AOTC New Play Festival 2022

An Other Theatre Company’s New Play Festival 2022

Call for Play Submissions

We at An Other Theatre Company are united in our commitment to creating fresh, unique, empathetic, and inclusive theatre within the Utah Valley community. We seek to provide and promote thought-provoking theatre by uplifting the works and talents of the queer community, BIPOC folks, women, and humans of all sizes, ages, and abilities. We love celebrating stories that are by, for, and about the others.

We also love celebrating new plays.

Celebrating your new play.

An Other Theatre Company is currently seeking play submissions for our New Play Festival in July 2022. This will be a concert reading series, showcasing six ten minute plays, four one act plays, and two full length plays from Utah-based playwrights. Scripts will be read and reviewed by readers within our AOTC family as well as other local theatre artists.

AOTC NEW PLAY FESTIVAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• The play must align with AOTC’s mission

• The play must be written by a local Utah theatre artist

• The play must be an original and unpublished work

• No previous production history

• Workshops and/or readings acceptable

• Only finished works accepted

• Only one script submission per playwright

• No screenplays or musicals

• All materials must be submitted in one PDF file

• Email subject line: AOTC New Play Festival Submission

THE FINE PRINT

• Blind Submission

• Playwright name and contact information on title page only

• Name and contact information will be removed during judging

• Page Length

• Ten Minute

• No more than 10.5 pages – not including title and character page

• One Act

• 15 - 60 pages – not including title and character page

• Full-Length

• 60 - 120 pages – not including title and character page

• Cast Size

• 2-8 characters

• Production Elements

• Concert Reading

• Black box theater space

• No set, costumes, or makeup

• Basic lighting (up and down)

• Other Documents

• Playwright Bio (200 word max)

• Resume

• Brief Synopsis (200 word max)

• Character Breakdown

• Play’s Development History

• AOTC Statement (500 word max)

• Brief statement on how and why your play aligns with AOTC’s mission

SELECTED PLAYWRIGHTS

• Auditions and Casting

• Concert readings will consist of a shared ensemble cast

• Playwrights will collaborate with their director on casting choices

• Rehearsals

• All rehearsals will be masked

• In-person rehearsal attendance mandatory for all playwrights

• Playwrights are welcome to make revisions during the rehearsal process

• Playwrights will communicate any revisions made to their director

• Directors will then communicate those revisions to the cast

• Playwrights will always have final script approval

• Performances and Talk Backs

• In-person mandatory attendance

• Stipend

• All playwrights will receive a $30 stipend

AOTC NEW PLAY FESTIVAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE

All entries are due by 11:59pm May 1st. Please email your PDF file to chelsea.poplin@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Literary Manager Chelsea Hickman.

THE FOSSIL RECORD: An Interview with Actor Caleb Collier

Q: Hello there! Tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Caleb Collier, and I use he/they pronouns! I am currently finishing the final semester of my BFA in Musical Theatre at UVU.

Q: Have you done any other shows with us at AOTC? If so, what show(s)?

No, unfortunately, and I'm thrilled to be doing my first!

Q: What drew you to The Fossil Record? Why did you want to be involved in this production?

I am hugely interested in new works, and I highly respect Dr. Hall as one of my educators and a great artist, so I had to jump on this opportunity when it was presented to me.

Q: Tell us a little about your character! Who are they? What was your first impression of them after reading the script?

Ryan is, at least on the surface, a pretty stereotypical cis-straight-white man, he defines himself by being an entrepreneur and husband. Honestly my first reaction about Ryan was that he wasn't as bad of a guy as everyone else makes him out to be... You'll have to decide for yourself if you think that's true.

Q: What three words would your character use to describe themselves?

Driven, Persistent, Strong.

Q: How have you approached your character and their role within this story? What insights have you gained about your character through your acting process?

I started with physicality. Ryan and I are pretty opposite people, so I had to start by carrying myself with more confidence and bravado than I normally do. The thought processes had to be built from there, "Why does he say the things he says?", "Why does he back down sometimes?", "Why does he lose his cool sometimes?" It really taught me that this character was more complex than I gave him credit for.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in taking on this role? The biggest reward?

Like I mentioned, I am not a "Ryan" and normally I would maybe not be cast in this role. But I was pulled in when we needed a last minute replacement in the cast. It has been rewarding because it has challenged me more than I would ever challenge myself, and it has reminded me that I don't have to make sense as Ryan, Ryan has to make sense as me.

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from this show?

I hope they think about it for a couple of days. I don't care what they think, but I hope it plants questions about themselves, their lives, and their families.

Q: What's your favorite line?

"Don't quote Liza Minelli at me again."

CONTENT WARNING: “The Fossil Record” contains themes and depictions that some viewers may find distressing. Visit our ticketing page to see full disclosures.

THE FOSSIL RECORD is a limited streamed production. Performances are Feb 4th through Feb 27th (four weekends) with streaming being available Thursdays-Sundays. All performance links are accessible from 6pm - Midnight for each performance. You can find your tickets here.

THE FOSSIL RECORD: An Interview with Actor Jordan Reynosa

Q: Hello there! Tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Jordan Reynosa, I use the he series pronouns. I graduated from Westminster College ('21) with a degree in acting and a minor in dance.

Q: Have you done any other shows with us at AOTC? If so, what show(s)?

This is my first show with AOTC!

Q: What drew you to The Fossil Record? Why did you want to be involved in this production?

I was very interested the moment I read the character descriptions. I loved that the family didn't have to look like or be the same ethnicity; it made me feel like I could be cast on my ability to play the role rather than how much I look like I could be apart of the family. I think Lisa's decision to put those specifics into the script is a huge step for BIPOC, people with disabilities, and non-binary people.

I also was entirely captivated by the story the first time I read the script. I thought it was something that felt fresh and original, the characters' personalities are so distinct, the script is fast-paced and unravels almost like a mystery/thriller.

I felt like the character, Andrew, was calling out to me and I knew that this was something I would love to do and have fun doing. I knew it would be something I would be proud to be of. I also have always loved the things that AOTC does and wanted to be apart of it all.

Q: Tell us a little about your character! Who are they? What was your first impression of them after reading the script?

Andrew is a queer teenager, who also happens to be the youngest in the immediate family. He feels closest with his grandmother, Kim. He loves nerdy things like comic books. He's incredibly intelligent and he has a sturdy/stable mindset even in the worst times. My first impression of him was how funny he is, of course. I was also really struck by how mature he is and how much responsibility he takes upon himself (something I didn't have at his age).

Q: What three words would your character use to describe themselves?

Witty, grounding, hungry.

Q: How have you approached your character and their role within this story? What insights have you gained about your character through your acting process?

This is my first time being able to play an openly gay character, so it was really important to me to approach Andrew in a way that wasn't stereotyped. I wanted Andrew to be obviously open about his sexuality, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't playing into the physical and vocal stereotypes that are often associated with gay men.

I also wanted to make sure I wasn't playing a caricature of a teenager, either. Aside from that, I discovered so much about Andrew throughout the process, things that I didn't initially know about him through my first read of the script. He's able to be focused and coordinate others in difficult situations, he has a strong sense of self as well as independence, and even though he feels his family is flawed in many ways, he cares about them deeply.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge in taking on this role? The biggest reward?

What I loved about Andrew is how multi-faceted he is in the way he reacts to events or how he acts as a person. Meaning, he's funny and is always making jokes, but that's not the only note to him in this play. On top of being gay and being a teenager in high school, he allows himself to care deeply for his family, he's emotionally open, mature, he sees the people around him for who they truly are, even if they're good at hiding it.

He has so many different aspects to him than just being the comedic-relief in the play (though that is his biggest talent) and it's not often you find a character who has all those amazing traits you can play in one script. So being able to channel and discover all of those different aspects of Andrew was definitely the biggest challenge, but also the biggest reward.

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from this show?

In this play, every member of the family could have easily turned away from each other at any point. I think in real life most people's families aren't perfect. There are conflicts and events within a family that change the dynamic of relationships between members. I hope our audience might reflect on their dynamics that have changed and the way they think about those relationships and family members. Some people might be safer having no connection to those family members, but most conflicts are likely to be resolved through communication and vulnerability.

The reason this story (to me at least) is so compelling is because instead of turning their backs to each other and giving up, through their desire to love and support each other they become stronger as a family. They might not have truly found the light at the end of the tunnel, but they've grown to support each other and work their way through it together.

Q: What's your favorite line?

"I don't know what an Etch-a-Sketch is, but yes."

CONTENT WARNING: “The Fossil Record” contains themes and depictions that some viewers may find distressing. Visit our ticketing page to see full disclosures.

THE FOSSIL RECORD is a limited streamed production. Performances are Feb 4th through Feb 27th (four weekends) with streaming being available Thursdays-Sundays. All performance links are accessible from 6pm - Midnight for each performance. You can find your tickets here.