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TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY GUIDELINES

January 14th, 2014 donnahoke

 

TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY (#TAPT) IS STILL CURRENT AND HAPPENING AS LONG AS THIS NOTICE IS HERE. 

 

Please remember, #TAPT is for short plays and scenes only. If you have full-length plays you’d like feedback for, please review the guidelines for Playwrights Offering Free Feedback (#POFF).

 

One Tuesday, in January 2014, I had just finished a ten-minute play that I wasn’t sure about. I usually don’t ask for feedback on ten-minutes, but this one was a little unusual, and I felt like I wanted some. So I posted on the Playwright Binge asking if anybody wanted to trade a ten-minute play for feedback. The response was incredible! I ended up reading 20 ten-minute plays that day, and got a ton of feedback on mine that helped shape it and make it funnier.

 

So today, I woke up, it’s Tuesday, I have a couple new ten-minutes, and I thought why not make this a regular thing? There are no development opportunities for ten-minute plays but, as with any play, a ten-minute can be improved with thoughtful feedback and attention.  (You may also send ten-page scenes that you’d like some feedaback on.) So let’s provide for each other what doesn’t exist.

 

If you don’t have a play today, don’ t worry; send one next week! And if you’ve haven’t got one at all, here’s why I think you should.

 

Playwrights can send their ten-minute plays or ten-page scenes to me at donna@donnahoke.com with the subject #TAPT (Trade A Play Tuesday).  I will trade them two-by-two as they come in. Subject matter can be anything, but there are  two important rules:

 

1) It must be a ten-minute play or a ten-page scene. No sneaking in any longer one-acts.  If you are sending a ten-page scene, please give your reviewer some context. READERS: If you receive something longer than ten minutes, you do not have to read it. Please alert me, so I can remind the sender about the rule. Senders, PLEASE be courteous about this rule; it’s not fair to others who are following it.

 

2) You MUST read and provide feedback within a reasonable time frame: Ideally, this would be WITHIN THREE HOURS, but certainly NO LATER THAN THE END OF THE DAY (that means midnight EST). We all know that once something languishes in your email, it can get lost forever, which would not be fair to the playwright who is diligently reading your play and awaiting your stellar wisdom. If you can’t give a thoughtful critique within this time frame, don’t send it until you have the time to dedicate.

 

The earlier in the day you send your play, the better. This gives me the best ability to match plawyrights who haven’t been matched before; you can also send it the night before, or even whenever you remember during the week; I’ll hang on to it until Tuesday. And on Tuesday, you must do your trade. I also ask that you not send things past five o’clock; it’s rare that I’d get someone to trade you with that late. It’s okay if you tell your reader you can’t respond until after five, but sending that late doesn’t tend to work well.

 

 Once you’ve sent your feedback and received yours, if you feel like you want more AND are willing to read another play–send it again. I’ll trade you with another playwright. AN IMPORTANT WORD ABOUT FEEDBACK: Please take the time to give thoughtful and honest feedback, the kind you would like to receive yourself.  Praise is wonderful, but praise-only critiques, as we all know, are rare birds that we spot infrequently.  They are not a substitute for a thorough read and feedback.

 

And that’s it. Spread the word. And if you’ve got a new ten-minute, send it. Let’s get this thing rolling. You’ll get feedback AND meet a cool new playwright. What have you got to lose?

 

To find opportunities to submit your plays, visit Play Submissions Helper.

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Posted in Playwrights, ten-minute plays, Theater, Trade A Play Tuesday | 22 Comments »


22 Comments on “TRADE A PLAY TUESDAY GUIDELINES”

  1. 1 Daryl Hrdlicka said at 3:34 pm on February 11th, 2014:

    Great idea! I’ll try to get some polished up for the next round (I have nothing new/ready right now).

  2. 2 donnahoke said at 3:36 pm on February 11th, 2014:

    Thanks, and help spread the word!

  3. 3 Arnold Shelby said at 9:34 am on May 20th, 2014:

    Will send you one or two later today – today’s a busy one … this will be good

  4. 4 janis Contway said at 6:02 pm on September 2nd, 2014:

    I’ll try to send one next week. Taking care of sick relatives now.
    I formed a playwright group to give folks a deadline and feedback a couple of years ago.
    We get together and read each other’s script or if actors are available, they read.
    Over the past two years, I’ve averaged one ten minute play per month and other members are doing about the same.
    Some plays are good, some not so much. But all the beginning of something and with feedback, we all get better.
    Great idea Donna.

  5. 5 Wilhemina Paulin said at 9:00 am on October 14th, 2014:

    Great idea!

  6. 6 #TAPT or Trade A Play Tuesday | Emergency Room Productions said at 11:33 am on January 13th, 2015:

    […] how did this all get started? Well according to Donna and the blog she herself wrote on […]

  7. 7 donnahoke said at 11:35 am on January 13th, 2015:

    Yes, I started it a year ago, as explained in the blog post.

  8. 8 Toni Seger said at 10:30 am on September 2nd, 2015:

    Is this still happening?

  9. 9 donnahoke said at 11:45 am on September 2nd, 2015:

    Yep, every Tuesday. We just got a notice in the latest issue of The Dramatist!

  10. 10 Jim Gordon said at 3:39 pm on November 11th, 2015:

    Nice idea!

    Is it still active?

    Thanks,

    Jim

  11. 11 donnahoke said at 3:41 pm on November 11th, 2015:

    Yes it is. Though this upcoming Tuesday, 11/17/15, is rare week we won’t be running because I’ll be out of town.

  12. 12 Chuck Boren III said at 12:45 pm on November 14th, 2015:

    This is a great idea. I’m passing it along to my members of the Livonia 10 Minute Play Writers Group. This forum is the best thing we need. ( http://www.meetup.com/Livonia-10-Minute-Play-Writers-Meetup/ or facebook https://www.facebook.com/The-Livonia-Ten-Minute-Play-Writers-Meetup-1418471128452876/) We can learn a lot from this!

  13. 13 donnahoke said at 11:07 pm on November 14th, 2015:

    Thank you so much for spreading the word!

  14. 14 Alan Woods said at 1:22 pm on December 15th, 2015:

    Great website, and a terrific service! Looking forward to getting responses, and to seeing what folks are up to!

  15. 15 Domenick Danza said at 10:45 am on January 22nd, 2017:

    I would like to participate in Trade a Play Tuesday. Please include me in your notifications.

  16. 16 donnahoke said at 11:26 am on January 22nd, 2017:

    If you want to participate, just follow the guidelines. If you need reminders, follow either me @donnahoke or Trade A Play Tuesday @tradeaplay on Twitter, and/or join the Official Playwrights of Facebook. There’s no official way to join other than sending a play and being willing to read someone else’s. Glad to have you!

  17. 17 Nelson Clark said at 7:20 am on February 22nd, 2017:

    Hi Donna,

    Can I join in, please? I would love to read and give feedback. For security: My short play just finished an excellent three week run as part of Schreiber Shorts festival of short plays in NYC. (http://tschreiber.org/schreiber-shorts-2017/ for the full info).

    Question: I didn’t see anything about one acts (under 30 pages), is that not under consideration?

    Thanks and I look forward to participating.

    Sincerely,
    Nelson Clark

  18. 18 donnahoke said at 7:40 am on February 22nd, 2017:

    Hi Nelson! Of course; anyone can be part of the fun!Just read the guidelines and join in. #TAPT is just for ten-page plays or scenes, and #POFF is for longer works. If you sent a 30-page play to #POFF, it just means somebody’s going to earn an easy credit, but that’s fine!

  19. 19 Geneva Chapman said at 3:59 am on June 13th, 2017:

    Sent a script early this morning. I’ve reviewed plays several times and I’m always impressed with the incredible talent of the playwrights whose work I’ve read.

  20. 20 Mark V. said at 12:09 pm on December 4th, 2018:

    I so love this idea. I’ve submitted before and received valuable feedback. Having a “lazy Tuesday” works in my favor today. Let’s sharpen each other writers!

  21. 21 Chase H. said at 2:51 pm on July 19th, 2019:

    Question: What if the play is 11 pages? Is that too long for TAPT, or should it still be submitted for POFF?

  22. 22 donnahoke said at 3:10 pm on July 19th, 2019:

    MY best answer? Cut a page from it. I’ve never met a ten-minute play that didn’t benefit from that.

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