The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2025 has now closed submissions. Entries were open from 12pm BST Monday 9th September 2024, and closed at 6pm GMT Thursday 9th January 2025. To keep in touch with all of our upcoming updates, please subscribe to our newsletter (in the top banner) and head to 2025 Prize.
Click this link to download Plain English Guidelines for entering the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2025.
Click this link to view our BSL Trailer.
The 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is split across four categories. They are:
- The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – £20,000
- The Judges Award – £10,000
- The Bruntwood Prize International Award – £10,000
Introduced in 2019, this award is open to international playwrights who can apply through our partner theatres:
Australia Plays Transform – Sydney, Australia
Melbourne Theatre Company – Melbourne, Australia
Playwrights Horizons – New York, United States of America
Stratford Festival – Ontario, Canada
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company – Washington DC, United States of America
- The North West Original New Voice Award and Residency
In recognition of the Prize’s home in Manchester, and to enable us to work closely with the winning playwright, the winner must be based in the North West of England and have not had a full-length play professionally produced for 12 performances or more in a venue.
In addition to winning £10,000, they will also access an additional £10,000 fund dedicated to their professional development at the Royal Exchange Theatre during a bespoke one-year residency.
All plays are submitted anonymously to the competition and will be read by an expert panel of readers appointed by the Royal Exchange Theatre. There is an extensive five stage process to the reading before creating the shortlist. The final panel of readers, including key artistic staff from the Royal Exchange Theatre, compile a shortlist for the Judges to consider. The Judges will receive the shortlist of scripts on Friday 16th May 2025. A shortlist of 15 plays, ten from the UK and five international, will be announced over the summer, and the winner of the 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, on Monday 21st July 2025.
If you still have questions about the process, you may find the answer to your query in the Prize Guidelines and FAQ below or contact the Bruntwood & Literary Co-ordinator on bruntwood.prize@royalexchange.co.uk