The Ruby Lloyd Apsey Play Search

Every year, Theatre UAB conducts a search for new and original full-length plays confronting racial or ethnic issues, especially those calling for ethnically diverse and/or multi-racial casting.

Recent winners:

  • The Poetry of Pizza by Deborah Brevoort
  • Valu-Mart by Sean O'Leary
  • We Three by Paul Shoulberg
  • A to Z  by Monica Raymond (2011 WINNER)

The Apsey Award consists of a $1000 prize plus a staged reading and audience talk-back at Theatre UAB.


We prefer recyclable hard-copy submissions, but we do accept electronic submissions PROVIDED each submission is a SINGLE FILE containing a brief synopsis of the play and a cover letter giving highlights of the author's theatre experience.

Next submission period: June 1st - September 7th, 2012.

The Apsey winner will be a play with intriguing characters, an engrossing plot, a strong sense of the true power of live performance, meaty roles for university-level actors, and a fresh examination of race relations in America with genuinely challenging insights.

Produced scripts are welcome, but preference will be given to world premieres.

Each submission must include:

  • a brief synopsis of the play
  • a cover letter giving highlights of the author's theatre experience


Send all scripts to:
The Ruby Lloyd Apsey Play Search
Theatre UAB ASC 255
1530 3rd Avenue South
Birmingham AL 35294-1263

OR to
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Email any questions not answered here to:
    Lee Eric Shackleford, Apsey Play Search Chair
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