Posted by Greg Nanni on Sunday, February 1, 2015 · Leave a Comment
SLAM. is a live theatre game where playwrights face off in a 5-minute battle-of-the-plays. Playwrights show new work within a timed setting, are assigned actors, and are judged by industry professionals and their peers. THE WINNER’S PRIZE? A free evening in the Plays and Players 3rd Floor Skinner Studio to showcase the SLAM. Champion’s piece. The competition is a four month long process: the first round takes place on the first Sunday from April to June (April 5, May 3, June 7), and the second round takes place on July 5th. On the following month, we will showcase the SLAM Champion’s piece. See The Rules section for more information on how to play. SLAM. takes place on Sundays at 7 pm, at Plays and Players Skinner Studio. Competition days are just $5 for admission, and the SLAM Champion’s reading in the space is FREE to attend. Check back to find out when our next season of SLAM. begins. Follow us on Twitter: @phillySLAM and CLICK HERE to follow us on Facebook
How SLAM Works:
FORMAT
SLAM Theatre is a first Sunday of the month competition in two rounds. The winning playwright receives an evening at Plays and Players Skinner Studio to use as a reading or performance of their winning play. The first three Sundays comprise of Round One: an elimination round. Up to ten playwrights compete each month in Round One. The two plays with the highest scores at the end of each evening’s SLAM will advance to Round Two: Finals in month four. Six plays will compete to win an evening in Plays and Players theatre space.
Round One
April 5, May 3, June 7 at 6:30 PM at Plays and Players: Up to 10 plays can compete. Playwrights will have 5 minutes on stage to showcase their play, showing 1 scene or a portion of 1 scene. The scene is cast at random from actors who dropped their names in the hat at the beginning of the evening. After each play is shown, judges will give feedback –no scores—followed by the audience’s feedback. There will be a break after the first five plays. At the end of the evening, judges decide which two plays will advance to Round Two: Finals in month four.
Round Two: Finals
July 5 at 7 PM at the Tank: The top ranking plays from the previous three months advance to finals; there will be 6 plays. Each playwright will get 10 minutes to present his or her play. The SLAM team will introduce a director to team up with each playwright. The duo will have cast their own actors, rehearsed their scene(s) and give them some direction, and they may have even rewritten their play based on the judges’ feedback. After each 10 minute section, the judges will have about a minute each to give some initial feedback to the playwright—what they liked, didn’t like, what could be improved, questions that came up, etc. At the end of the evening, judges decide on the single winning play. The writer of that play will be SLAM Champion for the first competition series, and will receive an evening Plays and Players which is free to the public to attend. After SLAM, everyone goes out for drinks to toast the new SLAM Champion, and networking and fun times will ensue.
PLAYWRIGHTS:
For round one, you will have 5 minutes on stage to showcase your play. You may divide the time however you would like; we suggest using 1 minute to set the scene and 4 minutes to showcase a section of their play. Please come prepared with as many copies of your play as there are characters in the scene you wish to show; there’s a Fedex Office and Print on the corner of S. 16th and Chancellor Street. Plays and Players will not be able to print out copies of your play. One play per playwright per SLAM series; if your play does not advance you can bring it back with revisions. This keeps things fresh and allows all playwrights equal stage time.
ACTORS:
Each play in Round One is cast at random. Actors are drawn from the hat: women for women’s parts, men for men’s parts. If you’d like to act, write your name on a card (color coded for men/women) and drop it in the bucket before SLAM starts. Come prepared to act with emotion, not improvisation, reading the role you are assigned as it is written. Please do not change the playwrights’ words since the competition is based on what they have written. In Round Two, playwrights are paired with a director, cast their own actors and can rehearse and direct them, or not. If you are interested in acting in a play in Round Two, ask the playwright.
JUDGES:
There will be three judges for each SLAM. Two of the judges will be industry professionals, selected beforehand, and one will be an audience volunteer, selected that evening. While everyone has taste, we recognize that those professionally involved in the performing arts have special insight into the industry and we are eager for them to join the SLAM community and give their informed feedback on plays. Judges may not act in nor submit a play for the evening(s) which they are judging but are encouraged to do so for any other evening. Interested in judging SLAM? Send an email with credentials and contact info to phillyslamtheatre@gmail.com