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.


A provocation- Tori Sampson

I was preparing for a performance of a play I wrote about the brutality catapulted towards blackness. Of course I was anxious. Every time members…

What are the stories we should tell on our stage- Jo Clifford

21st July. My Gospel According To Jesus Queen of Heaven is being performed at a Festival in Garanhuns, in north Brazil.   The theme of…

What are the stories we should tell on our stages?- Sophie Woolley

The stories we should tell on our stages are the ones that we tell ourselves not to write.   Why do we stop ourselves from…

What is your responsibility as a theatre-maker to the work and theatre-makers that have come before you?- Kevin Loring 

Our work as artists should be to subvert and transform the previous generation’s assumptions, to question their approaches and attitudes, and to challenge their authority…
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