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PCA's Annual Young Playwrights Festival

Young Playwrights Festival Logo
15th year anniversary of the festival

Submissions are now OPEN. Use the info on this page to help you craft your script, then use this link to submit before May 20, 2023.

Scripts will be read and scored by a panel of readers from Suze's Prescott Center for the Arts. The winning playwrights will have their plays read as part of this summer's New Works Festival!

1st Place Award--$250

2nd Place Award--$150

3rd Place Award--$100

Instructions for Submissions
Submissions must be from students that are AZ residents and winners must be willing to participate in the playwright workshop and performances later this year.
​(Please read carefully)

Please pay very close attention to the following Play writing guidelines:

  1. Must be a resident of Arizona
  2. *******IMPORTANT*******
    Plays are limited to only run 10 MINUTES!  (This is approximately 10 - 12 type written pages of dialog.)  It is critical to read your play out-loud to get a sense of how long it will run.  If the reading panel believes your play will run significantly OVER 10 minutes, it will be eliminated from consideration to be included in the Festival.
  3. IMPORTANT!!:  At the beginning of the script, please include character names and descriptions.
  4. Only ONE play may be submitted per student or writing team.  Remember, each team member must submit the same script separately.
  5. Limit the number of characters ( 2 - 6 is ideal)
  6. Limited the number of set locations (1 - 2 is ideal)
  7. Use the KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple, Students!)
  8. Make sure you have edited spelling and grammar, because authors may NOT submit revisions of their work until the Festival begins.
  9. Scripts must be uploaded in a WORD or PDF file
  10. Pages must be numbered
  11. Font size no less than 12 point
  12. Use no less than double spacing
  13. IMPORTANT: Plays should include a Title page with ONLY the following information:  Title of Play, Playwright’s grade, and ​Playwright’s date of birth.
  14. No other identifying information should appear anywhere on the script.
  15. Stage directions are helpful (but not required) to include and are not part of the reading time or page limit.


These guidelines may seem confining, and to some degree they are, but they are in place to best serve the festival.  Authors need to be very imaginative and creative in working within the parameters.  Those who do, stand the best chance to be produced.

A YPF performance from previous years
Four-time YPF winner Glory Glidden during the 2017 writing workshop.

Winning Scripts

Take a look at these scripts from students who won YPF in previous years and were produced at PCA

A Dilemma of the Heart, a Plight of the Stomach

by David Wauters

The Princess Trap

by Sierra Schaible

Krygan Pie
by Aaron Ott

Lonely Hearts

by Rebecca Adler

Submit to the Young Playwrights Festival

submit your script

YPF 2017 Documentary

Please enjoy a peek into our Young Playwrights Festival. This summer program is designed to provide young students and artists with the opportunity to see the plays they write come to life!

2020 YPF Performances

The Festival went virtual for 2020! Playwrights, directors and actors had to come up with creative new ways to bring these stories to life while respecting social distancing. These performances premiered on our YouTube channel August 16, 2020.

Pictured: First place winner Tori Daniels, and Second place winner Shea Sobel, who participated in the festival in 2021.