Airplays developing radio dramas about Empire Windrush (£1,000 commission)

Airplays is a brand new collaboration between BBC Radio Leeds and West Yorkshire Playhouse in association with Leeds College of Music that puts radio drama centre stage.

Do you have a story to tell about migration? WYPH are looking for writers of all backgrounds and all levels of experience to send in ideas for original 15 minute-long fictional radio plays. The theme is a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948. Plays will be produced by West Yorkshire Playhouse, performed live to an audience at Leeds College of Music and recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds as part of the first ever Airplays event in October 2018.

Ideas will be chosen by a panel made up of representatives from the BBC, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds College of Music and members of the Playhouse’s Theatre of Sanctuary programme for refugee and asylum seekers.

What to submit:  You don’t need any previous writing experience to send in a proposal. All proposals must be for an original piece of dramatic fiction that hasn’t been previously published or performed. You can send in an idea as an individual writer or as a group, but you can only send a proposal once.

They’re looking for stories around the theme of migration, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the landing of the Empire Windrush and the arrival of the first West Indian immigrants to the UK in 1948. They’re excited for writers to interpret the brief however they like – exploring modern migration stories as well as revisiting the stories of the past.

They actively encourage proposals to be sent to them by writers of colour; writers who identify as LGBTQ+; writers who are D/deaf and/or disabled; writers who are also refugees or asylum seekers and any other writers who are currently underrepresented on UK stages.

Process:  All proposals will be read by West Yorkshire Playhouse’s experienced script reading team who will create a shortlist for the panel. The panel will select four proposals that will go on to be developed into full, 15 minute-long plays.

The four writers will develop their proposals into short plays over the course of five months, working closely with West Yorkshire Playhouse’s Furnace artistic development programme.

This development process will include a full day working with actors and with musicians from Leeds College of Music to test their dialogue out and redraft.

The four plays will be produced by West Yorkshire Playhouse and presented at Leeds College of Music in October 2018.

Fee:  Each writer will be paid a fee of £1000 to develop their idea into a short play.

How to apply:  For full details and how to apply please visit the West Yorkshire Playhouse website.

Deadline:  Thursday 10 May 2018 at 6pm

Source:  BBC Writersroom

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