Ten-Minute Play Competition
A wonderful opportunity for new and emerging writers to have their work read by theatre professionals as well as the chance for the 5 finalists to engage in their work being produced, from inception to stage.
TEN-MINUTE PLAY CONTEST 2012 on the theme 
The First Time
From over 80 entries the jury chose FIVE FINALISTS
GOLDEN GATES by ROSIE SKAN - A mother wonders if there is hope enough across the span of water and years. Is there hope enough to get to the other side.
MY FIRST APOCALYPSE by MAXWELL FLAUM - Two oft forgotten stalwart health care facilitators speak for the first time and muse upon a change of profession. One takes the piss and the other talks shit.
THE RED COUCH by MARIE FRANZ - Oymel and Poymel are in a relationship and in that relationship is a red couch. On the red couch life can sit softly between them or wrestle for space in great discomfort.
SPIN THE WORLD AROUND by KATE McCANE - It's been three years since the first incident. Three years since the world changed and how. He was looking for comfort, she was looking for him.
AUTHORIZATION BREAKDOWN by MARTIN ESTERS - "The first play he ever wrote," he wrote - a turducken of a play!
The finalists will by presented in a production opening on April 17th.
The 2012 contest is curated by PIP SWALLOW.
The finalists will be directed by ERIKA HUGHES.
The jury members were HANNAH CLEAVER, SABINE MANKE and CHRISTIAN WINKLER.
Hannah Cleaver has been working as a journalist for 18 years - most of that time based in Berlin - writing for a huge variety of newspapers and magazines. She has a huge range of experience, having covered general elections in Germany and Britain for heavyweight newspapers, tracked people across Europe for the British tabloids and written travel features for magazines. Hannah has carried out research for two investigative books on the 9/11 attacks, is a regular commentator on German news for CNN International and even swam with an elephant for a dive magazine. Now in her 13th year in Berlin, Hannah is deputy editor of the English language German news website The Local, while also working on other projects - including the requisite book in her desk drawer.
Sabine Manke has worked as performer, dramaturg, artistic director and producer for independent theater productions since 1999. Her formal education in the field consists of one year of theatre at the George Washington University (1994/1995) and an additional M.A. in “Cultures of the Curatorial” she acquired from the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig (2011). She also holds a Ph.d. in European ethnology/Cultural Studies from Philipps University Marburg (2008). In her work she likes to explore the boundaries between academic, artistic and curatorial methods of research and presentation.
Christian Winkler is an Austrian born playwright and director. As a director he directed classics such as HEDDA GABLER (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007) as well as his own plays in Great Britain, Austria, Germany and Romania and was nominated for the BESTOFF-Award 2008 and received several bursaries from the Austrian Government for his theatre work. In 2007, he was awarded with the Retzhofer literary prize for his play OPERATION KURCZAK AND THE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE. In 2008, his play DIGGING was invited to the Werkstatttage des Burgtheaters/Vienna and was presented at the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2009. His latest piece RÄUBERZELLE was presented both in Theaterhaus Jena and Theaterdiscounter Berlin
Schedule:
SUBMISSION DEADLINE was on DECEMBER 21st 2011
ANNOUNCEMENT of the five finalists will be made on FEBRUARY 23rd 2012
PERFORMANCES of the five finalists start on APRIL 17th 2012.
RULES FOR SUBMISSION
1. Plays must be written around the theme to be announced. Authors may interpret the theme in any way they wish. Plays must be in English, unpublished, and never before performed.
2. Scripts should be approximately 10 pages and the staged performance should be expected to run between 9 and 11 minutes.
3. Our third annual competition bids to be greener with the request that entries are only to be submitted electronically, attached via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it as a PDF file. The subject line should read '10MP12' then the title of your piece e.g '10MP12 The First Time'. To maintain anonymity we request that playwrights only include their name, the title of their piece, postal address and telephone number in the body of the email. Each page of their submitted script should contain the title of the piece and the number of each page in the top right hand corner and NO other information.
4. Maximum number of actors: 2 men and 2 women. Plays need not include all four actors. Actors may play multiple characters.
5. Plays may not require unusual set pieces or elaborate props.
6. Playwrights must live in Germany at the time of submission, have lived in Germany for any length of time during the past five years or for at least one full year at any time in the past.
7. The playwright authorizes English Theatre Berlin to stage the production throughout the festival and to use the title and/or other text from the manuscript as well as any audio or video recordings of it for publicity purposes associated with the festival and/or the theatre itself indefinitely. The author will retain the copyright and all other privileges associated with ownership.
8. The authors of the five plays selected for performance will each receive 100 Euros. Finalists may be asked to participate in interviews or other publicity for the competition or theatre. Participation in these promotional events is voluntary.
9. There is no limit to the number of entries by any author and an author may win any number of the prizes.
10. A jury of three theatre professionals and journalists will choose the finalist. The decision of the jury is final.
