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The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is the UK’s biggest national competition for playwriting. It is the search for great new plays and great writers. We look for scripts that are original and unperformed, by writers of any experience.


Jo Clifford- archive workshop on Imagery, Metaphor and Meaning

  In our second 2019 workshop playwright Jo Clifford discusses Imagery, Metaphor and Meaning and the role of theatre in engendering empathy. Jo Clifford  Jo…

International Livestream workshops

At the heart of the Bruntwood Prize is collaboration and partnership – to support playwrights, to encourage people to tell stories, to see work on…

Bruntwood Prize Judge Kate Vokes on corporate sponsorship

Kate Vokes, Culture Director at Bruntwood and Judge for the 2019 Prize has written on the need to change the narrative around corporate sponsorship of…

WEEK FOUR- Dramatic Action and Driving The Story with In-Sook Chappell

In the simplest possible terms ‘dramatic action’ is ‘what happens’. I think that plot or action should always come from character and I love it…
I want to see plays that make you think, that are of our time, that have something to say – they might be witty and entertaining but I also want more. I want my brain to be really engaged. Michael Oglesby
I think it’s amazing that plays can interrogate difficult issues with the safety net of imagination. I want to see big plays that get me to think what the outcomes could be and how the future might be different in these turbulent times. Faith Yianni
I think the human condition wants to resolve or come up with the answer. Theatre is not about offering answers. I want to see plays that don’t know what the answer is so I have to think about it for days and weeks. Shane Zaza
I want to see a story that demands to be told, is told vividly, with strong characters and perspectives all speaking equally. Kate Vokes
Plays need to both explore formal innovation and create emotional fulfillment – not one or the other but both. Kwame Kwei-Armah
A new play can shine a light on the darkest corners of human experience, it can introduce us to new ways of thinking and tell stories that we need to hear. In a world that seems increasingly confusing, fractured and insular, we need the communal experience of theatre and the clamorous voices of playwrights.
 Sarah Frankcom
To write a play is a revolutionary act – you are standing naked in front of someone asking them to love every part of you. This is a brave act and why Art is important to the life blood of the country. Kwame Kwei-Armah
Important does not mean all doom and gloom, humour too is vital. Don’t be scared to make us laugh but make sure what you write makes you laugh too. Whatever it is, the writer has to feel what they are saying is important.

 Jenny Sealey
The written word