Submit Play for 2024 Horton Foote Prize : The Horton Foote Prize

Note: Please read the process and eligibility information carefully for any additional information that may not be on the “The Prize” public web pages. The entry form follows.

Note: The navigation above will take you into our website, hortonfooteprize.org. To return to the application page you must use your browser’s Back button as there will be no links back to this page. You can also use the link found in your invitation, or bookmark this page ( http://www.hortonfooteprize.org/submit/ )

The Prize

Named for the legendary, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, The Horton Foote Prize was established in 2010 to award excellence in American Theater. Presented biennially, the Horton Foote Prize is awarded to an American playwright having written an original work of exceptional quality. The Prize currently awards $50,000 to its Winner and a limited edition of Keith Carter’s iconic photograph of Horton Foote, which resides in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The Process

Theatres may submit a play for entry by invitation only. In January of each submission year, a letter of invitation will go out to specified professional theatres. Only those theatres listed may submit a play for consideration.

A theatre company may submit one play per Prize cycle for consideration; multiple theatres may not submit the same play. (It is possible for a playwright to have more than one play submitted for consideration.) No unsolicited playwright submissions will be considered.

This year’s entry deadline is February 15, 2024.

All works receive blind multiple readings by nationally represented reading and selection committees. In a final round, a jury of distinguished members of the American theatre community selects the Horton Foote Prize recipients.

The Horton Foote Prize winner will be announced in Fall 2024. Their achievements will be celebrated at a private reception on Monday, October 7, 2024, at The Lotos Club in New York City.

Note: Notwithstanding the foregoing, The Prize may extend additional invitations to submit.

Eligibility

The Theatre must:

Be listed as a Source Theatre. (See website for complete Theatre list)

The Playwright must:

Have had a prior minimum of two (different) full-length plays fully produced by fully professional theatres. The prior minimum of two shall not include a musical, monologue, solo-act, short one act (less than 60 minutes), translation, play for children, adaptation, or collaboration.
Be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.

The Submitted Play:

Shall be the playwright’s third or beyond play, already having met the prior minimum of two, described above. The play must be full-length, and shall not be a musical, monologue, solo-act, short one act (less than 60 minutes), translation, play for children, adaptation, or collaboration.
May be either a Produced or an Unproduced work.
- For Produced works: The premiere production must have taken place or be scheduled to take place between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024, effectively encompassing all of the 22/23 and 23/24 seasons for most theatres. Note: a produced work may not be resubmitted in a subsequent year.
- An unproduced play is only eligible if it is scheduled for a production in the 24/25 season (during the period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025). An unproduced play may be resubmitted in the next prize cycle as a produced play.
Digitally produced plays may be eligible for submission if they meet all Prize guidelines. A theatre considering submission of a digitally produced play should reach out to admin@hortonfooteprize.org for further discussion.

Additionally:

The Theatre shall inform the Playwright of its intention to submit their work.

Frequently Asked Questions

THE 2024 HORTON FOOTE PRIZE ENTRY FORM

Please read the prize criteria as outlined in The Process and Eligibility before submitting this form. Submission of this form acknowledges eligibility of Theatre, Playwright, and Submitted Play.

In an attempt to have all work read blindly, we ask that you please submit the electronic PDF without a title page. Additionally, there should be no reference to title, playwright, or theatre on ANY of its pages. As we cannot alter the electronic PDF, we have no way of removing the title page prior to sending it to those readers utilizing Kindles and such to read by.

All future inquiries or questions should be sent to: admin@hortonfooteprize.org
Note: For efficiency, it will be helpful to “SUBJECT” any future email correspondence as:

(Your Theatre’s name) Slash(/)(the Subject of the email)

1. The Theater

Name of Theater(Required)

Artistic Director(Required)

Theater Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

Theater Contact Phone(Required)

Theater Contact Fax

Theater Contact Email(Required)

Enter Email Confirm Email

2. The Play and Playwright

Name of Play(Required)

Name of Playwright(Required)

Playwright Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

Playwright Phone(Required)

Playwright Fax

Playwright Email(Required)

Enter Email Confirm Email

Category of Play(Required)

Produced

Unproduced

Please type the play's first line of dialogue (this is for verification purposes of the play.)(Required)

Please review eligibility at the top of the page prior to submission.

Please read carefully and submit correctly. Along with the completed entry form, please submit the following materials by website application no later than February 10, 2022:

PDF of Play(Required)

Please attach a PDF copy of the play with NO TITLE PAGE and NO script pages revealing title, playwright, or theater information. The play's file name may be named anything convenient to the submitting theater—the HFP office will rename the PDF file for tracking/blind reading. (We can only rename the PDF file name; we may not make changes to the document itself.)

Accepted file types: pdf, Max. file size: 512 MB.

Playwright Bio(Required)

Attach biography of the playwright. It can be in pdf, doc, or docx format.

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, Max. file size: 512 MB.

Acknowledge Entry and Eligibility

Please acknowledge the following:(Required)

The Artistic Director acknowledges this entry and choice of play.

Submission of this form acknowledges eligibility of the Playwright and Submitted Play. The Playwright is aware of this Theater's entry of Playwright's work.