EMOS Ecodrama Playwrights Festival

The EMOS Ecodrama Playwrights Festival calls for new plays that focus on current and historic environmental issues, and enliven and transform our experience of the world, inspiring us to listen better, and instilling a deeper or more complex sense of our ecological communities. EMOS was founded in 2004 by Theresa May and Larry Fried in order to foster new dramatic works that respond to the ecological crisis, and explore new possibilities for being in relationship with the more-than-human world. Our panel of national respondents have included Robert Schenkkan, José Cruz González, Timothy Bond, Alison Carey, Olga Sanchez Saltveit, Caridad Svich, Yvette Nolan, Chantal Bilodeau, Keith Barker, Georgiana Escobar, Valerie Curtis Newton, and others. Winning plays by Rob Koon, Ellen Lewis, Chantal Bilodeau, MEH Lewis & Anita Chadwaney, Crystal Skillman, and Jessica Huang, have gone on to receive national productions. The Festival has been hosted by 7 institutions including Cal State Humboldt, University of Oregon, Carnegie Mellon, University of Nevada-Reno, University of Alaska-Anchorage, and Emory University.

See the most recent winners and Call for Plays

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EMOS takes place at a different institution every two to three years, and requires a 2-year lead time. If your institution is interested in hosting the next EMOS Festival, please reach out. We’d love to chat!