Mercury Theatre Colchester are thrilled to announce an extension of their dedicated talent development programme for promising and innovative playwrights from the East of England to create and develop work with leading theatre-makers.

The Mercury Playwrights Programme will support a group of writers, to guide and mentor them through the process of creating their own full-length play or piece of theatre. This will be led by award-winning writer and BAFTA nominee Kenny Emson and will take participants through a two-draft process with one-to-one dramaturgy support, as well as opportunities to participate in a number of masterclasses by industry renowned writers.

The extension is part of the organisations commitment to supporting theatre practitioners across the region by delivering a free nine-month programme from July 2023 to March 2024. The initiative offers successful applicants an extensive opportunity to work alongside industry-leading mentors to gain experience of working professionally in the industry. Each programme has been designed to nurture future talent and is composed of three key dimensions to empower the mentees to discover, develop and nurture talent in their own careers. The previous cohort’s evaluation statistics highlight that PPD beneficiaries have enhanced employability by 60% by engaging with the programme.

Criteria 

• 18+
• Have a connection with the East of England – applicants must be from or currently reside in this area to take part.

Deadline

5pm on Friday 16 June 2023.

They aim to let applicants know if they are successful by Mon 26 Jun.