This year’s MFA Playwrights Festival will be back IN PERSON and in New York City spring 2026. Playwrights will have the opportunity to workshop their winning plays with a team of professionals, culminating in a live reading presentation of their 10-min plays at a New York City venue.
The winning playwrights will also participate in our annual Wonder Week: a series of meetings and events connecting writers to Artistic Directors, Literary Managers, Literary Agencies, and other leaders in our industry. Wonder Week 2026 will consist of both virtual and in-person meetings. Finally, Samuel French: A Concord Theatricals Company will publish the TAKE TEN plays in our 2026 TAKE TEN Anthology.
Contact [email protected] for more information and to apply
2026 Festival Application Timeline:
- Application Opened January 1st
- Submissions due: February 1st, 2026
- Finalists announced: Early March, 2026
The winning playwrights will also participate in our annual Wonder Week: a series of meetings and events connecting writers to Artistic Directors, Literary Managers, Literary Agencies, and other leaders in our industry. Wonder Week 2026 will consist of both virtual and in-person meetings. Finally, Samuel French: A Concord Theatricals Company will publish the TAKE TEN plays in our 2026 TAKE TEN Anthology.
Contact [email protected] for more information and to apply
2026 Festival Application Timeline:
- Application Opened January 1st
- Submissions due: February 1st, 2026
- Finalists announced: Early March, 2026
Bridging the Gap between Playwrights' Education and Career
Theater Masters hosts a national 10-minute playwriting competition among the students at the top MFA programs in the country. Out of 60+ submissions, 5-6 winning plays are selected by a reading panel made up of industry professionals.
Once selected, the MFA playwrights are given feedback to further develop their plays. They are then flown to New York City where they are able to observe the process of putting their plays into production, with a team of professional actors, directors and designers. The festival culminates in a public reading presentation of their work at a reputable New York City theater and their plays are published in a yearly anthology by Samuel French: A Concord Theatricals Company.
During this New York production week, Theater Masters also provide the playwrights with "Wonder Week," during which we arrange meetings with the top agents, literary managers, and artistic directors in the industry, offer them professional development panels with working playwrights, and introduce them to the writers' guilds as well as major theaters in NYC. This is a unique and career-starting program for these young playwrights that has launched the careers of our many successful alumni.
Take Ten playwrights also have the opportunity to meet with the festivals National Adjudicator, who offers professional mentorship. Past adjudicators have included Kate Hamill, Lauren Yee, César Alvarez, Martyna Majok, Craig Lucas, David Auburn, Kathleen Chalfant, James Anthony Tyler, and many other distinguished professionals in the field.
Theater Masters’ TAKE TEN fills a need that no other organization addresses head-on: bridging the gap between the classroom and the professional realm. Connections fostered during our festival have brought many playwrights to great heights of success in their careers, ultimately sewing new and exciting voices into the fabric of the American Theatre.
Once selected, the MFA playwrights are given feedback to further develop their plays. They are then flown to New York City where they are able to observe the process of putting their plays into production, with a team of professional actors, directors and designers. The festival culminates in a public reading presentation of their work at a reputable New York City theater and their plays are published in a yearly anthology by Samuel French: A Concord Theatricals Company.
During this New York production week, Theater Masters also provide the playwrights with "Wonder Week," during which we arrange meetings with the top agents, literary managers, and artistic directors in the industry, offer them professional development panels with working playwrights, and introduce them to the writers' guilds as well as major theaters in NYC. This is a unique and career-starting program for these young playwrights that has launched the careers of our many successful alumni.
Take Ten playwrights also have the opportunity to meet with the festivals National Adjudicator, who offers professional mentorship. Past adjudicators have included Kate Hamill, Lauren Yee, César Alvarez, Martyna Majok, Craig Lucas, David Auburn, Kathleen Chalfant, James Anthony Tyler, and many other distinguished professionals in the field.
Theater Masters’ TAKE TEN fills a need that no other organization addresses head-on: bridging the gap between the classroom and the professional realm. Connections fostered during our festival have brought many playwrights to great heights of success in their careers, ultimately sewing new and exciting voices into the fabric of the American Theatre.
Anthology by Samuel French
Past National Adjudicators
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Kate Hamill 2025
Lauren Yee 2023 Martyna Majok 2022 James Anthony Tyler 2021 Craig Lucas and Dave Auburn 2020 Craig Lucas 2019 David Auburn 2018 Abe Koogler 2017 Alexander Maggio 2016 Kathleen Chalfant 2015 Robert LuPone 2014 |
Theresa Rebeck 2013
A.R. Gurney 2012 Eric Bogosian 2011 Lanford Wilson 2010 Gordon Davidson 2009 John Lithgow 2008 John Guare 2007 Alfred Uhry 2006 Christopher Durang 2005 Terrence McNally 2004 William Luce 2003 |
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