Liverpool Hope University has partnered with the Royal Court Liverpool and the Liverpool Echo to launch a major new competition to find the UK’s next new playwright. This exciting new national competition is a chance for a playwright to win a cash prize of £10,000 and have their work considered for staging by one of the most prolific producing theatres in the North West. Established and new writers are eligible to enter the competition and one of the winning plays will be considered for production by Royal Court Liverpool.In addition to the main cash prize of £10,000, there are two Highly Commended prizes of £1,500 to be awarded at the judges’ discretion in the Over 21 category.There will also be a 21 and Under category with a £2,500 prize for the best submission by a young writer and two Highly Commended prizes of £500 each, again awarded at the judge’s discretion. (Writers under 21 will still be eligible for the main prize).
In addition to possible production by Royal Court Liverpool, one of the winning texts will have a rehearsed reading as part of the Cornerstone Arts Festival 2014 at Hope’s Creative Campus.The competition is open to any UK resident over the age of 18 and there is a £20 entry fee (£15 for under-21) to cover reading and administrative costs.
How to submit: scripts (in PDF or Microsoft Word format) should be uploaded to the Liverpool Hope University On-line Store at store.hope.ac.uk. Scripts will be printed and bound by the University Secretary’s Office, assigned a code number and forwarded to the reading team. The code number will be the only identification available to the readers and judging panel. The code number will indicate that the author is under 21, should that be the case.
N.B. It is vital that play scripts do not contain any means of personal identification; there should be nothing in the header or footer sections apart from page numbers and the first page should contain the title and nothing else. For the avoidance of doubt, the title page must not include the name of the playwright. If the script is deemed to reveal the identity of the playwright, that play submission will be withdrawn from the competition.
A cover sheet must be included as page 1 of the file and contain the following:
- name of person submitting
- names of co-authors, if applicable
- contact telephone number
- full postal address
- email address
- proof of age if under 21 (scanned passport or driving licence)
The cover sheet will be removed by the University Secretary’s Office before the script is forwarded to the reading team.
Deadline: 30 May 2014
Source: Playwritng UK Facebook page.