Members of the Z Playwrights Lab have many opportunities to develop their work
Table Readings
Table readings are an important tool to hear your script and determine if it works. After the reading, your fellow playwrights will offer their observations in a positive environment, offering you the chance to clarify your writing.
The Z Fringe Festival
The Z Fringe Festival is held in April. Unlike many fringe festivals, the Z makes it easy to produce your own play by providing theater space (black box or studio), audio, lighting, and lists of potential actors. Submit your play or musical as a work-in-progress or a completed work.
Proteus: New Plays Festival
The Proteus New Plays Festival (PNPF) features four new works written in our Z Playwrights Lab. The festival showcases community-driven staged readings of 4 scripts that have been developed in the Z Playwrights Lab or by Z Artist Members, to highlight opportunities at The Z for local playwrights.
The staged readings give the playwrights an opportunity to work with a director and a volunteer cast to see their script “on its feet” for the first time. Technical components are intentionally limited to focus the process on the script.
Audiences are given the opportunity to rate the plays at the festival using a feedback form of questions focused on the elements writing an engaging script and story. Ratings are averaged to select the festival Audience Favorite. The winner receives a workshop production with a production budget, paid cast, and an extended workshop run as the final Curtain Up! New Plays Series play of the upcoming season.
Curtain Up! New Play Series
NOTE – You do not have to be a member of the Z Playwrights Lab to submit to Curtains Up!
Curtain Up! New Plays Series submissions are accepted year-round. Season selections for the following year are typically made between Jan – April.
Curtain Up! New Plays Series includes staged readings, workshops, and productions in our Main Stage and Studio theater. Scripts that allow for local casting, have local connections or have regionally-related content are prioritized.
Submit online or email us with:
• A copy of your script
• A brief explanation of the specific growth or next step you are looking for from production at The Z. (Ex. a script-focused workshop with rewrites, a staged reading with rehearsals to work on the script, feedback from audiences reactions etc.)
• Any production timelines, team members or additional details already in place
Musical Theater Open Mic
Attend the open mic to find talent for your show or present one of your songs.
NOTE: You do not have to be a member of the Z Playwrights Lab to attend the Musical Theater Open Mic.
