The Shelterbelt mission

The mission of the Shelterbelt Theatre is to provide a safe and nurturing environment in which to focus the development of original work and to provide for the practical education of writers, performing artists, creative and technical staff, and the general public in the art and science of moving an idea from the mind to the stage.

New Script Submissions

• We need your play! The Shelterbelt produces four original productions each season, from collections of short one-acts to full length plays and musicals. We welcome submissions of new scripts of all lengths and subject matter. Please do read this entire page before you submit your play.
• We are especially interested in works by local and regional writers! We will be glad to assist local authors - we can review and critique your play, and set up a reading panel or workshop setting. Just let us know!
• At this time we are accepting full-length and one-act plays ranging in length from short (up to 15 minutes) to long (1-2 hours or more).
• Scripts for Shelterskelter and From The Shelterbelt With Love should generally be a MAXIMUM of 10-15 minutes in length, although we will consider excellent plays of up to 30 minutes.
• NEWS FLASH!!  We are having a new late night event to coincide with From Shelterbelt With Love in 2010. Called After Hours, it will feature the naughtier side of our love and relationship anthology, for adults only, running Friday and Saturdays after the regular shows. We are hoping to have a similar addition to Shelterskelter in 2010, B-Sides, an adults-only late show running on Fridays and Saturdays after the regular Shelterskelter show. The plus side for playwrights is that there are really no restrictions on content. The only requirement is that it must be able to be staged in our space with no elaborate lighting or set needs. Let your imagination run wild! Length can range from 8 to 30 minutes. We are looking for total show length of about 60-70 minutes with no intermission. Send your script in today! Deadline is July 1, 2010.
• If you are submitting a full length play, or a longer one-act play, there is no specific length limitation.
• Please Note: If your script is properly formatted, each page should equal a little more than 1 minute.

Deadlines!!

• Scripts for Shelterskelter (our tales of horror, suspense, the macabre, bizarre and Halloween themed anthology) are due by July 1.
• Scripts for From The Shelterbelt With Love (our tales love, loss, romance, relationships and Valentine's themed anthology) are due by September 1.
• If you are submitting for Shelterskelter or From Shelterbelt With Love, please indicate this in the subject line of your email, and/or on your cover or title page.
• There are no specific deadlines for our other production slots, although we generally try to select plays and musicals 4-6 months before the performance date.

Submission STEP 1

Please submit the following:

1. A letter of inquiry with your contact information.
2. A one page synopsis of your script.
3. A full version of your script.

Make sure you have a title page at the beginning of your document, with your full name and contact info. Failure to do this may result in playwrights not getting properly credited. The title page must be in the same file, not sent as a separate file.

Submission of script(s) does not mean that we will give you a response. If you do not hear from us, please do not call us or e-mail us. It means that we are very, very busy. We make every effort to review all submissions. If your script is considered for the season, we will contact you.

Submission STEP 2

Please email your submission to:
submissions@shelterbelt.org

We accept the following types of files: Microsoft Word; Plain Text, Rich Text Format, and Adobe PDF
We are no longer supporting Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter documents.
Please convert your scripts to one of these formats above before submitting to us.
Thank you