Almost two thousand entries received before last Friday’s deadline
Theatre writers across Britain of all levels of experience submitted a total of 1,938 scripts for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – the second highest tally in the Prize’s history. The judges will announce this year’s winner at an award ceremony at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, on 17 November 2015.
The deadline for entries to the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 10th anniversary competition passed on Friday 5 June. Writers of all levels of experience were invited to enter plays, which must be original, unperformed and unproduced. The winner will receive a prize of £16,000 and a full production of their play at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. The competition, which runs every two years, is a unique partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and property company Bruntwood.
Two of 2013’s winners – YEN by Anna Jordan, and THE ROLLING STONE by Chris Urch – received their critically acclaimed world premieres at the Royal Exchange this year.
The judging panel for this year’s prize is chaired by Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of the National Theatre. The full judging panel is as follows:
- Nicholas Hytner (former Artistic Director, National Theatre)
- Sarah Frankcom (Artistic Director, Royal Exchange Theatre)
- Vivienne Franzmann (playwright and former Bruntwood winner)
- Ramin Gray (Artistic Director, Actors Touring Company)
- Bryony Lavery (playwright)
- Michael Oglesby CBE (Chairman, Bruntwood)
- Miranda Sawyer (writer and broadcaster)
- Meera Syal CBE (actor and writer).
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is open to writers in the UK and Ireland aged 16 and over.
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is Britain’s biggest playwriting competition. This round marks the 10th anniversary of the Prize, which has supported the development and productions of a significant number of playwrights since its inception in 2005. 17 playwrights have been awarded a total of £160,000. There have been fifteen critically acclaimed productions of winning entries, as well as a number of productions of plays elsewhere that were identified through the judging process.
Over 10,000 entries have been generated from across the United Kingdom and winning playwrights have gone on to have work produced at the Royal Court Theatre, Almeida Theatre, on Broadway and in the West End. It is a significant investment in playwrights and support for new work on stage. More information about the Prize can be found at www.writeaplay.co.uk/about.