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ELIGIBILITY & FEES​​

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  • Straight plays only

    • 90 minutes maximum runtime

    • 60 minutes minimum runtime

    • No intermission

    • Solo shows acceptable

  • No age restriction

  • No musicals or performance art, please

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$40 - Submission Fee--

A nonrefundable reader fee for all applicants, which compensates the professional playwrights who read your scripts and compose the critique you receive upon the close of submissions.

 

$1000 - Acceptance Fee - 

A one-time, non-refundable fee that applies ONLY if your show is accepted. This fee covers your 4-hour tech and three full performances in a professional theatre, complete with front of house services, such as ticket sales, ushering and marketing. It also includes our trademark training: intensive one-on-one dramaturgical sessions, all the tools we feel playwrights need to effectively and affordably produce their plays, zooms with industry experts and theatre producers of all levels and our commitment to not let you fail. 

 

(Please note: the costs associated with your production are separate. BBTF strives to keep these costs low. Playwrights MUST keep their sets minimal and forgo elaborate costuming. Upon acceptance, we provide you with a templated budget that keeps this budget around $5000.)​​

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SUBMISSIONS OPEN MID-DECEMBER

BBTF is a developmental festival for serious playwrights to develop their work in a nurturing setting with one-on-one mentoring. BBTF prides itself on empowering self-producing artists who are interested in actively shaping their success as theatre-makers. This is our vision. These are the standards we hold ourselves to and the shift we want to create in our community.

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KEY DATES

             for BBTF 2025​

 

Step 1

March 1, 2025

Submission and application deadline 11:59 PM EST. All submissions must be made through this web page. (Late applications, applications mailed via the postal serve, e-mailed or via social media will not be accepted – no exceptions.)

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Step 2

Mid-March 2025

Finalists interviews with festival general manager, via telephone.

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Step 3

March 31, 2025

Acceptance offers for the10 available participation slots .

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Step 4

April 10, 2015

Deadline for participants to submit signed contract and non-refundable participation fee. 

OUR SUBMISSION PROCESS

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  • A blind submission process allows for the selection of the highest caliber of writing. All selections are based on the merits of the submission and do not allow the process to be lead (whether consciously or unconsciously) by the expectations inspired by the author's institutional affiliation, reputation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, abilities, age, sexual preference or orientation.
     

  • All submissions are read in full by the Festival Director and members of our reader panel, all professional playwrights with published and produced works. (BBTF does not only read the first 10 pages, as other festivals do. Our readers are compensated for their time by your reader fee.)
     

  • All submissions undergo careful scrutiny. Upon completion of the decision-making process, BBTF will email you a brief critique of your script, which should help you understand the reason your play was or was not selected. Our critiques provide dramaturgical advice and professional feedback of your work. â€‹â€‹

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  • Critiquing Rubric: Each play is vetted using the BBTF critiquing rubric. It consists of two categories: Plot Development and Character Development. The third category is where we share our non-prescriptive advice on how to make your play stronger. 

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  • BBTF will never put our stamp on any of the shows it co-produces. We neither require any acknowledgment in future productions as other festivals do, nor do we take a percentage of future revenues nor require the distribution of producer points.

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