Lunchbox Theatre

 Themes

Our focus is on uplifting and meaningful entertainment. For our 2025 Stage One Festival, we particularly invite submissions that reflect one or more of the following themes:

• joyful explorations of identity

• connection across lines of difference

• hopeful looks at the future

• the climate crisis, particularly stories that positively imagine ways forward

• IBPOC perspectives

• perspectives shaped by lived experience with disability

• solo shows and 2-handers

• … and of course: comedies, love stories, musicals and plays for the winter holidays and Remembrance Day

Eligibility

• Submissions are open to all permanent residents of Canada who have been residents of the country for a minimum of 12 months

• Scripts that have been professionally produced are not eligible

• Maximum of one submission (either one draft of a script OR one pitch) per playwright

 Compensation & Support

All chosen playwrights receive a 20-hour workshop including dramaturgical support, with a professional director and actors, culminating in a public reading/presentation. Playwrights will also meet with Bronwyn for dramaturgical feedback before the workshop. Playwrights submitting a full draft will have one meeting, while playwrights submitting a pitch will have two meetings.

Playwrights will receive a $1,000 development fee: $600 during the workshop process and $400 upon receipt of the post-workshop draft.

Timeline - Pitch Applications

For Pitches, there is a 2-step application process. The initial application includes the questions on this form as well as an attached document that outlines the play (as much as you know so far). If your application is shortlisted and moves on to the next stage, we will contact you two weeks after the initial deadline and invite you to submit a 5–10-page script sample, due 3 weeks later.

• January 26 - deadline for Pitch applications

• February 10 - notification of shortlisted Pitches

• March 2 - deadline for 5-10 page script samples from shortlisted Pitches

• Mid to late March - notification of selected playwrights 

• Late March to early April - first dramaturgical meeting with Bronwyn

• Mid-May - deadline for workshop-ready draft & second dramaturgical meeting with Bronwyn

• May-June 2025 - Stage One Festival (exact dates TBC)

 Timeline - Full Draft Applications

• February 9 - deadline for Full Draft applications

• Mid to late March - notification of selected playwrights 

• Late march to early April - dramaturgical meeting with Bronwyn

• May-June 2025 - Stage One Festival (exact dates TBC)

To submit please fill out the Application Google Form here

Stage One Application 2025

If you have questions please reach out to Artistic Director Bronwyn Steinberg at ad@lunchboxtheatre.com

Thank you for your interest in our work at Lunchbox Theatre! Each season at Lunchbox, we produce a season of four or five one-act plays. Please first take a look at our vision, mission and values here https://www.lunchboxtheatre.com/our-story (note the emphasis on meaningful and uplifting entertainment), and familiarize yourself with our latest programming before submitting any scripts for our consideration.

Eligibility

• One-act plays must be 45-60 minutes in length.

• Small cast (4 or fewer performers, including musicians for musicals).

• We prioritize stories by playwrights living in Canada, but we occasionally produce non-Canadians if the material feels relevant to Calgarian audiences.

• Note that certain complex technical requirements and excessive use of foul language or nudity may limit a project’s viability at Lunchbox.

Many of our productions are developed through our Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work. If you have a script in development that you would like to propose for Stage One, please look out for our call for submissions in the fall.

Submission Guidelines

If after familiarizing yourself with our work, you feel your script is a perfect fit and ready for production at Lunchbox now, then please email Artistic Director Bronwyn Steinberg at ad@lunchboxtheatre.com with the subject as "SCRIPT SUBMISSION - play title", and include the following in your message:

• A short synopsis

• Cast breakdown

• Development or production history

• Why you think this piece is a great fit for Lunchbox

• Please note if you live in Calgary or have a connection that enables you to work here as a local

After we receive your submission, we will send you an email letting you know that we got it. If your proposal sounds like what we're looking for, then you'll be invited to send along the script and your CV. 

Please understand that we are a tiny staff with very limited reading time, so...

• We do not know how soon we will be able to read your script after submission.

• Playwrights will only be contacted again if we are interested in moving forward with your script.

• We do not provide dramaturgical feedback unless the script is accepted for further development or production. 

• We thank you for your understanding and patience!

Lunchbox Theatre is committed to being a caregiver conscious working environment. We are proud to be a Balancing Act Partner.

We are eager to engage in open conversations surrounding caregiver needs; we strive to create a flexible working environment whenever possible, to acknowledge the costs and other considerations required by caregivers working in theatre, and to always remember the vital importance of asking artists what we at Lunchbox can do to support them in doing their best work.