Submissions for Fourplay presents WHOLE are now open!
Between 8th and 9th June, four new plays will be performed at a secret location in Paris. Each play will have been inspired specifically by the four short film clipsbelow that have been submitted to us by filmmakers from all over the world. These clips can be interpreted in any way the playwrights choose.
Submission guidelines:
1. Send a pitch only of roughly 600 words describing the plot and genre of the play, details of characters, what stage elements/props you might need, and details of how you have been inspired by the films. 2. Your pitch must clearly explain how each video clip will be interpreted in your script. The videos will not be projected onto the stage. The scripts must reflect either a specific action or the general atmosphere of EVERY video. 3. Plays must be on the theme “WHOLE”. 4. Plays can only be a maximum of 20 minutes from start to finish. 5. Plays can have up to 4 characters. 6. The stage elements are limited to 4 props, of the playwrights’ choosing. 7. Costume is limited to black clothing and accessories to denote character. 8. The stage will have a very basic light set-up. 9. The stage will be approx. 3.5m (width) x 2m (depth). 10. The plays will be performed in Paris, but submissions are not limited to Paris-based writers. 11. SUBMISSIONS CLOSE ON 4th MAY 2018.
Send all questions and pitches to play@fourplay.fr before 4th MAY 2018.
For the last edition – Fourplay presents TIDE – playwrights were challenged to write a 20-minute play incorporating all four pieces of music provided as the soundtrack by artists from around the world.
This time we want the stimulus to be film.
We are looking for four original 15-second clips to inspire playwrights for the upcoming edition of Fourplay. These clips can either be taken from longer pieces of original work, or made exclusively for the festival. With each clip, we are looking for either an action or an atmosphere that will be recreated in each play. ## For example, if a clip features a person taking a sip of wine, then a character in every play must mirror this action on stage. If a clip is of rain through a window, there must be a scene in the play featuring rain through a window. ##
The clips will be chosen by how they compliment one another. They are not limited by genre or style: we are looking for four interesting, inspiring pieces of film to be interpreted by playwrights.
To submit a 15-second clip, or to ask any questions, email play@fourplay.fr.
The submissions deadline is 15th April 2018.
We will unveil the clips online shortly after selecting the final four pieces. Writers will then have a matter of weeks to submit a pitch, and once we have selected four plays to be performed, they will have just over a month to rehearse their shows. Fourplay presents WHOLE will take place in Paris in June.
For the last edition – Fourplay presents THEM – playwrights were challenged to write a 20-minute play using no more or less than the four props provided to them by visual and conceptual artists and artisans.
This time we want the stimulus to be music.
We are looking for four original, instrumental compositions between two and four minutes in length that will work together to provide the soundtrack to the performances. Playwrights will be allowed to use either a segment of the music or the entire length of the track, but will have to use all four pieces in their play.
The compositions will be chosen by how they compliment one another. They are not limited by genre or style: we are looking for four interesting, inspiring pieces of music that mesh well together to be interpreted by playwrights.
To submit a piece of music or to ask any questions, email fourplayfr@gmail.com.
The submissions deadline is 24th December 2016.
We will unveil the music online shortly after selecting the final four pieces. Writers will then have a matter of weeks to submit a pitch, and once we have selected four plays to be performed, they will have just over a month to rehearse their shows. Fourplay presents TIDE will take place in Paris between 21st and 22nd April 2017.
This year has gone by in the blink of an eye for us. We are hugely excited by the prospect of the third edition of Fourplay and have been talking about it since before the last one was even over, but as many of you have noticed, we’ve not made any progress on it yet.
For various logistical and technical reasons, we have officially decided to not put on the third edition of Fourplay in December, but instead take more time to work on it and produce the best quality festival we can by spring 2017.
One of the problems we’ve encountered over the last couple of weeks is a needless complication with the website (as you can see we’re back to our Tumblr URL), the domain name of which is temporarily “locked” and we’re being told to pay a ridiculous amount to get it back. And we want to make a proper website, one that will do justice to all of the brilliant artists and actors that we’ve worked with over the last 12 months.
In order to get all of this dealt with to the level of professionalism we want, and in a way that will benefit everybody who wants to be involved in the next edition, we’re going to host a fundraiser in December with a view to having all the technical problems sorted by January.
In the meantime, though, we are going to begin preparation for the next edition, which this time will be centred around music. The theme is TIDE. Our call to musicians will be launching by the end of the week with another piece of fantastic artwork, this time by illustrator Harriet Bruce.
We’re looking forward to seeing you at Fourplay presents TIDE.
After the hugely successful first edition of Fourplay, the curators have taken a much needed few weeks of rest. But reclining is not all we’ve been doing since December.
Almost immediately after Fourplay presents NOW, you’ve been contacting us with your ideas for future events. After a plentiful rest and a lot of talks with a variety of people, we have decided that the best way to move forward is with that old cliché: quality over quantity. While we are still very open to hearing all of your ideas, we have decided to refine our schedule: producing two high-quality festivals a year, with the potential to produce one or two smaller scale but equally high-calibre events in between. Each event takes weeks, if not months, of planning to ensure it’s as good as it can possibly be, so it’s essential that Fourplay stays focussed and succinct. Thanks to everybody who participated and supported the first edition, we are confident that we can make something really exciting and unique which will hopefully continue for many years to come, so if you want to take part, it’s only a matter of time.
With the house keeping done, it is with great pleasure that we announce the next edition: Fourplay presents THEM. Based on the same structure as NOW, four 20 minute long plays will compete to make the best use of the four props we give them. As in the last edition, the playwrights will be allowed no more and no less than these four props, which for this round will be pieces of art. We are currently calling to artists and artisans of all disciplines to submit one physical object which may be selected for use in the shows. We will organise an exhibition of these objects during the first week of March (hopefully – in any case there will be an online exhibition of high quality images with exact weights and measurements) so that playwrights will have a decent amount of time to get inspired and write their pitches. As with the inaugural Fourplay, and all of those to come, these pitch/submissions are not limited to Paris-based artists and writers: all are welcome. Another change we are making is to open submissions for playwrights. For transparency, in the first edition we didn’t want to tread on the toes of another Paris-based, English writing-oriented theatre festival and so we asked for pitches from one specific selection of writers. Submissions will be open from the time of the exhibition until 21st March. In addition to this, we will be organising a proper casting to ensure everybody has a fair chance to audition.
Aside from that not much will change in the layout of Fourplay: there will still be three performances over two days (dinner on Friday, matinee and music on Saturday). Your feedback and positivity has been greatly appreciated – we couldn’t have begun this venture without the support you’ve given us.
In the meantime, we have one more slow-burning project which we want to get off the ground. We want to publish two non-fiction essays a month. They are not limited to words – they could be photographic, or cinematic – and the criteria is simple: they must be about art. One we’ve collected a big enough bunch, we will publish Fourplay’s first magazine.
So that’s all really. It’s looking to be a busy year.
fourplaytheatre.com 