Coal Theatre Company is supported by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.
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