2026 Play Pint & Pie One Act contest

Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA) is excited to announce the call for scripts for our sixth annual one-act play festival, A Play, A Pint & A Pie. We invite all playwrights to submit their original works in a PDF format via email to esltheater@hopartscenter.org between 12/10/25–3/31/26. Please ensure your script includes your name, email address, and contact phone number. 

To submit your script, you must purchase "tickets" corresponding to the number of scripts you submit. Please note that you are allowed to submit up to 3 scripts. This festival provides a unique opportunity for playwrights to showcase their talent, and we encourage all aspiring writers to submit their work.

We charge a modest $20 script fee to help sustain the festival and respect the time of our volunteer reading committee, who carefully review more than 100 plays each season. This fee allows us to focus on serious submissions while also helping fund the production costs for the 5–6 finalists whose work will be staged. Every dollar goes back into the presentation of the selected plays.

At HCA, we are committed to promoting the arts and providing a platform for emerging artists. We look forward to receiving your submissions and wish you the best of luck!

COMPETITION RULES

• Length of play
  No more than 20 minutes (approx. 20 pages)
• Subject matter
  Open (must be appropriate for a PG-13 audience). May be comedy, drama, etc. (Please consider whether your play can be performed outdoors with modest technical requirements)
• Status of play
  The one act plays should be unpublished. It is acceptable to submit one acts that have been previously produced by a non-professional group (i.e. community theater).
• Number of entries
  Up to three entries per playwright
• Submissions & Fees
  Submissions will be accepted up until 11:59 pm on March 31, 2026. There is a $20 per script submission fee. Scripts should be in PDF form and emailed upon payment of the script submission fee to esltheater@hopartscenter.org
• Competition Announcement
  Finalists (between 4-6) will be determined by the end of April 2026. All entries are final; no revisions will be accepted. Plays will not be returned or critiqued. The finalists' plays will be performed on August 22-23, 2026
• Prize
  The juried winning playwright will win $200.