So you've written a great play. It won't matter if you don't know who to send it to. A pair of non-web sources are very useful to the aspiring playwright of any age. I got all the young playwrights competition info from looking in The Dramatists Sourcebook (comes out in early September every other year, published by TCG). It's available at any decent-sized bookstore, or online. You can also join the Dramatists Guild of America (assuming you live in the United States), the national organization for playwrights and writers of musical theatre. Not only do you get the nifty annual resource directory, but you get The Dramatist, a bimonthly magazine, and access to business advice, standard contracts, etc. There’s a student membership.

On the web, check out American Theater Web. It has an index of links to pretty much every American theatre with a website, plus a callboard where producers occasionally post calls for scripts. Another great place to look is Paul Thain's site, Playwrights on the Web.

Use these resources to learn what kind of work a theatre is doing, and to see if they are producing the sort of plays you’re writing. If you’ve just written a one-act play and the theatre only wants full-length plays, it’s a waste of their time and yours (not to mention your money) to send them your one-act.

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