Summer Playwrights Festival 17

SUMMER PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL – SPF 17 – OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS ON JANUARY 2nd, 2026 at 12pm

  • The 17th annual Summer Playwrights Festival will take place with staged readings over the course of ten days from Friday, July 10 through Sunday, July 19, 2026 at The Road Mainstage on Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood, California.
  • This year we are limiting the number of submissions to the first 600 full-length plays and the first 200 short plays. After that limit is reached the submission page will be shut down. We highly recommend you send in your plays as early as possible. Submissions will close February 15th, 2026 at 12pm.
  • One of the largest staged reading festivals in the nation, SPF hosts a diverse gathering of playwrights from across the country and around the world.
  • The Road’s Los Angeles location means we are able to cast our readings with a talented pool of professional actors. Casting adheres to the gender, race and other specifications of the playwright.
  • SPF stage readings are performed under the guidance of talented directors. Each staged reading has a number of rehearsals. In the spirit of collaboration playwrights are welcome to attend rehearsals of their play either in person or on Zoom.
  • SPF readings attract full houses of theatre savvy audiences including many artistic directors from other theatre companies eager to find challenging new works.
  • Every performance is followed by a moderator led talkback with the playwright and director.
  • Our goal is to create a festival that welcomes all voices.

SPF ALUMNI:

PAST PLAYWRIGHTS have included John Patrick Shanley, Steve Yockey, William Mastrosimone, Harrison David Rivers, Jami Brandli, Lisa B. Thompson, Franky D. Gonzalez, D.L. Coburn, Lisa Loomer, Sharr White, Marisa Wegrzyn, Craig Wright, Wendy MacLeod, Lucy Thurber, Mo Gaffney, Keith Huff, Brett Neveu, Scooter Pietsch, Craig Pospisil, Julie Marie Myatt, and Martyna Majok.

GUEST ARTISTS have included Bryan Cranston, Laurie Metcalf, Jason Alexander, Zachary Quinto, Ann Cusack, Kathy Baker, Jennifer Tilly, Perry King, Rondi Reed, Tom Irwin, Nancy Travis, Gregory Harrison, Gale Harold, Robert Pine, Michael O’Neill, Harold Gould, Jon Polito, James Eckhouse, Lila Crawford, and Zoe Perry.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

-Each submission is read and evaluated by our artistic staff with recommendations made to the festival producers, who evaluate the plays and narrow the field to the final 20-30 scripts.

-This year, SPF will again strive to further reduce bias from our evaluation process, while at the same time taking into consideration race, gender, and other factors in our choice of plays. We are asking the playwrights to remove all identifying information from their scripts.

-To be included in SPF 17, the work must remain unproduced on the west coast and unpublished through July 1, 2026. (Produced means for example actors were off book or  the performance included production elements such as costumes, lighting, sound effects and make up)

-No agent is required.

-ONLY electronic copy applications are accepted. No hard copies, please.

-The Road Theatre Company asks participants in the Summer Playwrights Festival for the right of first refusal to produce  their play live on stage for 12 months following the end of the festival July 19, 2026. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions!

-Plays of all lengths (ten-minute, one-act, full-length) are eligible for submission during this time, but NO MUSICALS OR SOLO SHOWS

-Official SPF 17 selections will be announced by June 1, 2026.

SUBMISSION FEE (SPF 17):

-$45 for scripts starting at 31 pages (full length) and $25 for scripts under 31 pages (short form).

 

“Being a part of the Summer Playwrights Festival was a life-changing experience for me as a playwright. As a result of one of my plays being selected for the festival, members from the company and the artistic board were able to see my work and champion it, ultimately leading it to be selected for a full production at The Road Theatre Company. Many theatre companies pride themselves on the development of new work, but very few actually have a proven track record of developing new work that they subsequently program and produce. The trajectory that my play has had since being a part of the Summer Playwrights Festival is a testament to the power of The Road Theatre Company and the value that this festival has.”

Robert Axelrod, Playwright Lifeline

“As a playwright, I’ve participated in SPF five times. Every time has been a terrific experience because of the talented collaborators who graciously give of their craft and their expertise to work on my scripts. Each of those plays have gone on to production, including The Totality of All Things that was produced at The ROAD, and the insight I gained at SPF aided me along the way in revisions. Having a test audience to try out a work-in-progress script, and then to receive feedback, is an invaluable part of the development process. I’m grateful to The ROAD Theatre Company and SPF for their support of me and my work.”

Erik Gernand, Playwright The Totality of All Things, Prayer Circle

“Good morning,
Sending each of you a gigantic enormous humongous googleatious bow of gratitude for you hard work and inclusion of me in, not only your theater, but the SPF. You created a remarkable home complete with a safe atmosphere and an abundance of resources – both tangible and emotional – for all that you welcome in. It is something I have never seen or taken part of at this level.  I know time moves fast and there are a lot of moments that pass me by that I do not stop, take a good gander at my surroundings and embrace those around me… so…
THANK YOU!
truly”

Brian Ramian

“I have no words to thank you all for the opportunity to revisit my play on the West Coast. It was a sensational experience. The Tank was my theater home in NYC and now I’ve found in the Road, my theater home in my new home, LA. Please count on me as an ally.  Congratulations on SPF 16!”

Rodrigo Nogueira

“Thank you so much for including me and my play in the festival. It was one of the most exciting days of my professional career! Sam, and the actors, and everyone at The Road were so thoughtful and supportive. I’ll treasure the memory for a long time.”

Juliet Izon

“Hiya Barbara et al
It was an honor to participate live in my first SPF (even having read plays for the festival in years past).
Thank you for being such a great company.”

Erika Marina Nadir

“You guys! You were all so great!! I had to skip out after the last play because I had a freakin’ 4 am school visit by Zoom in Ireland! That was a bit ambitious and not sure I want to do that again!!

Anyway, Yaz, I know you agree that seeing how Hilary and Emily and Liz brought your script to life was beyond awesome! You got so many laughs and the audience just stayed in the pocket with The Long Road for the entire reading. And to you 3 talented actors….I learned so much seeing how you all built your characters, beat by beat, until “race day” when you gave it your all.  I so so SO enjoyed being a part of it and seeing
the magic sauce you all applied during the actual performance.  And so I thank you.  And a giant thank you to Barbara and Devin and Harvey and Darryl for pulling off quite a high write act.  I am deeply grateful I got to ride on your collective coattails!”

Big hug to you all.
Warmly,
Cathleen

“Yes! I heard many great things and also how they were affected by the mom character. Well done all of you! Forever grateful to have had such a wonderful team for my play’s first ever public reading.”

Thank you,
Yaz Canli

 

“Being a part of this year’s SPF was a dream come true! The festival gave me the chance to hear my words read aloud by a team of brilliant actors with such thoughtful, intentional direction. The reading was a springboard to continue revising my one act play and develop it into a full length project. That exploration is so vital for a writer and their project and was fostered by the experience The Road created and invited me into. I am so grateful!

This is Andre. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you again for the opportunity to direct Blind Crest. It was such a meaningful experience. The cast poured so much into the work, and the feedback we received was truly moving. I think the story resonated deeply with audiences and it felt special to be part of that. Monae and I spoke earlier, and she’s really excited about the idea of continuing to develop the piece. We were wondering if there might be any interest in exploring a workshop at The Road, or even just starting a conversation about how the play might continue to grow over time. I’d love to hear your thoughts whenever you have a moment. I’m happy to connect by email or chat in person. Grateful again for the trust and the space to help bring this story to life.”

Warmly,
Andre G. Brown MFA, MA