Are you an Indigenous lad or lass with a flair for the theatrical and a talent with the pen? Then there's a good chance the lovely curators of AustralianPlays.org's want to hear from you! They're compiling their first collection of Indigenous plays and warmly invite submissions of playscripts suitable for inclusion.

In March 2011, the Australian Script Centre (ASC), in partnership with the Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board (ATSIAB) will launch a unique online collection of Australian Indigenous performance writing.

The collection will be a digital publication of ten plays, supported by community protocols, teaching resources, playwright interviews and other culturally appropriate content. It will be hosted on australianplays.org.

The collection aims to:

* Showcase outstanding Indigenous playscripts to the world
* Educate producers, drama teachers, students and theatre-makers in the cultural protocols associated with the use and study of Indigenous plays
* Provide a ‘one-stop shop’ where people with an interest in studying or producing Indigenous performance writing can be guided and supported
* Broker production opportunities for the featured plays with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous theatre companies.

Submissions are invited from playwrights, theatre companies, theatrical agents, directors and Indigenous arts organisations.

Eligible playwrights will be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent and identified as such by both the community and themselves.

Submissions must be production-ready performance scripts for stage or radio, which met the following criteria:

* You hold publication rights - in other words, the script is not currently licensed exclusively to another publisher

AND at least one of the following;

* The script has received a professional production and/or an independent production,
* The script has been through a professional script development workshop,
* The script has received a favourable written assessment by an industry-recognised professional,
* The writer has a letter of support from an industry-recognised professional,
* The script has won or been shortlisted for a major Australian prize, or
* The script is written by an established playwright.

Plays for the collection will be drawn from both new submissions and plays already in the Script Centre catalogue as well as plays previously published elsewhere (subject to the availability of rights).

Plays which rate highly against the selection criteria may be accepted for publication – subject to the playwright’s permission - in an online hub of Indigenous performance writing to be developed as part of this project.

It is important to note that only ten scripts can be accepted for inclusion in the showcase collection.

Eligible plays will be assessed by the Curatorial Group against the following criteria;

* Importance in the ecology and diversity of Indigenous writing
* Literary merit, understood to encompass writing ability, style, skilled use of language, appropriateness of form, stagecraft, characterisation, clarity of expression and sustained development of themes or ideas.
* Potential to engage the intended audience.

Scripts may be submitted using the online form, where you will be required to provide the following;

* The full script in MS Word format. Please ensure that it has been carefully proofread and paginated (see sample script format),
* A synopsis (max 250 words)
* Playwright biography (max 250 words)
* Contact information for the playwright and agent (if applicable).
* For plays with music, please include lyrics within the script.

If your play is accepted, you may be asked to send further materials for inclusion in the collection, including:

* Playwright photo
* Production image/s
* Any reviews or other support materials available in electronic format
* For plays with music, sheet music (in PDF format), and mp3 audio files if available

Submissions are expected to be properly proofread, paginated and checked for other mistakes. Scripts should be clearly formatted and easy to read. If you are unsure of an appropriate format, please see the sample script format.

Submissions must be received by September 30 2010. Here's the online form again, just in case.

Any questions? Send the Australian Script Centre an email, or give them a bell on (03) 6223 4675.

Find more juicy details at australianplays.org/indigenous/#top