The Results Are In

The Prague Post and the Prague Playhouse would like to congratulate the winner of the 1st annual Prague Post Playwriting Contest:

Richard's play, Burn Your Bookes, is a complex look at the intregues of the court of Rudolph II, where alchemists and nobles tried to gain favor by making gold from lead.

The audience prize went to Ian Grody's Old Faithful, directed by Dan Fliescher–Brown with Todd Kramer, Gerry Turner and Mimi Winick.

The main theme of the performances, however, was that the whole event was a big win for all involved, from the writers to the production teams to the audience. We were overjoyed with the response and are excited to start planning for next year. All you writers out there: get out your pens! You only have 11 months until the next contest!

Audience Announcement

As part of its effort to rejuvenate English-language theater in Prague, The Prague Post has launched its First Annual Playwriting Contest, soliciting scripts of about 20 minutes in length. The winner is offered a cash prize, and the three finalists get full productions of their works.

The results are in. Three finalists have been selected from the nearly 100 plays submitted: Burn your bookes, by Richard Byrne; Stewie the stoic, by Taso Dirlis; and Old faithful, by Ian Grody.

Samuel Beckett collaborator and scholar, Barbara Bray, who kindly served as one of the final judges, said of the entries: "Bravo on the overall quality! Amazing! They've given me some good laughs, too."

The three plays will receive full productions at Divadlo Minor in Prague 1 starting March 10. Please join us for a diverse evening of theater, entirely in English - what we hope will be a new beginning for English-language theater in Prague.

The winner of the 20,000 Kč playwriting prize and an Audience Award will be announced following the final performance, at a gala celebration March 19.

We look forward to seeing you at the performances.

Dates: March 10, 11, 17 and 19
Times: March 10, 11, 17 from 7:30 p.m.; March 19 from 6:30
Place: Divadlo Minor, Vodičkova 6, Prague 1
Tickets: 200 Kč, 150 Kč for students; available at Divadlo Minor or though Tickeportal and Ticketstream

Call For Actors

We received more than 100 really interesting scripts from local playwrights. Of which, we'll produce the top three.

An open casting for many diverse roles will take place at:

Performances will take place at Divadlo Minor on March 10, 11, 17, and 19.

Actors should be free to rehearse evenings and weekends in February, although specific reheasral times will be determined by the director of each play. More specific information on auditions can be found in the participation section of this page.

Have a question? You can e-mail playcontest@praguepost.com or call Brian Caspe (+420) 608 577 012

Finalists Announced

This was a hell of a lot harder than we thought it would be. Being our first year trying to organize this event, we didn't know quite what to expect. And, in the end, we were all a little flabbergasted at the volume of really fine work that was submitted.

There were roughly 100 plays entered into the competition. And many, many fine pieces were passed over. We have no doubt that, tastes being what they are, much of the work would (and will) have tremendous success at other festivals. Which we strongly encourage you to seek out.

What's more, many of the pieces that did not make it to the finals are ones we at The Prague Playhouse would like to find a venue for in the future. (Please, don't call us. We'll call you.) We feel confident that many bars, bookstores and other nontraditional spaces could be found for readings. And would be willing to lend their space to the cause of rejuvenating English-language theater in Prague, generating more opportunities for writers, actors, directors and producers. Not to mention theatre lovers.

We've made a few mistakes along the way. And we're bound to make a few more before this whole thing is over with. And we apologize to anyone who has felt slighted because of them. It has been a tough learning process. But it beats the crap out of doing nothing. The finalists are:

• Stewie the Stoic by Taso Dirlis
• Burn your Bookes by Richard Byrne
• Old Faithful by Ian Grody

Semi–finalists declared

Thank you to all who submitted. The quality of the plays we received was really great and it was quite hard narrowing down the group to the semi–finalists. We were aiming to have around 10% of the total submissions go to the second round. Here is a list of the play titles that are in the semi–finals (listed alphabetically):

• A bon chat, bon rat
• Burn your Bookes
• Business Meeting
• Celebrity Father
• Cold comfort
• Lenny wants to die
• Old Faithful
• Pot Bound
• She is and she isn't
• Stewie the Stoic
• The Exchange

If your play didn't make it onto the list, don't give up hope! The Prague Playhouse is always looking for good material to perform and we are interested in producing several plays that aren't in the semi–finals, including plays that were too long or short for this contest.

Contest News (January 7, 2007)

We are finalizing directors and production staff. If you are interested in helping out with the production (designers, costumes, props, lighting, are all welcome) please email playcontest@praguepost.com.

Auditions have been moved up to February 5th at the theater.

Thank you so much! (December 18, 2006)

The time period for submitting plays has passed and now our work narrowing down the field of more than 100 applicants down to three begins. We want to thank all those that submitted plays. We are very excited to see what has come in. If you weren't able to finish your play on time, don't worry! You can turn it in at next year's event!

News as of November 22, 2006

We have gotten a really good response from the community so far and are excited to see what the final stretch will bring.

A lot of you have pinpointed some areas of the rules that we were a little bit ambiguous about, mostly in how the plays need to be formated. The rule stating that scripts should not be longer than 20 pages did not mention how those pages should be formated. Basically we are looking for scripts around 20 minutes in length. If you want to cram a 40 minute play onto 20 pages, that play will not be considered for this contest. Otherwise, the play format is not specified.

Another question had to do with the anonymity of playwrights. We will be insuring that the plays are judged anonymously.

We are also proud to announce our third and final judge will be the Prague Post's own theatre critic, Steffen Silvis.

English language theatre in Prague is being jolted back to life with the launching of the first annual Prague Post Playwriting Contest.

Organized in conjunction with the Prague Playhouse, a local English language theatre company, the contest will not only provide some long awaited theatre entertainment for the ex-pat community. It will also help galvanize local writers, actors, producers and directors.

Three 20-minute plays will be selected from among submissions, and will be performed at Prague's Divadlo Minor in mid-March.

The Prague Post is planning this as an annual event, hoping to establish a long-lasting English language theatre community here.

Auditions will be on February 5, 2007 from 16:00 - 20:00 at Divadlo Minor, Vodičkova 6 Praha 1.

• Auditions will be open to anyone who is interested.
• Audition materials will be provided.
• Please bring a picture and acting resume if you have one.
• Prior experience, while not required, is a definite plus.
• English is a requirement, but it doesn't have to be your native language.

If you are interested in joining our production team, we would love to get you involved. Contact Brian Caspe at (+420) 608 577 012 or Marie Barylova mbarylova@praguepost.com (+420) 296 334 443.

Norbert Auerbach. A Czech-American film producer living in Prague. After the war, he started working as an errand-boy with the Columbia Pictures, then with the United Artists, where he gradually rose to the post of the director of the firm. He took part in the production of many well-known and successful films (Hair, The Bridge at Remagen, The Man from Rio, Rocky, Pink Panther, West Side Story or the early films of Woody Allen) and it was him who came with the idea of filming one book series about James Bond (the first one was Dr. No).

Barbara Bray, former script drama editor at BBC (who discovered Marguerite Duras, Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett for radio), Britain's leading literary translator (four prestigious Scott- Montcrieff prizes). Barbara Bray has also worked on the so-called Proust screenplay, an adaptation of A la recherche du temps perdu which she prepared together with Harold Pinter and the film director Joseph Losey.

Steffen Silvis, the Prague Post's theatre and film critic, is also a playwright, having had a number of productions of his work in the U.S. and the U.K. Silvis was twice named co-winner of the International Playwriting Festival in London, and has won a handful of journalism awards for his criticism.

• Open to all current and former residents of the Czech Republic
• Scripts not to exceed 20 pages
• Scripts must be submitted in English
• Scripts must be received no later than December 15, 2006
• Scripts are open to any subject
• Please submit only new works, or works never performed in Prague
• Scripts may be submitted in hard copy or electronically. Scripts submitted electronically must be in Word format (.doc) or as a PDF
• Scripts submitted in hard copy cannot be returned
• Event organizers will select directors
• Writers should include a one-page treatment for directors
• Writers may submit as many scripts as they like
• A list of semi-finalists will be selected based on merit. An elite panel of judges will select three finalists from among the semi-finalists
• The three finalists will be performed in Prague at Divadlo Minor
• Judges will select a winner who will be awarded a cash prize of 20,000 CZK
• NOTE: while the subject matter of the plays is open, special consideration will be given to cast size (smaller is better) and technical requirements (less is better)

• October 18, 2006: Writers can begin submitting plays
• December 15, 2006: Submision period ends, judging begins
• January 23, 2007: Finalists declared
• February 5, 2007: Auditions
• February 10, 2007: Rehearsals begin
• March 10, 2007: Opening night, Divadlo Minor
• March 18, 2007: Closing night, Winner declared