The UK’s biggest national playwriting competition has opened for submissions for 2025.
The biennial Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting - Bruntwood is a famous northern property company -
is the chance for writers from any background and experience to anonymously enter their unperformed plays, to be judged by a panel of industry experts and perhaps win part of a £40,000 prize fund.
The competition's two-yearly rhythm was put out of sequence by Covid: 2019 was the last one in-sequence, followed by 2022. The 2024 edition has been put back to 2025 so the contest can celebrate its 20th anniversary year.
The prize, which runs in association with Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, succeeded the earlier Mobil Playwriting Prize and is the largest in Europe, regularly receiving over 2,500 entries.
Since its formation in 2005, the Bruntwood has received over 15,000 scripts, and 34 prizewinning writers have shared over £304,000, resulting in the presentation of dozens of new plays and 24 winning productions in 38 theatres.
The submission process is made blind, accompanied only by sealed ID. Submissions go through a multi-stage process of weeding-out until fewer than 20 are seen by a distinguished panel of judges. Only when the winners have been chosen are the names revealed.
More information about submitting a play can be found here, on the Write a Play website. Entries must be in by January 9. The site also offers guidance and resources for those keen to enter but without experience of writing plays.