Radio Dramas

"Shoestring Radio Theatre" is a nationally-syndicated radio drama program featuring original radio plays by contemporary writers as well as adaptations of traditional favorites—everything from classic murder mysteries, "radio noir," and historical dramas to contemporary comedies, thrillers, and science fiction...

Radio Drama Program

In the sections below, you can check our schedule of plays, find out who is behind the show, learn how to submit scripts and visit other audio drama sites via our links.

The dates below indicate the date we upload each play to our website (usually around 10 PM Pacific time). You can listen to "Shoestring Radio Theatre" on-demand or find out how to tune into one of our radio broadcasts on our homepage.

January 24, 31 and February 7
A Screwball Comedy Salute
This new interpretation of a much-loved zany farce is still as fresh and timely today as it was over eighty years ago.
  • Written by ................ Eric Hatch
  • Directed by ............... Chrissie Dodds
  • Produced by ............... Monica Sullivan
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
February 14, 21 and 28
A Tribute to the Femme Fatale
A radio noir version of the 1931 drama, "La Chienne". A shy cashier is manipulated by a pair of greedy con artists.
  • Written by ................ Georges de La Fourchardier
  • Directed by ............... Jonathan W Wind
  • Produced by ............... Monica Sullivan
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
March 6 and 13
Camera Capers
Macfee, Wilmot and Mort are having a photo session with their newest model, Crystal. Unfortunately, Crystal’s mother soon arrives to gum up the works
  • Written by ................ Jeremy Gadd
  • Directed by ............... Melissa Flower
  • Produced by ............... Monica Sullivan
Part 1
Part 2
March 20 and 27
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
Sherlock Holmes is visited by Mrs. Merrilow who says that her lodger, Mrs. Ronder is anxious to speak with him about something that happened years ago.
  • Written by ................ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Dramatised for Radio by ... Neville Teller
  • Directed by ............... Jonathan Wind
Founding Producer
  • Monica Sullivan
Producer
  • Steve Rubenstein
Artists-In-Residence
  • Greeta Ahart
  • Rob Avila
  • Dawn Bailey
  • Tom Backos
  • Heather Clisby
  • Tamar Cohn
  • Cynthia Cravens
  • Erik R. Deckers
  • Stephen Dietz
  • Chrissy Dodds
  • 8
  • Kathy Dominici
  • Paul Dougherty
  • Melissa Flower
  • Geoffrey Gallegos
  • Julie Long Gallegos
  • Charlene Godard
  • Geoff Godard
  • Frances Germeshausen
  • Virginia Handley
  • Mim Herzenstein
  • Russ Hickman
  • Marilyn Hughes
  • Steven Kacsmar
  • Byron Lambie
  • Adam Ling
  • Ian Mackenzie
  • Pam Mackenzie
  • George McRae
  • Frank Munnich
  • Paul Nowack
  • Annette Oliveira
  • Randy Parker
  • Louis Parnell
  • Nico Pemantle
  • Damien Pickering
  • LeAnne Rumbell
  • Bryan Session
  • Anne Stone
  • Darryl Standring
  • Randolph Varney
  • Clinton Vidal
  • B.K. Wells
  • Perry Whittle
  • Jeff Wincek
  • Jonathan W. Wind
Webmaster

Submission Guidelines

Note: We are not accepting any new scripts at this time. Please check back in the future.

"Shoestring Radio Theatre" accepts submissions from writers. We are always looking for good, original radio plays of any genre. We have produced dozens of scripts submitted by writers from all over the world who originally found us on the web.

Format
Your script needs to be a radio play (i.e. no stage directions or visual cues). We do not accept stage plays or screenplays. Radio drama scripts should include only things you can hear—i.e. dialogue, sound effects and music cues (stings, transitions, etc.). Radio drama scripts should also include a synopsis of the story, and a cast list of characters. There is no industry standard for radio drama script layout, so we will leave the exact formatting up to you; just make sure that it's easy to distinguish the dialogue from the sfx and music.

Length
To fit into our weekly 30-minute broadcast, plays can be a maximum of 28 minutes long (most scripts are about one minute per page but it depends on the formatting). Therefore, we accept 25-28 minute plays (which air in one part) and 50-56 minute plays (which air in two parts). We also accept shorts, which can be up to 10 minutes in length.

Fame Not Fortune
As a non-profit organization which really does operate on a shoestring budget, we do not pay for scripts at this point in time. However, if we produce your play, we absorb all production costs and it will air nationally on public radio stations across the country. You will also receive a copy of the finished production.

Agreement
If we accept your script, we will send you a writer's agreement, which:
  1. Grants us permission to produce your script
  2. Grants us Public Broadcasting rights to the finished production
  3. Grants you, the writer, all rights to the original script

Feedback Policy
Unfortunately, due to the volume of scripts we receive, we cannot provide feedback on your scripts. Please do not be discouraged if we reject your submission. We reject scripts for any number of reasons, including excessive length, unsuitable content, and sometimes writing quality. Unfortunately, even if we really like the idea, we do not have time to work with writers to improve their scripts. Our advice is to keep writing as much as possible to gain experience, show your scripts to others for feedback, and take writing classes if you feel it would be helpful. Good luck!

Mailing Address and Email Address
We accept both hard copies of scripts and email submissions (Microsoft Word, PDF or Text file).

Please use the contact info below.