Launched in 1982, the Verity Bargate Award one of the longest-established playwrighting awards in the UK and honours Verity Bargate, Soho’s co-founder who passionately championed new writing during her time at the small but hugely influential fringe theatre company, Soho Poly. In 2022 the Verity Bargate Award celebrated its 40th birthday.

This year submissions open on Thursday 11 April to coincide with the Soho Theatre opening of the 2022 Verity Bargate Award-winning play, Boys On The Verge Of Tears by Sam Grabiner, directed by James Macdonald. You can read an interview with Sam here.

The submission window is open until midday on Monday 17 June 2024.

The winner will be announced in late 2024 and will receive:

• £8,000 for an exclusive option for Soho Theatre to produce the prize-winning play
• A full London run of the play staged at Soho Theatre
• Workshops and rehearsed readings of the play in India and USA

For the first time in the history of the Verity Bargate Award, Soho Theatre partners with leading new-writing venues in India and USA to hold workshops and readings of the prize-winning play. This year’s judging panel consists of playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar (The Father and the Assassin at National Theatre), multi award-winning screen and stage actor Alan Cumming, Olivier Award-winning playwright Moira Buffini (Handbagged at Hampstead Theatre / West End; Dinner at National Theatre / West End), and writer, director and Nouveau Riche artistic director Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy at Royal Court Theatre / West End; Typical at Soho Theatre), award-winning musician and actor Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem (Cabaret at Kit Kat Club) and Anthony Lau (Associate Artistic Director, Sheffield Theatres).

To find out more and apply, visit: Verity Bargate Award – Soho Theatre