The American Legacy
Metropolitan Playhouse
The American Legacy
220 East Fourth Street ~ New York, New York 10009
(212) 995 8410
Winner - 2011 Obie Award
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Living Literature Festival: January 2017
The Lost Generation

Proposals due by September 30, 2016

Submit
Metropolitan Playhouse presents its 11th Annual Living Literature Festival, devoted to artists of
The Lost Generation: 1919 - 1930.

WHAT
Scheduled for January 9th through January 22nd, 2016, the festival is a collection of new plays celebrating the spirit of the artists who grappled with the new world order following the Great War and before the Great Depression, variously known as The Jazz Age and the Roaring 20's.  Called the Lost Generation by Gertrude Stein, artists associated with the name include F. Scott Fitzgerald, T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, John Dos Passos, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Waldo Peirce, Isadora Duncan, Ezra Pound, Henry Miller, and  Malcolm Cowley.
Metropolitan also invites inclusion of other leading lights of the period, and notably those of the simultaneous Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Bennett, or W.E.B. Du Bois.

Beginning with any of these figures, adaptations of author's works, biographical pieces exploring their lives, or works inspired by their aspirations are all welcome.

HOW IT WORKS
The annual festival is a presentation of Metropolitan Playhouse of participating artists productions.  Metropolitan will curate, host, and promote the festival itself, while the participants will produce (creating and performing) the plays in the festival.  There is no fee for submission or participation, though costs of rehearsal, costuming, and equipage are born by the participants.  Proceeds will be divided evenly between Metropolitan and the participants.

WHO CAN SUBMIT
Submissions are welcome from individual artists and performance companies alike.  Producers will take responsibility for conceiving and creating their contribution to the festival, with use of Metropolitan's space and physical resources.  Metropolitan will coordinate and promote the festival as a part of its 25th Season.

WHAT KIND OF WORK
Submissions may be solo-performances, one-acts, or full length performances (though none longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes). There are no restrictions concerning style.  Adaptations, biographies, fantasies, and treatises, as well as song/poetry/dance cycles will all be considered.  Selection by Metropolitan Playhouse will be based on artistic quality, feasibility of production, relationship to literature and lives of the period, and suitability for the venue.

However: 
No scripts alone!  Please note, we are seeking submissions of performances which we will present.  We are NOT seeking scripts for Metropolitan to produce. We will not provide directors or actors for productions.

Guidelines
Submissions will be accepted by e-mail or snail mail.
E-mail submissions MUST be pdf documents (all others will be discarded unopened).

Include in submissions:
  1.  Cover sheet with
    •     Name of Company/Artist taking responsibility for producing the work
    •     Project Title
    •     Author, Person, or Subject who inspired the work (and specific titles of inspiring works, as applicable)
    •     Performance Length (Max. 1 hr, 30 min.  This is extremely important for scheduling.)
    •     Contact Person
    •     Telephone Contact
    •     E-mail Contact
  2. Project narrative of no more than 2 pages
  3. Key artist biographies and, if applicable, company history
  4. Sample text (may be the script for the proposed performance or a comparable work by the key artist(s))

Mail to:
Metropolitan Playhouse
220 E. 4th Street
New York, NY  10009
Attn: Living Literature

E-mail to:
lost@metropolitanplayhouse.org
Submission Deadline:  September 30 , 2015
Acceptance
Metropolitan will invite collaborators to be a part of the festival within two weeks of submission deadline.
Questions?
Contact Alex Roe at (212) 995-8410 or lost@metropolitanplayhouse.org.