Prize fund:
- The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – £20,000
- Judges Award – £10,000
- The Bruntwood Prize International Award – £10,000
- The North West Original New Voice Award and Residency – £10,000. The winner will access an additional £10,000 fund dedicated to their professional development at the Royal Exchange Theatre during a 12-month residency.
Key dates:
- 9 September 2024 – Submissions open
- 9 January 2025 – Submissions close
- 17 April 2025 – Longlist Top 100 Plays announced
- 16 May 2025 – Shortlist Writers contacted
- 23 June 2025 – Shortlist Writers announced
- 21 July 2025 – 20th Anniversary Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting Award Ceremony at the Royal Exchange Theatre
- 1 September 2025 – Longlist receive script report
Reading process:
All plays are submitted anonymously to the competition and read by a panel of readers appointed by the Royal Exchange Theatre. There is a 5-phase reading process which creates a shortlist of plays to go forward to the Judges who decide the winners of the 2025 Bruntwood Prize fund.
The 2025 panel of readers include directors, dramaturgs, previous Bruntwood winners, producers, literary agents, theatre practitioners, and artistic staff based in the UK. Scripts are also read by members of the Bruntwood Prize and Royal Exchange Theatre teams.
We endeavour to ensure our reading panel represents a range of ages, genders, work history, ethnicities, disabilities, neurodivergence and geographical locations. All readers are paid, undertake training and receive a handbook of guidelines for each phase.
Phase 1
At this phase the first 30 pages of the scripts are read and are being assessed on the quality of the dramatic writing according to the broadest possible criteria: subject matter, dialogue & language, development and audience. Scripts are then categorised by readers, who write two sentences on their assessment.
Phase 2
New readers are brought in at this phase, and each play is read in full. The reader is expected to write a short report of a few sentences, recommending one of two things:
A – the play should go to Phase 3 and be a contender for the Longlist
B – the play should not progress further in the process
Phase 3 – Longlisting
This part of the process involves new readers and the Bruntwood Prize team. Each script is read in full, with readers writing a more extensive commentary on the play. The aim of this phase is to identify the plays which will progress onto the Longlist.
Longlisted playwrights will receive a detailed script report at the end of the process. These reports are provided to support the further life of the play – including questions, provocations, and suggestions for a new draft should the playwright undertake one. Each report is created by a final new reader, who has access to all previous comments to the plays by readers.
Phase 4 – Shortlisting
This phase involves a smaller selected group of readers with extensive experience of new writing and new work for theatre. These readers will assess the Longlist, and produce a list of 30-40 plays which are then discussed at an in-person meeting. During this meeting, they will arrive at the Shortlist of 10-15 plays which will then go forward to the judges.
Phase 5 – Judges meeting
The shortlist of 10-15 plays are read by our panel of judges, who then discuss and select the winners. The winning playwrights are then revealed at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting Ceremony hosted at the Royal Exchange Theatre.
All scripts awarded prizes are automatically under option to the Royal Exchange for a period of 18 months after the announcement of the awards. If a winning script is produced by the Royal Exchange, the prize money will replace all first production or development fees. However, the standard percentage of box office receipts and rehearsal attendance fees will still be paid to the writer.