Women & Theatre Program, ATHE

Women and Theatre Program

FAQ for JANE CHAMBERS CONTEST

Who was Jane Chambers?
Jane Chambers (1937-1983) was an influential feminist playwright, poet and novelist whose works foreground lesbian experience and women’s perspectives. Her plays include A Late Snow, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove and My Blue Heaven. Many of her plays were inspired by life in Provincetown, and she was one of the first American playwrights to create openly lesbian characters comfortable with their sexuality. She was an active member of WTP, the Dramatist’s Guild, Actor’s Equity, and the East End Gay Organization for Human Rights, among other groups. After her death of cancer, her long-time partner Beth Allen published a collection of her poems entitled “Warrior at Rest” and the Women and Theatre Program of ATHE created the Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest in her honor.

For a detailed biography of Jane see <http://www.glbtq.com/literature/chambers_j.html>. The writer is the featured subject of an 18-minute documentary called “The Eight Faces of Jane: The Life and Work of Jane Chambers,” directed by Pamela Scott, starring Julia Campanelli and Jere Jacob, produced by Alison McMahon in 2006.

How are the plays judged for the Jane Chambers Contest?
Plays submitted for the Jane Chambers Contest are judged through rounds of review, advancing by recommendation. The judges are guided to read the plays looking for both artistic excellence and feminist perspectives, and to stay open to experimentations in form. Feminism is understood to include varied perspectives and theatrical possibilities. The plays should also feature significant opportunities for female performers and be written by a woman. On the basis of merit and our contest’s goals, plays advance through a series of rounds—typically three to four, depending on the number of submissions—until the finalist round, where a panel of three to five judges determine that year’s winning play and runners-up.

These waves of review assure that winning plays have impressed several judges; it is also true that any play which wildly impresses a single reader in earlier rounds will likely advance to the final round on the basis of that one (versus multiple) recommendation— to assure our openness to difference or unfamiliar genius. Most plays advance from any given round by acclimation, or at least two judges reports. Judges are specifically urged not to consider how easily the play might be performed to ensure that we are providing a forum for recognizing top plays and playwrights rather than feasibility; thus the Jane Chambers Contest can offer something differently than a contest or developmental lab run by a professional theatre attuned to its own technical, economic or stylistic concerns.

Who are the judges?
The judges for the primary Jane Chambers Contest are all established feminist dramaturges, playwrights, critics, and theater artists, most directly associated with the Women and Theater Program and/or LMDA.

The jurors for the Student Jane Chambers Contest include established and emergent feminist critics, writers and theater artists. In order to ensure that the student contest includes an aspect of peer-review and to appreciate the ethos of the next generation of feminist writers, some of those judges include graduate students in Theater and Performance Studies Programs.

In all instances, we involve qualified feminist judges from across the country (and sometimes beyond!) in order to help us to recognize a diversity of feminist perspectives and artistic sensibilities. In this way, we also help to build feminist theatrical community and conversation. By spreading awareness of the quality, quantity, and range of new plays written by women each year through the process of judging, we also educate educators and prospective collaborators—inspiring renewed advocacy on behalf of women in theater.

Can I become a juror for the Jane Chambers Contest?
Judges may be self-nominated or nominated by others. (Almost all have a direct affiliation with WTP and/or LMDA to ensure expertise in reading new works and/or feminist theater.) You may self-nominate by contacting one of the Jane Chambers Coordinators; do send a resume, a reference, and be prepared for a brief interview. Many judges participate year after year, and so there are not always open slots. New judges typically review first round plays.

Who administers the Jane Chambers Contest?
The Contest Coordinators for 2006-2008 are Priscilla Page, M.F.A. (University of MA-Amherst & New WORLD Theater) & Maya Roth, Ph.D. (Georgetown University). This is a rotating position in the Women and Theatre program (WTP) of the Association for Theater in Higher Education.

The Contest Coordinators are members of WTP and feminists with experience in professional theater and feminist criticism who are deeply committed to supporting the work of women playwrights. Eligibility to act as a coordinator includes at least two years of service as a juror in the Jane Chambers Contest. Since coordinating the contest is such a formidable duty, WTP rotates leadership for the Contest periodically. DO look for each year’s current coordinators when applying for the Contest to heed the address for submission!

Is there an application fee for a contest for playwrights?
Beginning 2009, we are removing the application fee for the Jane Chambers Contest. In order to sustain the contest, and cover processing costs ourselves, we are reducing the award amount to $500.

Contrary to popular understanding, there is no Jane Chambers Endowment. Please help us start one! Grant funding has diminished in the tightened economy, as have individual gifts, even as submissions have risen. Because in 2006, Women and Theatre, the all-volunteer focus group of ATHE that sponsors the contest, was no longer able to absorb full costs related to administering the Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest, fees were introduced to help close the gap—for example, for mailings to judges across the country, for making additional copies of scripts for review, and for publicity of the winners.

We engaged in ongoing dialogue with feminist playwrights, scholars and professional dramaturges about the ethics and question of submission fees—which many theatres have introduced in recent years; ultimately, after experimenting with reducing their level, we happily decided to remove the fee entirely to clearly signal our desire to receive plays from as many feminist playwrights as possible. Meantime, we have had to trim costs to make this possible, and are reducing the award amount to $500 in 2009.

Please let us know if you have suggestions of prospective donors—or want to make a donation yourself; these are tax-deductible donations.

How can I give a bit to the Jane Chambers Contest?
Please send a check made out to WTP earmarked for the Jane Chambers Award, and mail it before July 15, 2009 to:
ATTN: Maya Roth
Re: JANE CHAMBERS GIFT
Department of Performing Arts
108 Davis Center, Box 571063
Georgetown University
Washington, DC 20057-1063

Or you can contact Maya Roth <mer46@georgetown.edu>. You will receive a tax-letter acknowledging your gift within one month of your time of donation.
We are seeking to add a credit card giving link to our website, however this is not yet an option. Checks work, for however small or large an amount!!

What recognition does the Jane Chambers Contest Winner receive?
The award brings public recognition and some prestige, in addition to the $500 award and a reading of the play. The winner is announced at the annual ATHE Conference, which falls in the summer. There the winner offers remarks and receives a rehearsed reading of the play, coordinated by WTP. The winner also benefits from publicity to the WTP membership, Jane Chambers applicants and jurors, ATHE membership, LMDA membership, and a range of literary and artistic offices at small and large US theatres.

I am not sure my play is feminist enough, or that I will rise to the top of applicants. Should I apply?
We do ask that writers submit their best work, and honor the contest’s mission statement. We really do promote an expansive range of feminist visions—and, too, seek plays that create significant roles for women. We revel in the variety and number of submissions we receive, for this helps WTP to gage trends in women’s playwriting, and helps to connect writers and women theater artists.

Also know that each year, some jurors will contact a playwright directly whose work they have considered and responded to intensely—or see promise for —to inquire about production or workshop development of the piece, whether in a theatre or university setting. This is the exception for plays submitted, but happens for at least a couple of plays each year, often for works that resonate with a particular juror’s sensibility or program.

Were there two Jane Chambers Contests in 2006?
Yes, in a way. That year was a bit confusing, a transition year for the Contest since the longtime coordinator for WTP, Gretchen Smith— who had helped to grow the number of applicants tremendously and network with professional theatres for the plays—was ready to pass the torch to focus on her own work, including playwriting and scholarship. Although WTP’s Board, then led by Sara Warner, sponsored that year’s contest, Gretchen also received many plays and we felt responsible to judge them, as not all sources had been updated; all plays sent to Gretchen Smith in 2006 were added to the applications in 2007 to assure a “safety year” of transition.

We cannot consider any plays sent to the incorrect address this year, or others.

How do I know from year to year where to send my play submissions for the Jane Chambers Contest?
You must CHECK the WTP WEBSITE each year for the current Submission Guidelines. Because the coordinator role is so time-intensive and a service position —not only strictly unpaid but a labor of love—we will continue to rotate the coordinators. Addresses change! Electronic postings do not disappear from years past and so can get outdated: Check the Source: the WTP Website.

Since 2007, we have had Co-Coordinators for the Main Jane Chambers Contest in order to most effectively handle the high volume of entries and to best shepherd the reading, publicity, and development. However the plays will always go to a single address, posted that year on WTP’s Website!