submissions for theatre roulette 2025 are now closed!
Theatre Roulette, Ohio’s longest running shorts festival, will celebrate its 26th year. What began as an “invitation-only” festival expanded to taking local submissions, then to taking submission from across the United States, and now receives over 1,000 scripts annually from every corner of the world.
“But what are you looking for?”
What makes a play a “MadLab” play? Like obscenity, it’s hard to define, but we know it and love it when we see it. Here’s a few tips as to what we like to produce and what our audiences have come to expect:
Thanks for your interest. Good luck with your submission, and regardless of the outcome here, be sure to keep writing and producing new works.
What makes a play a “MadLab” play? Like obscenity, it’s hard to define, but we know it and love it when we see it. Here’s a few tips as to what we like to produce and what our audiences have come to expect:
- Plays with a strong Point of View. Our audiences expect to not only be entertained for an evening, but to leave the theatre with something to think about and remember. We want to read plays from and for the marginalized and forgotten. We love new takes on old problems. We adore speaking Truth to Power.
- Good Stories with Vibrant Characters. Now, any play can have that strong POV, but the special ones show us that through strong storytelling and equally strong characters. So, mesmerize us with your craft and enchant us with your characters. Bonus points for well written female characters and casts that give an accurate representation of our multiracial society, as well as those that challenge the concept of binary sexuality. We’re not saying we won’t produce your play about 10 white suburban dads and their annual golf outing, but…
- Plays that are Visual. Ok, we’ll be completely honest – we are on a shoestring budget as far as sets/costumes go, but we’ve been doing this for 25 years and we love an artistic challenge. MadLab is a 75 seat converted garage black box theatre, so plan accordingly. But challenge us. You’d probably be surprised what we’re capable of.
- Plays that are modern. We definitely respect your historical masterpiece, but if your play involves iambic pentameter or greek gods it’s probably not our speed.
- Make us Laugh. We’ve been told we have an “offbeat” sense of humor. We’ve also been told we may require psychological counseling. Be bold in your comedy writing, don’t worry about offending us (or our audiences), and never be afraid of being silly.
- Make us Cry. See above.
- Heck, do both with the same play. Always the best option to our way of thinking☺
Thanks for your interest. Good luck with your submission, and regardless of the outcome here, be sure to keep writing and producing new works.
