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.


What is your responsibility as a writer to the work and writers that have come before you?- Daniel York Loh

A couple of years ago I attended an Artistic Directors of the Future (ADF) event at the Young Vic where Madani Younis was the keynote…

REPOST Phil Porter – Make them Laugh

This workshop took place on 11 April 2017  In his capacity as 2017 Bruntwood Prize judge, writer Phil Porter talks about how to make an…

The Open Exchange- Royal Exchange Theatre opportunities

Here at the Royal Exchange Theatre we want to support artists within Greater Manchester to be creatively ambitious with their work and encourage the sharing…

On writing minority stories for a mainstream audience- Vinay Patel

One of the toughest, unexpected challenges I’ve grapple with in my relatively short career as a writer is the concept of neutral narratives. These are…
The reason I am making a living as a writer is all down to Bruntwood. Winning Bruntwood gave me confidence and validation that people were interested in what I had to say. Anna Jordan
The financial prize allowed me to give up my full time job and focus solely on writing… That has been the real life change. The Bruntwood Prize is a game changer. Chris Urch
Winning the prize has made me a writer Vivienne Franzmann
It's not an exaggeration to say that winning a Bruntwood Judges Prize changed my life. It gave me the time, money and - crucially - support both to develop my play and to push my writing to new places. Winning the prize is nice - but what it’s what comes after that proves what an incredible opportunity it is. James Fritz
For me, the award meant a few things all at the same time; recognition that I’d written an interesting play; the chance to build a relationship with the Royal Exchange; cash. I’m gutted I’m not allowed to enter again. Alan Harris
The Bruntwood Prize helped me make the transition to a full time writer. I’m proud to be part of the Prize’s history and hope it continues for years to come. Alistair McDowall
It's true legacy is that for the first time the imposter syndrome megaphone that constantly sits on my shoulder is muffled, that I am braver in the building of worlds, stories and structures I use in my scripts, I lean into the work a little closer, a little harder and I now fully own what it is that I have always wanted to do. Sharon Clark
When I wrote WISH LIST, I was certain it would never to performed. Getting shortlisted, and then winning was so strange and wonderful that I still can't believe it really happened. Seeing a full play of mine onstage for the first time has helped me improve as a writer in a way I would have struggled to do otherwise Katherine Soper
The written word