We would like to acknowledge that the land we gather on is the traditional territory of the Shoshone and Bannock Peoples. We honor all who came before us, our own ancestors, and the Indigenous caretakers, named and unnamed, recorded and unrecorded. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work, play, and create here in this community, on this territory, and to carry on the tradition of storytelling.
Coming August 20-23, 2025
Boise Contemporary Theater’s annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival, founded in 2021 with assistance from the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation, the festival seeks to champion emerging and mid-career playwrights from marginalized communities by connecting exceptional works with professional actors, directors, and technicians.
Middle of the World, by Juan José Alfonso, was developed at the inaugural festival and received its World Premiere production at BCT in 2023 with a subsequent Los Angeles Premiere in 2024. In the spring of 2025, BCT presented the World Premiere of The Life You Gave Me by Novid Parsi, which was developed during our third annual festival. From our fourth annual festival, BCT will produce the World Premiere production of Ajax by Habib Yazdi as the closing play in our 25|26 Season.
Join us for staged readings on the BCT MainStage August 22 & 23, 2025.
Applications for submissions opened on Monday, February 10, 2025, and closed on March 20 after our submissions cap of 175 was reached. We are no longer accepting new materials for this festival.
Call for Submissions
Now accepting submissions for our fifth annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival! Writers will workshop their piece with a director and cast early in the week, followed by a Playwright’s Panel and staged readings of their work on the BCT MainStage.
Applications open on Monday, February 10th, 2025.
Applications will close after 175 submissions are received, or no later than Sunday, March 23rd.
Applicants will be notified of their status in early May.
Eligibility:
Please note that all plays must meet the following criteria:
- Submissions must be full-length stage plays (no short or incomplete scripts, screenplays, or teleplays).
- Submissions must be unproduced, original works.
- Submissions must have NO MORE than 6 actors.
- Submissions may have been previously developed or workshopped in conjunction with a theater, arts nonprofit, or school, so long as they have not been fully produced.
Experience:
Writers will have four to five days of rehearsal to workshop their piece with a director and cast, followed by one (1) staged reading of their work on the BCT MainStage.
Travel, lodging, and a $1,000 artist stipend will be provided.
Festival Dates:
- Playwrights will arrive on Thursday, August 14th.
- Workshop will take place August 15th – 19th.
- Playwright’s Panel will take place on Wednesday, August 20th.
- Readings will take place August 22nd – 24th.
- Playwrights will depart on Sunday, August 25th.
PLEASE NOTE: Exact travel and reading schedule will be confirmed in early June. Please apply with the intention of being in Boise for 10 days. However, artists may be able to leave earlier, depending on their placement in the lineup.
Application:
Applications open on Monday, February 10th, 2025.
Applications will close after 175 submissions are received, or no later than Sunday, March 23rd.
Applicants will be notified of their status in early May.
A completed application includes:
- Script
- Logline
- Resume/CV
To apply for BIPOC 2025, please fill out this Google Form.
The form will close when 175 submissions have been received, or no later than Sunday, March 23rd at 11:59pm MST.
Playwrights may submit ONE work per year to be considered.
Multiple submissions from the same playwright will not be considered.
Contact: Any questions can be directed to Festival Director Lily Yasuda: ly@bctheater.org.
Past BIPOC Festival Playwrights include Juan José Alfonso, Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters, Debra Ann Byrd, Jeanne Sakata, Vinecia Coleman, Jason Tseng, Novid Parsi, LaDarrion Williams, Herb Newsome, Habib Yazdi, Kamila Boga, Luma Jasim, Prince Gomolvilas, and Lisa Langford.
What better way to adhere to our mission of inspiring our community to examine our perspectives and better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us by creating thought-provoking stories of the human experience than by bringing new stories penned by artists from all over the country to Boise? We are committed to ensuring that all aspects of the human experience are explored on our stages.
BCT is grateful for the financial support that allows this festival to bring esteemed playwrights, directors, and actors together to present stories and characters not often seen in Boise theater.
Boise Contemporary Theater to Receive $25,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to Support Fifth Annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival
August 20–23:
The playwrights, directors, and actors will workshop these new plays:
Developing here at BCT before its World Premiere at The Public Theatre in New York City next May:
Jesa
by Jeena Yi
Directed by Mei Ann Teo
CAST:
Tina Chilip (TINA)
Narea Kang (BRENDA)
Sami Ma (GRACE)
Laura Sohn (ELIZABETH)
The Wetlands
by AriDy Nox
Directed by Chanel Bragg (who directed Clyde’s at BCT in Winter 2024)!
CAST:
Cynnita Agent (TARA)
Racquel McKenzie (NITA)
Festival Schedule:
WED, 8/20 at 7 PM: Playwrights’ Panel – Meet these emerging playwrights as they discuss their plays, the Festival process, and answer audience questions! Free, public event.
FRI, 8/22: Staged readings of Jesa by Jeena Yi at 2 PM & The Wetlands by AriDy Nox at 7 PM
SAT, 8/23: Staged readings of The Wetlands by AriDy Nox at 2 PM & Jesa by Jeena Yi at 7 PM
Schedule of Events
Festival Passes include all readings for $25. Tickets to individual events are $15 each. Students! Get a Festival Pass for just $10 with a valid student ID and you can see everything.
- WED, 8/20 at 7 PM: Playwrights’ Panel – Meet these emerging playwrights as they discuss their plays, the Festival process, and audience questions! Free event, open to the public!
- FRI, 8/22 at 2 PM: Staged reading of Jesa by Jeena Yi
- FRI, 8/22 at 7 PM: Staged reading of The Wetlands by AriDy Nox
- SAT, 8/23 at 2 PM: Staged reading of The Wetlands by AriDy Nox
- SAT, 8/23 at 7 PM: Staged reading of Jesa by Jeena Yi
Jesa
or the Realm of Possibility
by Jeena Yi
Directed by Mei Ann Teo
When four estranged Korean American sisters reunite in Orange County, CA, to perform their parents’ Jesa- a traditional ritual honoring the dead- old wounds erupt, secrets surface, and ghosts (literal and emotional) refuse to stay buried. Watch as the sisters try to break free of the cycles of conditioning they’ve inherited, while simultaneously clinging to their heritage and chasing the elusive American dream. The play asks, how do we as Asian women develop and maintain an honest sense of self in a culture that favors exceptionalism when we’ve been raised to simultaneously blend in AND strive for beyond what our foremothers have achieved?
- Staged readings at 2:00 PM on Friday, 8/22 and 7:00 PM on Saturday, 8/23
CAST:
Tina Chilip (TINA)
Narea Kang (BRENDA)
Sami Ma (GRACE)
Laura Sohn (ELIZABETH)
Jeena Yi is a Korean American actor, writer and serial DIY’er. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now calls New York City home. Captivated by what drives us forward each day, she relishes exploring the complexities and absurdity of human nature. Whether through performing on stage and screen or crafting emotionally charged worlds in her writing. Recent credits as an actor, Nyad (Netflix), The Resident (FOX), Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). Jeena made her Broadway debut in Network, starring Bryan Cranston, directed by Ivo Van Hove. Jeena is a member of Seoulful Productions 2025 Korean Writers Lab. Her first play JESA will make its off-Broadway premiere through Ma Yi Theater Co. at The Public Theater in Spring 2026. MFA Columbia University. @JeenaYi
Festival Passes include all five readings and performances for $30. Tickets to individual events are $10 each.
The Wetlands
by AriDy Nox
Directed by Chanel Bragg
(Directed Clyde’s at BCT in Winter 2024)
Trapped in The Wetlands, Nita and Tara find themselves in a deadly race against time as they desperately seek a way out of their shared limbo…before it’s too late. But the only way out is through, and with the audience there to bear witness, Nita and Tara bravely face what haunts them in order to make a way for a new beginning.
- Staged readings at 7:00 PM on Friday, 8/22 and 2:00 PM on Saturday, 8/23
CAST:
Racquel McKenzie (NITA)
Cynnita Agent (TARA)
AriDy Nox is a multi-disciplinary black femme storyteller with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under their belt including the historical reimagining of the life of Sally Hemings BLACK GIRL IN PARIS (2020), the ancestral reckoning play A WALLESS CHURCH (2019), the cross-generational magical realism FRESHWATER PLAY (2020) series and many others. Their tales are offerings intended to function as small parts of an ancient, expansive, awe-inspiring tradition of world-shaping created by black femmes and with black femmes at the center. They have been inordinately privileged to share the workings of their imagination in collaboration with a vast array of inspiring and supportive artists of various radical backgrounds throughout the country.
Festival Passes include all five readings and performances for $30. Tickets to individual events are $10 each.
2024 Digital Program:
Thank you, 5th Annual Festival Sponsors
Want to see your organization's logo here?
Become a sponsor of our Fifth Annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival! For more information, please contact BCT Managing Director Emily Mahon at 208.331.9224 or em@bctheater.org.