Since launching in 1999, the JAW New Play Festival has created a space for 100 playwrights to develop their work. Of these new plays, more than 90% of them have gone on to receive professional productions across the country, with many having their world premieres at Portland Center Stage.
As part of creating greater opportunities for access, one JAW play each year will be selected from our new open submission program. The selected writer will be provided with a week of rehearsal and workshop time, and a public reading to address self-defined developmental goals for their play.
While we would love to read as many plays as possible, the submission window will remain open for 24 hours, after which it will be closed. Each playwright's application will be read and reviewed by the Literary Office. Of those submissions, 50 will be sent to readers for evaluation.
Submission Guidelines:
- Submit ONE completed application and ONE full-length play.
- No more than ONE play per playwright/playwright team will be considered.
- List only the play title on the cover page. No personal information.
- Submit only PDF files as attachments.
- Submitted plays must be unproduced scripts, having received no prior professional productions.
Important Information:
The submission window will remain open for 24 hours beginning October 14, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific time). We will update this page at 10:00 a.m. on October 15th when the submission window has closed.
JAW 2026 will take place July 24-26th, 2026.
Each applicant should expect a confirmation of application receipt in October 2025 and a final response by April 2025.
While there is no official minimum number of pages for submitted full-length plays, we do not accept 10-minute plays.
Musicals and plays written by teams ARE accepted.
Due to the volume of submissions to this program, we will be unable to accept revised scripts during the selection process.
Housing and travel will be provided for all out-of-town writers.
Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). Learn more at pcs.org/idea.
We will be accepting plays for JAW for 24 hours, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, October 14, 2025.
The application form will be provided here on this page at that time. Until then, you can preview the application questions below.
Preview of Application Questions:
- Name
- Title of Play
- Playwright Email Address
- Phone Number (optional)
- Have you ever had your work developed and/or presented at Portland Center Stage? If yes, please explain:
- Synopsis (please limit to 2-3 sentences)
- Please list any prior institutional development work and/or public readings for this play:
- What is your assessment of your play in its current form? What are your goals for this script at this point in its development process?
- Please tell us more about yourself in 100 words or less.
- NOTE: Your play must be submitted in PDF format
Optional Playwright Survey:
- What is your gender?
- What are your pronouns?
- How do you racially or ethnically identify?
- Where are you located?
- What is your date of birth?
- How did you hear about JAW?
Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying & interrupting instances of racism & all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility (IDEA).
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