At the heart of the Bruntwood Prize is collaboration and partnership – to support playwrights, to encourage people to tell stories, to see work on our stages and beyond.  All our partners recognize the power of new work reaching far and wide and the importance of audiences engaging with that work.

We are extremely excited this year to extend the values and principles of the Prize beyond the shores of the UK and Ireland through invaluable partnerships with a range of international organisations who support and champion playwrights.  The second Bruntwood Prize International Award will be in partnership our wonderful partner organisations listed below.

The International Award runs parallel to the UK awards and is open to playwrights invited by our international partners. These entries are therefore anonymous- while allowing us to both isolate the International entries for consideration and manage entry numbers while we explore the International potential of the Bruntwood Prize.

Unfortunately no other international submissions can be considered at this time. The Bruntwood Prize aspires to produce all winning plays. Therefore the recipient of the International Award will engage in a process of professional development with both the Royal Exchange Theatre and with the partner organisation who invited them to apply.

Our 2022 Partners 

USA

Atlantic Theatre – New York

“Atlantic Theater Company is thrilled to participate in the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022. The previous recipients of the Prize illustrate its impact and distinction, and we look forward to partnering with the Prize to support the facilitation of the Bruntwood Internation Award in this round.”

Celebrating over 35 years of theatre since its inception, Atlantic Theater Company has produced more than 200 plays including Tony Award-winning productions of The Band’s Visit (David Yazbek, Itamar Moses); Spring Awakening (Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik); and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Martin McDonagh); Pulitzer Prize recipient Between Riverside and Crazy (Stephen Adly Guirgis); New York Drama Critics’ Circle winner for Best New Play The Night Alive (Conor McPherson) and Best Foreign Play Hangmen (Martin McDonagh); and Obie Award winner for Best New American Play Describe the Night (Rajiv Joseph).

 

Berkeley Rep– Berkeley, CA

‘Partnering with the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting was a highlight of 2019 for us, and Berkeley Rep is over the moon about continuing the conversation with such insightful and generous international colleagues.’

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep’s bustling facilities—which also include the 400-seat Peet’s Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley—are helping revitalize a renowned city.

 

AUSTRALIA

Australian Plays Transform Carlton NSW

Australian Plays Transform (APT) is Australia’s national play development and publication organisation. It hosts the world’s largest online showcase and searchable database of the best Australian playwriting.

APT seeks new voices for new times, develops plays that change the national story, links them to production, publishes them and promotes them here and around the world.

APT believes in a world where Australian plays transform those who connect with them – artists, audiences, societies. That’s why we embrace publication and promotion, leading to more productions and study around the world, not only in leading professional theatres but also in community theatres, schools, and universities.

“The team at Australian Plays Transform is delighted to continue being part of the Bruntwood Prize journey and story in 2022. Honouring playwrights through this Prize is an honour.”

 

Melbourne Theatre Company – Melbourne

Melbourne Theatre Company is where stories come alive. For over 60 years the Company has created exceptional theatre, sharing the power of live storytelling with generations of Australians.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director & Co-CEO Anne-Louise Sarks and Executive Director & Co-CEO Virginia Lovett, MTC embodies the creative spirit for which Melbourne and Victoria are renowned, bringing remarkable theatre to the fore to inspire, entertain, challenge and enrich the lives of audiences.

As one of Australia’s flagship performing arts companies, MTC produces classic and contemporary Australian and international theatre for today and tomorrow, with excellence, imagination and passion.

Quote from Anne-Louise Sarks, MTC Artistic Director & Co-CEO

“Melbourne Theatre Company has an enduring commitment to new work so we are delighted to once again partner with the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in search of great new plays and great writers. After the challenges of the past two years it is wonderful to see the prize return. It is an invaluable play development opportunity at a time when investment and support for new writing is more important than ever.”

 

CANADA

Banff Playwrights Laboratory 

Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential.

“The Banff Playwrights Lab is delighted to continue our partnership with the Bruntwood Prize to recognize and support exceptional plays by exceptional playwrights, and foster an international conversation about theatre making and creation.” – Brian Quirt, Director, Banff Centre Playwrights Lab

The Banff Centre Playwrights Lab is proud to be the Canadian partner of the The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. In recent years, the development of James Fritz’s PARLIAMENT SQUARE and Sharon Clark’s PLOW have been supported by the Playwrights Lab which, in partnership with Bruntwood, offered James and Sharon residencies as recipients of Judges Awards. The Banff Centre Playwrights Lab offers Canadian and international playwrights an inspiring and inclusive environment to work on their plays while surrounded by performing artists from across Canada and around the world.