The Lark Play Development Center and the Indo-American Arts Council are seeking playwrights from the South Asian Diaspora for Playwrights’ Week and a year-long Playwright Residency Program to commence in September, 2007.

We are seeking submissions of full-length plays from playwrights with South Asian heritage or backgrounds, writing in English, whose work meets the Lark’s aesthetic criteria: (a) plays that are ambitious, fresh, playful, engaging, energizing, provocative, powerful, and theatrical; (b) plays that reveal unheard and vital perspectives; (c) playwrights with clear goals about their writing who are open to the development process. Selection criteria also include playwrights’ intentionality, excellence, diversity, theatricality, and revelatory achievement of the South Asian experience.

The selected IAAC Playwright-in-Residence will receive:

• $1000 Honorarium;
• Three additional roundtables, led by Lark leadership and professional directors and actors, to develop a new play during the 2007-08 Season;
• Complimentary seats to all Lark readings and public performances. The IAAC Playwright-in-Residence is expected to become an active member of the Lark community by attending at least one Lark event each month. Active participation will enable the Playwright-in-Residence to exchange ideas with peer and established writers in a meaningful way.

The selected IAAC Playwrights’ Week winner will receive:

• Inclusion in the Lark’s 2007 Playwrights’ Week Festival a weeklong event focused on developing new and unheard voices for the theatre through targeted outreach efforts, growth opportunities for playwrights and theatre artists, and organized forums for community discussion.
• Creative teams, including a director and actors, and ten hours of rehearsal time;
• A public reading to address specific developmental goals.

 

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE LARK AND
THE INDO-AMERICAN ARTS COUNCIL

The Lark and the Indo-American Arts Council began collaborating in 1999 when IAAC Executive Director, Aroon Shivdasani, approached the Lark to discuss the ways and means to support voices from the South Asian Diaspora community in the theater. The two organizations have collaborated annually on outreach to playwrights and theater artists locally and nationally. Together, the Lark and the IAAC have produced three South Asian Diaspora Playwright Festivals. This has resulted in artistic support for 14 South Asian Diaspora play projects at the Lark in the past five years, many of which have moved on to theaters around the country including Mixed Blood Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, East-West Players, RASA, and the Public Theater.

This initiative is made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

____________________________________________________________________

SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA PROGRAM
Submission Deadline: February 15, 2007

Please PRINT and MAIL submission materials to:
Lark Play Development Center
c/o South Asian Diaspora Program
939 Eighth Avenue, Suite 301
New York, NY 10019

Please note: All applications should be typed. Incomplete submission materials will be discarded! Please note that this form cannot be saved.

All submissions must include: a completed application form, a statement of purpose, a $20 submission fee, and one full-length play.

APPLICATION FORM

For which program are you submitting your work? (Please check one or both)
		Playwrights' Week			Playwrighting Residency
PERSONAL INFORMATION
	Date:
	Play Title:	*
	Playwright Name:		*
	Co-writer or Composer: (if applicable)
	Agent: (if applicable)
	Email:	*
	Address:	*
	City:	*
	State:	*		Zip:	*
	Phone:	*
	Fax:
	A $20 entry fee is requested for all submissions to offset the costs of the selection process.
	Preferred	Check (number)
		Money Order
		Cash
		Mastercard
		Visa
		American Express
	Name as it appears on card:
	Card Number:
	Expiration Date:
	Since the Lark believes that all writers should have access to play development, any applicant has the option to waive this submission fee. Applicants who choose to waive the submission fee should check the appropriate box below. Requesting a fee waiver will not affect your chances of being selected.
		I choose to waive the submission fee.

Please note that for the following questions only the amount of text that fits in the box without scrolling will be visible upon printing.

How did you hear about the Lark and/or the South Asian Diaspora Program?
Have you ever had your work presented and/or developed at the Lark? If yes, please explain:
Biography: Tell us more about yourself in 100 words or less. Be sure to include occupation, training, and/or any awards you’ve received.
Play Information
Synopsis: (Please limit to 2-3 sentences)
Number of pages:		Number of Actors Required:	MALE	FEMALE
Please list any prior development work and/or productions this play may have had:
Please attach a STATEMENT OF PURPOSE which addresses why you are interested in being selected as a participant in Playwrights’ Week and/or the IAAC Playwright-in-Residence program and how you and your work would benefit from development time at the Lark.
Submission Checklist :
	One completed application form
	Statement of Purpose
	One full length play
	$20 Entry Fee
PLEASE NOTE: We prefer scripts bound in clear front report covers with fasteners. (No hard cover binders, permanent spiral binding, or unbound scripts.) Submit single sided scripts only. If you have any questions or would like more information please email Literary Associate, Andrea Hiebler: andreah@larktheatre.org
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE - Optional
Please take a moment and fill in the information requested below. This questionnaire is not a part of the application and will not affect the review of your play. Your response will be kept confidential by Lark staff and will be used to monitor our diversity outreach efforts to support program growth.
Sex
Male
Female
Age
Under 20
20-29
30-50
Over 50
Race or Ethnicity :
Citizenship:
Country of Origin:

For more information about Playwrights’ Week click here.