Little Festival of the Unexpected

Since its debut in 1990, the Little Festival of the Unexpected (LFU) has established a tradition of nurturing artists, invigorating audiences, and exploring new voices, visions, and forms of theater.

Demystifying the Creative Process

Little Festival of the Unexpected is an annual event that furnishes a supportive environment for playwrights to develop their work in rehearsal with professional collaborators, as well as a unique opportunity for audiences to catch a firsthand look at the creative process that brings scripts to the stage through public readings.

A Launchpad for Success

Past LFU scripts have successfully moved on to full productions at Portland Stage and at other professional theaters around the country. Both Almost, Maine by John Cariani (LFU 2003) and Papermaker by Monica Wood (LFU 2014) went on to become the most commercially successful Mainstage productions in Portland Stage’s history. Meanwhile, many other LFU works have gone on to productions across the country, including successful Off-Broadway productions and TV and Film adaptations.

Playwrights-in-Residence

Each year, a cohort of two to four playwrights are in residence at Portland Stage for the festival as they continue to develop their scripts with input from professional actors, directors, and dramaturges in rehearsal and audience members during open discussions held after the public readings of each play.

Each playwright in residence receives a stipend as well as housing during the festival. Limited support for travel is also available.

Little Festival of the Unexpected Script Submissions

The next time playwrights may submit to Little Festival of the Unexpected will be in 2025.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions for LFU are accepted every other year (2025, 2027, etc) July 1st through September 30th for consideration the following May. Only scripts and samples of full-length plays are considered for the Festival.

Literary agents may submit complete scripts on behalf of their clients.
Playwrights who do not have agents may submit 10-page dialogue samples for consideration. Dialogue samples must be accompanied by a synopsis, production history, and character breakdown.
Plays are eligible for development at the LFU only if they have not previously been professionally produced or workshopped with Equity actors. This restriction includes Actors Equity showcase and waiver productions. Plays that have had readings or non-AEA productions are still eligible.

Only one submission is accepted per playwright in a given year.

Submissions of 10-page samples (from playwrights) may be emailed as a .pdf, .docx, or .doc file to literary(at)portlandstage(dot)org.

Full scripts (from agents) will be accepted in the same manner.

Plays must require no more than 8 actors to perform. Playwrights must provide a precise casting plot for larger casts that require doubling.

For questions about script submissions or eligibility, please email the Literary Manager.