Submit your play to Read & Rant
Athena Project's free monthly play development series for women and underrepresented gender playwrights. Led by a dramaturg. Open nationally. No submission fee.
Current deadline: November 30, 2026 at 11:59pm MDT for the January 2027 session. (No Read & Rant in December)
Looking for artist opportunities?
About Read & Rant
Read & Rant is a free virtual book club for plays — think book club, but you’re in the room when we discuss your work. Each month, a rotating Dramaturgical Cohort selects two unproduced scripts for a moderated public Zoom discussion and all four lottery-selected playwrights receive dramaturg feedback, whether or not their script is featured.
Sessions take place every third Monday of the month (except for December) from 6:30–8:30pm MST via Zoom.
Is this program right for you?
Who can submit:
Women, nonbinary, trans, intersex, genderfluid, and LGBTQIA+ playwrights at any career stage. Nationally open. No submission fee. One full-length script (60+ pages) per submission window.
What we’re looking for:
Unproduced scripts at a “finished but still in development” stage. Prior workshops or readings are accepted if the script has been revised. Early and mid-career playwrights are especially encouraged.
What we don’t accept
Plays that have been fully mounted with design elements. Musicals (at this time). Scripts not revised since a previous workshop. Previously selected scripts — wait 6 months before resubmitting a different play.
What happens when you submit
The Lottery
Four plays are selected at random from the full submission pool every month.
Dramaturgical review
The rotating Dramaturgical Cohort reviews four scripts and selects two for the featured session. The remaining two receive individual dramaturg feedback.
The Read & Rant session
Featured playwrights join a moderated public Zoom discussion on the third Monday of the month, 6:30–8:30pm MST. You’re in the room for the whole conversation.
If you’re not selected
You still receive feedback from a dramaturg in your preferred format — written, audio recording, short video, or a live call. You’re welcome to revise and resubmit in a future cycle.
The three-month cycle
Month 1: Submissions open
Submit your script via Google Form before the last day of the month, 11:59pm MDT.
Month 2: Review & selection
Lottery selects 4 plays. The Dramaturgical Cohort chooses 2 for the featured session.
Month 3: Read & Rant event
Third Monday via Zoom. Two playwrights receive dramaturg feedback in the room.
What playwrights say
“I was amazed by how much care and thoughtful attention the team gave to my new play. The whole experience has given me the confidence and motivation to continue developing it.
“Read & Rant’s efforts to support the playwright in a collaborative and respectful way was an essential part of helping to create a meaningful story that is clear, rich, and thought-provoking.”
“What a wonderful team of people! I thought the discussions in the room were so thoughtful and intelligent. Anyone would be lucky to benefit from this program and Athena Project in general.”
Meet the team
Samara Siskind (she/her)
Resident Dramaturg
Samara Siskind is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced worldwide and published by Concord Theatricals, Next Stage Press, and featured in eight of the annual Smith & Kraus “Best Of” anthologies from 2023 to 2026. Samara is the winner of the Growing Stage’s 2026 New Play-Reading Festival, the 2025 Verna Safran Prize, shortlisted for the 2025 Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize, and longlisted for Theatre503’s 2025 International Playwriting Award.
Reilly Conlon (they/them)
Literary Manager
Reilly Conlon (They/Them) is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Detroit, MI currently residing in NYC with their spouse and two adorable elderly dogs. They are ELATED to be the new Literary Manager for Athena Project’s Read & Rant program and hope to continue the program’s legacy of holding space for women and underrepresented genders in new play development. Reilly holds an MFA in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Dramaturgy & Script Analysis from Columbia University. They have served as a dramaturg, director & choreographer in settings such as Athena Project, The Tank, Nancy Manocherian the cell theatre, The Chain Theatre, Theatre Nova, The Encore Musical Theatre Company, Horizon Performing Arts, Genderfunk Philly and Manhattan Repertory Theatre. Reilly is also an Associate Agent with Gurman Agency, where they have been a fierce artist advocate since 2021. A staunch advocate for amplifying artists’ needs, they maintain the belief that empathetic, authentic storytelling is essential to creating a more equitable community mindset.
Playwright FAQ
Is this program free to submit?
Yes. There is no submission fee.
Do I need to be based in Denver?
No. Read & Rant is fully virtual and open to playwrights anywhere in the country (or world if the time zone is not too scary!).
Can I submit if my play had a workshop reading?
Yes, as long as the script has been revised since that reading.
How long should my script be?
Full-length scripts only — at least 60 pages in standard playscript format. One script per submission window.
When will I hear back?
Selection happens the month after the submission window closes. For example, submit in May, hear back in June for the August session.
Can I resubmit?
If you’ve previously been selected from the lottery, please don’t resubmit the same script, and wait 6 months before submitting a different one. If you’ve not been selected, then you can submit EVERY MONTH!
Is the event in person or virtual?
Fully virtual via Zoom. Third Monday of each month, 6:30–8:30pm MST.