2026 Script Tease of Short Plays Competition
The 2026 Competition begins January 1, 2026.
This competition is open to San Diego playwrights and screenwriters only.
PLEASE READ THE RULES CAREFULLY. THE LINK TO SUBMIT YOUR COMPETITION ENTRY IS BELOW.
ALSO, PLEASE NOTE ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE MOST UP-TO-DATE CONTEST INFORMATION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:
TheScripteasers@gmail.com.
Questions directed elsewhere may not be answered.
Deadline: July 1, 2026
Six cash prizes:
- First Place: $200
- Second Place: $150
- Third Place: $100
- $50 each to three plays worthy of Honorable Mention from the Dea Hurston Honorable Mention Fund.
Dea Hurston was a two-time winner in the Scripteasers annual short play contest. As a strong supporter of the annual contest, her anonymous donations funded the Honorable Mention winners’ prizes. In her memory, her family and friends are continuing her efforts.
Sponsored by her loving husband Osborn Hurston, and her dear friends, Susan Gembrowski Baker, KM McNeel, Jean Seager and Roy Sekigahama.
DETAILS:
We only accept short, 10-minute, or one-act plays, with a hard maximum length of 30 pages. Please ensure your margins are at least 1″ – top, bottom, right and left, and that your chosen font is at least 12 point. Please don’t try to game the page length by shrinking your margins or your font. Your submission may be returned to you, unread, if you do not follow these guidelines.
(No musicals, children’s theater, literary adaptations, excerpts from full length plays or AI-generated plays will be accepted.)
- There is no entry fee, and each author may submit up to three short plays.
- Each play will receive feedback from at least one judge.
- The prize winners are guaranteed a reading by The Scripteasers. Those readings may be in person or online – to be determined by Scripteasers. Each reading will include a moderated discussion with audience feedback.
- Scripts not selected for cash awards but deemed noteworthy by the judges may be selected for a reading.
- Entries are judged anonymously.
- DEADLINE: July 1, 2026.
PLEASE NOTE:
At the time your script is received, Scripteasers will confirm receipt of your submission and treat your work with respect.
We will notify you of the results of the competition in September 2026.
We will work with all prize-winning playwrights to arrange convenient reading dates and a moderated discussion with audience feedback.
OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:
- The following plays are ineligible for submission: plays that have been previously produced in front of a paying audience, or published, or have been previously submitted to, or read at The Scripteasers. If a play is submitted that then falls into any of the categories above before the end of the contest, it must be withdrawn by the playwright.
- There will only be one cash prize per author.
- All scripts must follow standard dramatic formatting.*
- Scripteasers reserves the right not to award a prize if in its opinion no submission is worthy.
Questions? Please contact us at:
TheScripteasers@gmail.com – any questions directed elsewhere may not be answered.
We look forward to receiving your submission!
*A sample of standard dramatic formatting can be found here: