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Notre Dame Performing Arts 2023

New Play Festival

About 

Our Theme 

Process 

About the Notre Dame College New Play Festival

Notre Dame College Performing Arts will host its annual New Play Festival in November 2023, showcasing unproduced plays for all members of the NDC and greater community. The search has begun, looking for the best and most promising theatrical works relevant to audiences today!

The three-day festival will consist of 3-4 performances of previously unseen theatrical works and will take place in Regina Auditorium on the Notre Dame College campus. Winners will be selected through a panel of NDC staff, community artists, and local residents. In addition to premiering these new works, an honorarium will be awarded to festival winners.

2023 Festival Theme

“Social Awareness”

Notre Dame College Performing Arts will host a 2023 Fall New Play Festival. This festival will lift the voices of authors and writers who are members of the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and underrepresented communities. This call is open to Notre Dame College Faculty, Staff and Students, as well as residents of Cuyahoga County!

If you are a Northeast Ohio Based playwright and/or performing artist and would like to submit a piece either you have already written or would like to write, we are looking for you!! We are excited to be a part of providing a platform to bring new works to Northeast Ohio audiences!

If you would like to submit a piece, here are some parameters:

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Selected piece should echo/focus on the festival theme of "Social Awareness".

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5 Semi Finalist pieces will be selected and presented as "staged readings" and/or presentations (Think chairs and music stands only). These 5 selected works will be presented Friday September 29th and Saturday 30th in the Regina Auditorium on the campus of Notre Dame College. The 5 semifinalist authors will receive an honorarium.

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Voting will be open to audiences to participate in helping to select ONE to TWO finalists from the Semi Finalist works presented on the 29th and 30th.

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Finalists will receive an honorarium and their work will be presented as the Fall NDC Theatre Ensemble Production performing November 17th, 18th, & 19th, 2023.

Notre Dame College 2023 New Play Festival Deadlines & Submission Details

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

  • Submissions will be accepted through September 1st, 2023.
  • Submission should be emailed to Celeste Cosentino, Director of Theatre Studies, Notre Dame College Performing Arts. Email your submission.
  • Email your submission. Format can be PDF, WORD, YOU TUBE links (if you have video footage of a piece) will also be accepted.
  • Put NDC Fall 2023 New Play Festival Submission in the SUBJECT LINE of the email.

Please feel free to call or email Celeste Cosentino, Director of Theatre Studies, with any questions! 216-373-6540 or ccosentino@ndc.edu.

The Notre Dame Performing Arts New Play Festival is generously supported through a grant from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Winners from 2022

“Deep Dive” by Eric Coble, “Better Luck Next Time” by Abraham Adams, “Outcast Forrest” by Jacob Bremkamp, and “Number One with a Side of Crime” by Casidy Thomas (NDC Student-English Major).

Hosting such a festival allows Notre Dame College Performing Arts to fulfill and enhance its mission of enriching the community and the appreciation of the arts through live performance. By utilizing the talents of the Notre Dame College students, and additional regional artists, the festival furthers our efforts of utilizing the stage as a platform to educate, enlighten and entertain the Greater Cleveland Community.

Join Our Festival

Submit Your New Play

We are excited to create a platform for new voices! We have such a rich arts community here in Northeast Ohio and are honored to be a place for community engagement!

Questions about this year’s fesitval? Email Celeste Cosentino.