CALL TO SUBMISSIONS: The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition

[Luella Massey]

CALL TO SUBMISSIONS: The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition 
Submission Deadline: Monday, May 1, 2006  

January 20– Toronto…The Cultural Arts Department at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre of Toronto and the Toronto Jewish Theatre Committee (Chair Ralph Wintrob) are proud to announce the 2006 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition.  The winner receives a professionally directed 4-8 hour public workshop in our Between Stages Playwright’s Reading Series.  The Miles Nadal JCC will publicize the workshop with a national press release sent to major print and web media publications and Jewish Community Centres in the North American JCC Association.

The Cultural Arts Department seeks to establish active relationships within the professional artistic community to support emerging Jewish artists and creation, to build bridges of understanding across cultures through the arts, and to assume a vital role in Toronto’s cultural community.

Since 1995 the MNjcc has been producing theatrical readings in a “workshop” environment.  Between Stages has provided an opportunity for Canadian playwrights such as Dave Carley and Tanya Matthews to hear their work read by professional actors and receive feedback from an informal audience.

Three previous contest winners have been published and have hit the commercial stages: Einstein’s Gift by Vern Thiessen, Sara’s Cave by Don Molnar and Yahrzeit by Alex Poch Goldin. The 2005 contest winner is A Daughter Lost by Tara Goldstein.

Submission guidelines are: 
* Plays should have a Jewish focus, depicting some aspect of Jewish life
* Plays should be no less than one hour and no more than two hours in length
* Playwrights must have a pseudonym on the front page of their play so that the jury does not recognize their name 
* Playwrights must be Canadian, or have a strong Canadian connection
* Playwrights must include their real name and full contact information in a separate envelope.

Plays should be sent by Canada Post, or in a downloadable format

Please send submissions to:
Esther Arbeid,Cultural Arts Coordinator,
Miles Nadal JCC
750 Spadina Avenue   Toronto Ontario   M5S 2J2
(416) 924-6211 x 606, esthera at mnjcc.org