As Neptune continues on its mission to showcase theatre that engages and represents the people of our region, we recognize there are many, many stories out there that never make it across our desks or onto our stages.
With this in mind, we are launching INKubator: a new play development program geared toward new and emerging theatrical voices and untold stories. Whether you are a playwright with a brand new idea, a writer looking to branch into a different medium, or simply a passionate storyteller with a story you think could make a great play – perhaps INKubator is the support framework you need to bring it to fruition.
INKubator aims to:
Because a key goal of the program is to be inclusive and barrier-free, it is open to anyone without regard to previous playwriting experience. Applications to INKubator are invited year-round with no deadline and accepted electronically through the submission portal on our website.
To be considered for INKubator, interested parties must apply through the submissions portal on Neptune’s website.
All submissions must include:
Neptune Theatre’s artistic leadership will select up to three projects per calendar year to be developed in INKubator. Once capacity has been reached for the year, submissions will remain open, but a notice will advise of when the next intake begins.
In order to make maximum room for creative gestation and a quality end product, INKubator is designed for projects at early to very early stages of development.
The selection process will weigh the following factors:
When a play is selected for development in INKubator, the writer will sign an agreement with the theatre outlining both parties’ commitment to each other. The program will offer up to three year-long cycles of development, on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with Neptune’s artistic leadership team. Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC), a service organization for playwrights in the Maritimes, will partner with us to ensure the needs of each INKubator project are properly identified and addressed.
Each year-long development cycle may include some or all of the following components:
The writer will be responsible for their own workload and time management throughout the creation process, with the support of program coordinator and Neptune’s Artistic Accomplice, Annie Valentina. The schedule of work put forth at intake will be revised and maintained on an ongoing basis, in correspondence with the unfolding needs of the project.
At the conclusion of each year cycle, there will be a review of the project’s progress in order to evaluate the impact of the program and confirm continued collaboration. If agreeable to both parties, the development work will then continue into the next cycle.
The theatre will have first right of refusal to the world premiere of the finished play. The playwright retains all rights to subsequent productions of their work. In the event that the three year cycles are up before the project is completed, this stipulation will remain in place.
Please note that no up-front fee is paid out to playwrights through acceptance into INKubator. However, standard royalty agreements are in place for works produced on Neptune’s stages.
In partnership with Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre. 
