AN OVERVIEW

of SART's ScriptFEST

SCRIPTFEST, the Playwrights’ Conference typically receives 150-250 scripts each year. A small army of SART volunteers read each submitted script; those recommended for further review are read again by a committee of theatre professionals. Once all scripts have been reviewed, SART invites up to six playwrights to the annual conference to hear their plays read by SART actors and Mars Hill College Theatre Arts students. Playwrights join the directors, actors, and audiences in discussions and critiques following each reading. One script may be considered by SART to be fully produced.

The 2010 Conference will be the 29th annual and will be held in October 2010 over one weekend in the historic Owen Theatre on the campus of Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The Conference is free and open to the public; all are welcome to attend. Playwrights invited to participate in the conference are selected by late-August. The author of a script selected for production will receive a $1,000 honorarium.

Since its opening season in 1975, SART has produced fifty-seven new plays, many supported by a New Works grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. World premieres at SART include Ark of Safety by Howard Richardson and Francis Goforth in 1975; Wednesday’s Children by C. Robert Jones (1980); Ed Simpson’s The Battle of Shallowford (1990); My Castle’s Rockin’ by Larry Parr (1993); William Doswell’s Full Moon Over Montmartre (2001); Finding Clara by June Guralnick (2003), Mountain of Hope by William Gregg and Perry Deane Young (2004); Finding The Absent Crescent by Gina Pauratore (2005); Taking A Chance On Love by C. Robert Jones (2006); The Memory Collection: The Legend of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Minstrel of the Appalachians by Randy Noojin (2007); Miracle in Bedford Falls by Mark Cabaniss & Lowell Alexander (2008); Home Again by William Gregg & Perry Deane Young (2009). Recent ScriptFEST winners are Ruthie by David Wright (2008), and Big Criminals by Steve Wisniewski (2009).

SART recognizes that developing new scripts is neither easy nor a short process. The testing and development of new material at the conference allows the playwright to refine and build the work toward possible production. SART’s commitment to developing and producing new plays has distinguished the company from other regional summer theatres and earned a Professional Division Award from the N.C. Theatre Conference (NCTC).

In this past SART summer season for 2009, BIG CRIMINALS was our selection from the 2008 conference!
Congrats to playwright Steve Wisniewski of Queens NY!

SART MISSION STATEMENT

SART is dedicated to presenting theatre of the highest professional quality
thereby enriching the Southern Appalachian Region
through artistic programming, education, and outreach.

Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre
P.O.Box 1720 / 44 College Street
Mars Hill, NC 28754

Business Office
828.689.1384
828.689.1272 (fax)
email

Box Office
828.689.1239
(May-August)

SART presents the mainstage summer season of productions each year in the historic Owen Theatre on the campus of Mars Hill College, Mars Hill NC.
Owen Theatre is equipped with hearing-impaired assistance devices
and wheelchair designated seating / access.

SART is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council
with funding from the state of North Carolina
and the National Endowment for the Arts,
which believes that a great nation deserves great art.