Experimental Theatre Collective
NYC | Twin Cities | Online

Cut Edge Collective Submission Window open!

Playwrights, Application Deadline December 1, 2023

Final decisions by December 15

NO FEE TO SUBMIT

Please send a writing sample (10 pages), artist statement and resume to: cutedgecollective@gmail.com

We meet twice monthly, on the second and third Tuesdays of each month (except July and August).

On the second Tuesday of each month, we will hear the work of a single writer out loud (read by professional actors) and discuss this writer’s work. This is an in-person meeting.

On the third Tuesday of each month, we will engage (online) in a moderated philosophical discussion about where we’re at in terms of style, form, the direction of theatre/art today etc. Each accepted writer will have the chance to suggest a topic for the monthly salon, and lead the discussion. (Past discussions have included what makes a theatrical production experimental; from what/where do we draw our inspiration; censorship in theater; mysticism in theater; differences in ideas of catharsis between East and West; gender issues in written theatre roles; when is spectacle essential to theatre; repetition and play in storytelling, etc.)

PLAYWRIGHTS MAY ONLY MISS FOUR SESSIONS TOTAL (TWO EACH FROM THE WORKSHOP AND SALON). AFTER THAT, THEY WILL NOT BE ASKED TO PARTICIPATE IN 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL.

The Upshot

Upon invitation, the rate is $125 for the year. This covers space to meet for an entire year and a modest stipend for the actors who’ll read our words during the workshop meetings(Cut Edge will cast all readings, if desired by the playwright). Additionally, it will help defer costs for our annual 10-minute play Festival, available to all accepted writers (Cut Edge provides TD, SM, free rehearsal space options and all marketing). Lastly, the fee helps underwrite the publication of the plays in the Ten Minute, with each playwright receiving three copies of the antholofy.

(Our 2023 cohort will be presenting their 10-minute plays this February 10-12, 2024 at the Tank, 312 W. 36th Street).

The Breakdown

To participate, you must be an experimental theatre writer. What do we mean by this? You must write for live performance and you must be in the process of creating something that isn’t “conventional.” This departure from normative theatre can include dialogue, structure, staging, character and/or character development, format, passage of time or any other manner of pushing at theatrical boundaries. Teach us something.

The Cut Edge Collective currently has only a few available slots. Playwrights will be selected based upon the quality of the work submitted and experimental nature of the work.

If you’re in New York City and able to commit to two events monthly in Midtown, and write experimental work for theatre, please send a sample, segment or example and tell us why you want to be a part of the collective.

And So Who Is This For

Experimental Theatre Writers

Able to Commit to Twice Monthly Meetings, including one in-person in Midtown Manhattan, through 2024

Submit Compelling Samples

$125 for Space, Actors and Ten Minute Play Festival (early 2024). The writers retreat will occasion another $20/day fee ($100 total), which will include transportation, room and board (but not alcohol, coffee and meals out, local t-shirts and other swag, etc.)

Please reach out if you have any questions to: Cut Edge Collective: cutedgecollective@gmail.com

Cut Edge Collective

The Cut Edge Collective meets at ART-NY on 8th Avenue in the heart of midtown Manhattan to hear new work and discuss the plays. After hearing the new work, read by professional actors from our Collective of actors, we ask what people were warm about; what they might have been about, or which parts they “fell out”; then we ask rhetorical questions of the playwright (who is not invited to respond, just note down the questions) and finally, we ask the writer if he/she/they has any questions for the audience.

Then, we head into the night to find a welcoming locale to share a drink and bite, and continue the conversation.

Cut Edge actors prepare to read a new play

Cut Edge playwrights prepare to hear a new play

Cut Edge Collective 10-minute Play Festival

Every year in February, we hold a ten-minute play festival at The Tank, 312 W. 36th Street, to highlight what our writers have been thinking about and working on. We present the work over three evenings, with each playwright getting two productions of their plays.