CityLife

Deadline looms for playwriting competition

Maxine Peake

The first act in the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting’s search for the great new plays and new writers of 2011 is fast drawing to a close as writers only have until Monday, June 6, to submit their work.

The £40,000 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, a joint venture between Manchester-based property company Bruntwood and the Royal Exchange, aims to discover and promote the best writing for theatre. The competition is open to all writers, from first-time playwrights to those with more experience.

Launched in 2005, and now in its third cycle, the Bruntwood Prize is the biggest national competition of its kind. Six full productions, nine prize winners and well over 3,000 entries have been generated by the prize and over £80,000 in prize money has been awarded in total.

The winner of the 2011 prize will receive £16,000, the largest single award to date, and there will also be three Judges’ Awards of £8,000 each. All four award winners will have the chance to develop their play with the Royal Exchange, with a view to production. In addition, leading theatre publishers Nick Hern Books will publish all winning plays that receive a production at the Exchange.

“30,000 people have seen Bruntwood Prize winning work this year,” points out Sarah Frankcom, one of the judges of the 2011 prize and joint artistic director of the Royal Exchange. “I’m beyond excited that we’re about to discover a group of new plays that have the potential to speak to such a large audience.”

MEN Theatre Award-winning writer Simon Stephens chairs the 2011 judging panel which is completed by the writer Jackie Kay; actor Sue Johnston; actor Maxine Peake; Royal Exchange joint artistic director Sarah Frankcom; and chairman of Bruntwood Michael Oglesby.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Royal Exchange Theatre on November 15.

Writers have until Monday June 6 to submit their work via the website writeaplay.co.uk