The Mike Sockol

NEW WORKS SERIES 2025

Produced by Darren Nye

See your work performed in a live Reading!

And possibly be selected for a Full Production Run!

Competition for a Full Production Run 

Villagers Theatre in Somerset NJ (Franklin Township) will be accepting submissions for this season's Mike Sockol New Works Series - Competition for a Full Production Run, from January 1st 2025 through January 14th 2025. Selected plays can be presented as seated Play Readings, or Staged Readings, in our Zaidi Black Box from approximately February to May of 2025.

Competition Submission Criteria 

1. The playwright must be a resident of New Jersey (we're sorry but we cannot accommodate all the script submissions from other areas of the NorthEast).
2. Submissions can ONLY be the first two weeks of January: January 1 through January 14.
3. Only 1 play may be submitted per playwright, per season, so select your best!
4. Please, no musicals.
5. The first 20 plays submitted for the Full Production Run track, will be read and scored per season. If a Workshop Track Facilitator/Producer is available for the season, they may select and offer two or three of those submitted, to participate in our Workshop Track.
6. Most plays will be reviewed in the sequential order received (sometimes by reader interest), so submit early. Depending on the number of volunteer readers available, we may not be able to review every play.
7. Scripts should be original, completed (or close to it), unpublished works of professional quality, that have not yet had a full production at a community or professional theatre.
8. There is no restriction on the subjects and topics that can be submitted for consideration.
9. The series is open to artists of all ages, religions, races and creed.
10. Script word count should be 20,000 words or less.
11. The script should ideally take 60 minutes to 2 hours to perform.
12. Plays with smaller casts (under 7 characters) are preferred, but larger cast size will be considered. We also prefer shows designed to be performed on one set, with an eye toward future community theatre productions.
13. No hardcopy paper manuscripts will be accepted. All submissions must be digital and sent via e-mail to [email protected].

Important - Playwright Info!! 

The body of the email that contains the attached script MUST BE FORMATTED EXACTLY AS FOLLOWS: 

1. Authors name, address, phone number and email 

2. Title of play 

3. Genre of play (comedy, drama etc.)

4. Word count 

5. Number of Pages 

6. Number of Characters 

7. Brief description of story’s premise 

8. Character breakdown 

9. Detailed Synopsis of play

10. Brief Bio of Author 

11. Where and when have you held reading workshops for submission(s)? 

12. Are you seeking a seated Play Reading, or a Staged Reading?

Due to time and budgetary restraints, a maximum of 3 plays will be selected for Competition Readings. Plays are selected based on a review system conducted by volunteers who read and rank the plays. 

Prior to submitting your play to the Competition track, you should have already gone through several basic “readings” and “workshops” with your material. Your script should be final or close to it. 

The selected Full Production show would be performed in the Black Box likely at the beginning or end of our theatre season (dates TBD). The Playwright may suggest a Director and Crew, however Villagers will ultimately assign a Director. We urge the Playwright NOT to request directing their own play. The Budget is also defined by the Villagers Board.

2025 SUMMER OFFERING 

Development Workshops 

Plays for the Worksshop Track will be selected by the Workshop Facilitator/Producer, from those submitted as part of our Competition Track, or from third party scripts that were of interest to the Producer. In 2025, our Workshop Producer is again Paul Hufker, who can be reached at [email protected]. 

Due to time and budgetary restraints, only 2 plays will be selected for a Workshop. It is up to the Development Workshop Facilitator/Producer to determine which plays will be selected for a Workshop. 

Selected plays can be presented as seated Play Readings, a Workshop of some sort, or Staged Readings, as determined by the Workshop Producer. They will be performed in our Zaidi Black Box during our spring or summer months, into fall (Dates To Be Determined). 

The Development Workshop Producer will coordinate casting and rehearsals, prior to an actual Villagers Workshop Reading. 

Villagers will promote your Development Workshop/Reading online, so you can potentially have an audience. We do not charge for readings but donations are always accepted.

Our New Works Series is named after Mike Sockol, who passed away on October 1st 2022. He was dedicated to giving back to the community and the arts.

Mike's pride and passion for New Works has allowed aspiring and accomplished writers to feel heard. We respectfully continue his legacy with "Mike Sockol’s New Works Series", which was established in 2021 with Mike before his passing, to encourage writers to always follow their passions.