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Synopsis
In Chum and Get It!, an exuberantly unscrupulous theater representative, Ray O. Sunshine, welcomes a roomful of desperate playwrights to the “New Works Initiative” at Feeding Frenzy Players, where artistic opportunity comes wrapped in absurd bureaucracy and barely veiled exploitation. What begins as a routine orientation quickly spirals into a gleefully unhinged breakdown of submission guidelines, complete with a nonrefundable entry fee handled by a reformed thief, ever-shifting formatting demands, and a literal bucket of rotting “chum” contestants must consume to earn the privilege of having their scripts read. As the stakes escalate from humiliation to possible death (and a posthumous honorable mention), Ray’s chipper sales pitch exposes the cutthroat hunger, vanity, and institutional dysfunction lurking beneath the promise of artistic validation, skewering the theater world’s pay-to-play culture with escalating absurdity and bite.
Inspiration Set
Playwright Note
There comes a moment in many playwrights’ lives when they begin to suspect they are less an artist and more a revenue stream, and Chum and Get It! is born from that uneasy realization. With sharp humor and only mild indigestion, the play offers a loving roast of the pay-to-play ecosystem, embodied by Ray O. Sunshine, whose buoyant institutional optimism masks a system that equates charging artists for “opportunity” with supporting them. While the exaggerated chum bucket heightens the satire, the escalating hoops, shifting guidelines, and lack of feedback reflect familiar frustrations for many writers. The piece does not scold the small, under-resourced theaters and festivals behind these practices, but instead probes the tension between fundraising and genuine artistic support, asking when encouragement becomes branding rather than action. If it provokes laughter, discomfort, or a quiet mental tally of submission fees, it is doing its job, reminding us that theater depends on bold work and real investment in artists, not symbolic gestures or costly barriers disguised as access, and certainly not a bucket of rot as proof of devotion.
Production History
None to date.
Development History
None to date.
Awards/Recognition
None to date.
Reviews/Recommendations
"If this wasn't too REAL.... I would be laughing! CRAIG HOUK nails what it can be like for a playwright just trying to find an audience these days. SHARP - WITTY - TERRIFYING - This monologue is absolutely priceless... actually... there is a submission fee... so forget that last compliment. CRAIG HOUK - you nailed it!"
"Craig had me at "At least, we hope she’s napping." A perfectly named theater company lays down it's submission ground rules which sound unsettlingly documentaric (not a word, I know, but Craig brings out the creative in me) in it's realistic absurdity. A guaranteed laugh-getter from both theater audiences and definitely from playwrights."
"This is a horror monologue, right? Theatre makers may see themselves in this picture and not like it. But this is brilliantly biting commentary on how some theatres treat the "new play initiatives" they claim to champion. Someone please read Agnes' play!"
"Absolutely hilarious. Houk nails the insanity of submission fees, formatting rules, and all the hoops playwrights have to jump through. Ray O. Sunshine is the perfect over-the-top guide for this satire, and the chum bucket bit had me laughing out loud. A sharp, fun piece that any writer will instantly relate to."
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REMINDER: No presentation or production of CHUM AND GET IT!, in whole or in part, is allowed unless permission is granted by the playwright or his designated agents.