Arena Stage wants your children, grades 5-12. Specifically, they want your children’s ten-minute plays. If your child’s play wins, he or she “will receive playwriting master classes and participate in further script development with professional playwrights, directors and dramaturgs,” according to an Arena Stage press release. The winning children will receive $250, to be spent on pogs and therapy.

If pleased by the idea of turning your child into the most serious, self-conscious, over-worked kid in the 8th grade, you can find the guidelines for the competition after the jump.

Guidelines for competition:

Who: Playwrights must be students in 5th through 12th grades. Students must attend school in the District of Columbia, the City of Alexandria or one of the following counties: Loudon, Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, or St. Mary’s. Home-schooled students must be residents of the aforementioned cities and counties.

When: Entries must be received at Arena Stage by Friday, December 4, 2009 to be eligible for competition.

What: Submitted plays must be the original, unpublished work of one playwright. Pieces written by more than one student will not be accepted. Suggested length is 6-10 pages. Plays longer than 12 pages will not be read.

Submission process: All submissions must include an Arena Stage cover sheet, which may be downloaded at www.arenastage.org. Plays will not be accepted without a cover sheet. All plays must be typed, double-spaced, in 12 pt. font, with page numbers. The title of the play and the playwright’s grade should be listed on each page of the play. The playwright’s name, contact information, or school should not appear anywhere on the play except the cover sheet. Submitted scripts will not be returned. Playwrights wishing to confirm receipt of their submission should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard. Winners will be notified by Arena Stage and the list posted at www.arenastage.org in January.

Three copies of the entered play, with the required cover sheet attached to the top copy, should be mailed to:

Student Playwrights Project
Arena Stage – Community Engagement Division

1101 Sixth Street, SW Washington, DC 20024