Carolina Playwrights Lab
Developing original plays by playwrights of BOTH Carolinas
The Carolina Playwrights Lab is a premiere, professional new works development program for playwrights residing in North and South Carolina. CPL provides a robust set of tools and space for playwrights to dig deep and develop their plays in hopes of taking the next step in the journey to full production.
The 2025 Carolina Playwrights Lab will develop 2 full-length, original plays over 3 weeks with 2 staged-reading presentations of each play for public audiences. Selected pieces will be chosen through a multi-step reading and scoring process by a seasoned reading committee. At the heart of this experience is the opportunity for playwrights to receive moderated feedback sessions with a panel of 3 local and national industry professionals after each presentation of their work. These sessions are intended to inspire brave edits in the week between presentations and beyond!
Selected pieces will receive the following:
- Rehearsal facilities will be provided for a 2 week, in-person, rehearsal process, equipped with printers to implement live edits – we love new pages!
- Each piece will be assigned a professional creative team including a seasoned director, dramaturg, stage manager, as well as a qualified cast
- 2 staged readings for the public in a local venue
- Basic technical capabilities with a sound designer and lighting designer
- 3 panelists, locally and out-of-state, will provide moderated critique after each presentation, along with playing a key role in the script editing process
- Playwright Compensation – $500, PLUS HOUSING if outside the greater Triangle area (NC)
The 2025 Carolina Playwrights Lab will be held from June 23rd – July 12th
Performance Location:
TR Studio Theatre, 3027 Barrow Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27616
2025 Carolina Playwrights Lab
Submission Requirements
Submission Window is now CLOSED
Playwright must be from NC or SC and have a valid, current address
Blind submissions only. Please remove any identification, contact information, and credits from your script.
Selected playwrights from the previous year may not submit – must wait 1 cycle before submitting again
You must be the sole author of the play you are submitting to CPL, and the exclusive owner of all rights to the play. You may submit an original or adapted work, provided that the rights to any material not in the public domain have been granted in writing and a copy of the release is submitted with your script.
Only 1 piece by a playwright will be accepted – multiple submissions are not allowed
Play must be written in correct format – *example:
“First Drafts” will not be accepted – play must be mature in development
Minimum page count of 70 pages – plays under the minimum page count are ineligible
Your play must not have had a full production, or be licensed or optioned to have a professional production, prior to June 1, 2025. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to the CPL Selections Process Manager, Chanda Branch, at [email protected].
If your play has previously received—or is scheduled to receive—a developmental workshop, reading, or staged reading prior to June 1, 2025, you must disclose that information in your CPL application.
- If your play receives a workshop, reading, staged reading, or is optioned after submitting your application, please inform the Selections Process Manager, Chanda Branch, via email at [email protected] as soon as possible. Failure to disclose additional development could affect your application’s standing.
Musicals are ineligible
- Please visit our page for the National Music Theater Foundry to find out more about our musical development ventures!
Screenplays are ineligible
Late submissions will not be accepted
The administrative fee for CPL 2025 is $15 per script submission. This helps offset the costs of the application process itself: its organization, staffing, administration, and submission platform.
- Only complete applications will be accepted. If we discover an error or omission in your application, then CATG will contact you by email. You will have 48 hours to correct your materials. If your application is not corrected, it will be withdrawn from consideration and your fee will not be refunded.
2025 SELECTIONS
How To Supervise Women
by Lou Clyde, Irmo, SC
It’s 1942 and the Consolidated Electronics leadership team is faced with hiring women for factory jobs ordinarily held by men. But women in factories scare the hell out of them. The newly hired female assembly team on line 3C breaks all stereotypes and delivers excellence with comedy and heart.
Lou Clyde is a playwright living in South Carolina. Her award-winning comedy Pouf! was staged in New York City as part of the 2021 She NYC Arts New Play Festival and is published by Dramatist Play Service. Her most recent comedy Stilt Girl represented South Carolina in the 2025 SETC community theatre festival. Lou is the Playwright in Residence at Chapin Theatre Company. She loves comedy and her humor has been influenced by the works of Erma Bombeck, David Sedaris, and Tina Fey. She is obsessed with Schitt’s Creek. Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., Lou is card-holding member of Bills Mafia. She is going to get a Buffalo Bills tattoo when they win the Super Bowl.
1999
by Stacey Isom Campbell, Greenville, SC
When a student complains about an assigned film produced by a #MeToo-outed man, Emma faces something she did in 1999. Three women’s lives collide in the wake of trauma raising questions about the films of the 90s in light of recent sexual allegations, artistic production, academic freedom, and power.
Stacey Isom Campbell is an Alaska-raised, Southern-rooted playwright. Her plays include: 1999 (O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist, Florida Rep’s Festival of New Works PlayLab Selection, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, Valdez Theatre Conference Play Lab Selection); THE LOOPHOLE (Barter Theatre LORT-production and Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Nomination, Great Plains Theatre Conference Selection, O’Neill NPC Semifinalist); THE CONTROLLER (Henley Rose Playwright Competition Finalist, Seven Devils Playwriting Conference Finalist); BUFFALO CREEK (Rose Henley Playwriting Competition Finalist, The New Harmony Project Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semifinalist; WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE (Commission and Production, Lee University); MEMORY OF ICE (Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semifinalist, Seven Devil’s Theatre Conference Semifinalist, O’Neill NPC Semifinalist); ON THE 8’s (Dan I Rodden Jr Award Winner, Rose Henley Playwriting Competition Finalist, Great Plains Theatre Conference Selection); SMOKIN’ DEVILS (Barter Theatre’s Appalachian Festival of Plays & Playwrights Selection, Plays for the 21st Century 2nd Place, Red Clay Theatre Production). Her short plays include: CICADAS (ATHE’s New Play Development Workshop Selection) and LAUNDRY AT THE COIN & SPIN (The Collective: NY equity-showcase approved production and publication). Her work has also been seen at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, L.A. First Stage, EstroGenius Xtended, and others.
Stacey is a Fellow of Hambidge Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, and Trillium Arts. She resides in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband and Shih Tzu. Find out more about Stacey’s work on her website: www.staceyisomcampbell.com.
Be On The Selections Committee
Are you an avid reader of plays? If so, are you interested in having your voice heard in the NCPL Selections Process? We are looking for seasoned theater advocates of all disciplines to join our team! The NCPL Selections Committee is a volunteer reader group who would be reading and evaluating anywhere from 2 to 7 plays over the course of 7 weeks. You only take on what you feel comfortable with! Apply Today!
Please send along any questions to our Selections Process Manager, Chanda Branch, at [email protected]