Call for Submissions
One Act: A Student New Works Festival, a program of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame, celebrating new work for the stage written and directed by Notre Dame students, is currently accepting submissions. One Act: A Student New Works Festival will consist of a mainstage production of two original one-act plays, written and directed by Notre Dame students, in spring 2028.
Selected playwright and director teams will be announced by the end of the fall 2026 semester. In fall 2027, those students will enroll in our New Works Lab course, taught by Professor Sarah Gitenstein, where the one-act plays will be further developed. The plays will be produced in the first half of spring 2028.
Guidelines
- Eligible students must be currently enrolled at the University of Notre Dame or St. Mary’s College.
- Selected students must be enrolled during the fall and spring semesters of 2027–28, and be studying on campus at Notre Dame.
- Student one-acts must maintain a one-hour performance time (approximately 60 pages). The initial play submissions can be longer or shorter with the understanding that the final developed draft of the play will have a performance time of one hour.
- All plays must be submitted in PDF form, in standard playwriting manuscript format, including a title page, and character/setting page.
- Once the plays have been selected, a separate submission process will begin for interested directors.
Submission timeline
- October 5, 2026: Deadline for one-act script submissions
- October 16, 2026: One-act selections announced
- December 1, 2026: Deadline for director submissions
- December 18, 2026: Directors announced
- Spring 2026: Playwrights and directors register for fall New Works Lab course
- Fall 2027: Playwrights and directors develop the one-act plays in New Works Lab course
- Spring 2028: One Act: A Student New Works Festival
To Submit a Play
Fill out the application form here and please upload a PDF of your play in standard playwriting form with a title page and character/setting page.