SUBMIT.
(to Renaissance Theatre Company)
The Ren is accepting submissions of new works for consideration to be included in our programming. Here is what we look for most in all submissions:
New Works. This can be a play, musical, performance art piece, song cycle, concert, whatever. But it must be new. What is new, you ask? New, bitch. Shows that haven’t been fully produced (lights, set, costumes, props, etc.) in Central Florida. We will absolutely consider shows that have had productions elsewhere, though local talent does get a little bit of an edge. We’re all from here.
Diverse perspectives. The Ren embraces diversity in every sense of the word. Do you have a diverse perspective of the world? Be sure and tell us why in your brief artist statement.
Show ready. While the Ren is open to the occasional staged reading or first concerts, what we are really interested in are pieces that are ready for full production with a hired director, actors, sets, costumes, lights, the whole shebang. shabang? idk. But we want pieces that you (and we) feel are nearly fully developed.
Sellable. We know, ::eye roll::, but at the Ren we believe that Theatre can and should be something the audience actually wants to see. We want to invest in new works that we think are entertaining or compelling and won’t lose us money. We aren’t Shakespeare people here. Our audience is primarily people under 50 (and cool people over 50), so give us something fresh that people will pay to see.
Extra points for the ‘it’ factor. Don’t get us wrong, we love ‘traditional’ story-telling and theatre. But what we excel at is pushing boundaries. We want pieces that show us something new, say something new, or are exploring new ways that live entertainment works. We love immersive theatre (when it’s good), and we love taking risks. If your play is a two-person drama with a box set, it better say something we haven’t heard before or say it in a different way, or it’s just not right for the Ren.
Quality. Please, babe, just let it be good.
A NOTE
ON THE ROLE OF THE
PLAYWRIGHT/CREATOR/COLLABORATOR
Depending on your piece, you may or may not be involved in the production process. We aren’t really looking to ‘develop’ a piece with a playwright. Rather, we want to give playwrights the opportunity to see their pieces realized by a team of hired professionals. We won’t change any lines without asking (though we may ask) and we may make choices you wouldn’t make yourself. BUT we *might* make choices you should make and help you explore other parts of your piece. Then again, you might hate what we do and that’s cool too. Either way, we’ll see you on opening night (and maybe once or twice in rehearsals). And of course, we’ll pay you. Like real money. Like a royalty. Like Neil Simon intended.
Submission categories.
Blackbox (most opportunities). We have built a small blackbox space at the Ren (75 seats-ish) that is ideal for pieces that have like 1–6 people in it. We can be a little creative with space. These productions will likely have nontraditional performance times. We reserve many Friday and Saturday nights for our giant immersive installations. We are looking to fill other nights and times. Every once in a while there might be a ‘normal’ schedule available. Also, we don’t do matinees. Too hungover.
Blue sky (few opportunities). The Ren has converted a 15,400 sq ft building in the heart of Downtown Orlando into several performance venues. These are rarely set in any kind of ‘traditional’ configuration (very rarely a proscenium). We run these larger productions (installations?) for a longer run (4–6 weeks or more), and these are our money-makers. Do you have a huge idea you think is ready for exploration? A script that could occur in multiple spaces (a la Sleep No More) or some kind of immersive situation? We would have to be *very* impressed by material to select for one of our larger pieces, mostly because we’re selfish and like to make things ourselves. But try us. Hit us with your big idea.
Purple wall (that was a Fringe joke). The Ren will return as a “BYOV” venue for the 2024 Orlando Fringe Festival. During the festival, a handful of “Bring Your Own Venue”… venues (that’s us!) choose shows to perform without having won the Festival’s long-standing lottery process. In 2023, the Ren hosted six award-winning shows. This year’s festival runs from May 15 to May 27, 2024, and Fringe shows have to be under 75 minutes. (Our advice? The best Fringe shows we’ve ever seen were 45–60 minutes.) For more info, see this page on Fringe’s site.
How to submit.
First of all, we LOVE to work with people who have made an effort to get to know us. Come see a show. Come to Musical Mondays. If you aren’t local, at the VERY LEAST go through our social media, our website, and learn something about our shows. This will help you see if you fit in. If it’s clear you haven’t come here and done no research and just applied all willy-nilly, we won’t really look at your stuff. Periodt.
An artist statement. In the body of the email. A *short* artist statement. Tell us about yourself and where you are on your journey. Why should we invest in you? Do you have a diverse perspective of the world? Tell us why. Do we know and love someone who knows and loves you? NAME DROP, baby. If we like your show, we’re going to look for you on social media anyway. Please for the love of Gaga, be brief.
Send us your stuff. All of it. Everything you have. Start with the most impressive stuff. If it’s music, we MUST hear the music. Spend some time on a decent demo. Send us the script. Photos. Dance. Whatever. We will definitely look at the first thing. If that doesn’t grab our attention, we won’t move on. Don’t waste your time with character descriptions and long synopsises. synopsees? idk who cares. Start with the first page. If the first page is boring, maybe re-write it?, or send us the good part first.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND US ANY QUESTIONS. NOT ONE. ABOUT ANYTHING. WE ANSWERED EVERYTHING WE INTEND TO ANSWER. We make no promises on how long it will take us to get back to you. We will acknowledge we’ve received your piece, and once it’s reviewed we’ll let you know if we are interested. If we aren’t interested, we may or may not tell you why. Blame us, it’s fine. We are busy people. But we’re cool and we make cool shows.
Finally, please remember that this is all super subjective. Just because it’s not our thing, doesn’t mean it isn’t someone else’s thing. We have a diverse panel of readers who know the Ren and what we like to do. If we reject you, don’t be sad. Submit somewhere else. And if no one seems to ‘get’ your work, maybe produce it yourself? Steppenwolf started in a church basement. The folks at the Ren started in an asbestos-laden rat-infested fellowship hall. The sky’s the limit. We believe in you, even if we don’t like your play.
Tech details: for audio or video, please upload your files somewhere and you can paste those links on the form. YouTube, SoundCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or wherever you prefer is great. You can use an unlisted/private link as long as we can access it internally. We won’t share anything you send us externally.
A link is fine for scripts, scores, and the like, too. Or, you can upload PDFs and certain other documents to the form (up to 5 files). Keep in mind that each file is limited to 10 MB… which is a lot. Manuscript-wise, that’s about eight Moby Dicks, and you get five of those. If you’re trying to submit forty or more Dicks to us in one go, please reconsider.
Renaissance Theatre Company was awarded a project grant for new works by United Arts of Central Florida. Thanks y’all.
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