Event info
Start Time: 6.00pm
Description
We are pleased to announce the latest People’s Play competition!
This Award is for playwrights from the North of England who are yet to have a full-length play performed professionally.
Past winners include Peter Straughan (BAFTA & Oscar-winner for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ & ‘Conclave’), Carina Rodney (Audible, BBC Radio 4, Live Theatre) and Alison Carr (National Theatre, Finalist: Women’s Prize for Playwriting, BBC Three).
One winning script will be chosen for a five-night production by the People’s Theatre in May 2027 in their Studio Theatre, and the writer will receive a cash prize of £1,000.
The judges for the competition are looking for a new full-length play on any subject, for a cast of any age or gender. Don't worry about how old you are or much experience you have - the Award is open to everyone with a story to tell.
**********
Scripts are to be submitted by 6pm on Friday 12 September 2026
Entries are anonymous. In your email, please supply your script’s title, your name, your current address including postcode, your email address and telephone number.
If posting your entry, please supply this information on a separate sheet of paper.
Entries should be emailed to thepeoplesplay@peoplestheatre.co.uk, or posted to ‘The People’s Play, People’s Theatre, Stephenson Road, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF’
**********
Here are some dos and don'ts guidelines when writing and submitting your entry:
Do send an original, unpublished and unproduced stage play. The play must not have had any production in any form, whether with a professional or amateur company, anywhere in the world, apart from a maximum of three public readings, showcases or performances. Please supply details of these readings/showcases/performances with your entry.
Do send a complete, full-length script. We would suggest, as a minimum, that to qualify as full-length, a script should have:
A running time of at least 60 minutes, OR
At least 9000 words, OR
At least 40 pages (using a reasonable sized font and spacing!)
While there may be provision for some redrafting, do send a play that is largely ready for production.
Do be aware of the space available (a black box studio with a performing area of approx. 5m x 7m).
Do think about the cast size. There’s been plays with cast sizes of 3 - 15 in the Studio Theatre so far, so there's flexibility. The People’s is an amateur theatre so has the luxury of being able to stage plays with larger casts. But equally, be realistic.
Do own and control all copyright and all other related rights to the submitted script. It must be available for production and unattached to any other organisation or individual.
Do currently live in the North of England.
Do not use the assistance of any AI-based writing or content generation tools to write your script.
Do not send TV, film or radio scripts.
Do not send translations, children’s plays, adaptations of classic plays or other existing works, or musicals.
Do not send more than one script. One entry per person.
Please note, we are unable to provide feedback on entries. And by entering, if you win you are granting the right to the People's Theatre to produce your script on stage for five performances in May 2027
A playwriting competition for Northern writers!
