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Shahenaz Jivani considers the process and responsibilities of reading for phase two of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022.
This is my third year reading for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. I was a phase one reader previously and it’s my first time reading at phase two, which is a bit like being introduced to a friend of a friend.

So many of the scripts this year have read with a clarity, imagination and scope. It feels like the competition is reflective of what’s happening in the world – who wants to write plays, just how many people want to write plays and what’s being said globally right now. Storytelling about war, homelessness, gender identity, racial tension and bereavement to love and friendships. A couple of the scripts have been so funny they made me laugh out loud.

Perhaps people wrote more during the pandemic or are writing more because of the pandemic. This year there was a significant rise in entries from global majority entrants. Plays were set all over the world – from Kampala to Paris. There have been lots of submissions from writers who haven’t written a play before. There’s been an abundance of quality submissions which is clearly a reflection of the commitment and devotion each writer has applied to their work.

This year all of the readers have undertaken the new training which has been invaluable. It emphasises just how seriously we take the reading process and how much we appreciate the writer’s putting their faith in us. To have a mindset as a reader conducive to evaluating with the best possible eyes, I try never to read when I’m stressed or have unrealistic time constraints, making sure to be critical while completely open to the work, putting aside any bias or preference and focusing solely on identifying unique playwrights. A part of working out whether a script should go through to the next phase is initially not pitching it against any other play. That can come later, naturally.

I always have two voices running in tandem when I read. One is ticking off the criteria, to name a few: speakable, distinctive dialogue; inventive propulsive storylines; textured characters and the ability to engage an audience theatrically. The other voice is reaching from a more subliminal place: a feeling that this play has an energy, an attraction that makes it special. This year more than ever I’ve felt the writers have expressed that quality.

About Shahenaz Jivani

Shahenaz Jivani is a BBC Studios Drama Script Editor. She has recently worked as Script Editor on the third season of Kate O’Riordan’s RTE/ BBC Studios drama SMOTHER. Since 2018 she has developed and worked closely across BAFTA-winning, Liverpool prison drama TIME by Jimmy McGovern. She has read for BBC Studios Scriptworks/ Thousand Films A THOUSAND STORIES. Shahenaz was born in Saskatchewan, Canada to a Ugandan Asian father and British mother. Raised in Lancashire, she graduated with a Drama and Media Studies degree from John Moores University, Liverpool in 1995.