Deadline 30 April 2021

The ETPEP Award 2021 is a playwriting prize for new UK playwrights who work or have worked in the theatre industry, run by the Finborough Theatre in association with the Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust (ETPEP).

The Award’s purpose is to find and nurture a playwright who has worked in theatre for two years or more (but not in a literary department setting or as a paid script reader), who is looking to further their ambitions and skill in the art and craft of playwriting.

The ETPEP Award 2021 is open to UK residents of any age who have not had a play professionally produced, and who have worked front of house, in administrative roles, on stage, backstage, lighting, design etc. or in a creative capacity in theatre for at least two years, either now or in the past.

The award is intended to target and encourage those who are currently working or have worked in theatre but who are new to playwriting, and therefore, the Award is not open to those who have worked in any capacity in a literary department, a literary agency, theatre critics, or those who ever have undertaken paid script reading work. 

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not an award for playwrights. It is an award for those who work or who have worked in theatre IN SOME OTHER capacity who also write plays.

We are looking for a play of substance which contributes in some way to our understanding of the human condition or experience, from a writer with potential to enhance our political and social awareness.

The award will be judged completely anonymously until the very final shortlist and interview stage, and brief feedback will be provided on every entry.

The winner will receive a prize of £6,000, a development relationship with the Finborough Theatre including one-to-one dramaturgy with Finborough Theatre Artistic Director and playwright Neil McPherson; a rehearsal workshop with actors and a director to develop the play; and a staged reading performance of the winning play either at the Finborough Theatre, London, pandemic permitting, or online; and publication by Salamander Street, independent publisher of theatre, performance and live art.

There will be ten runner-up prizes of £300 each.

The judges for the 2021 Award will include Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre and playwright Neil McPherson; Literary Manager of the Finborough Theatre and playwright Sue Healy; producer Ameena Hamid; actor, playwright and activist Athena Stevens; and Clive Webster of the Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust, which founded the award.

Before entering you should study the full submission guidelines, available at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

The deadline for scripts is Friday, 30 April 2021 at 11.00pm.

ETPEP Award 2021 Submission Information

The ETPEP Award 2021 is a playwriting prize for new writers who have previously had at least two year’s experience working in theatre. We are looking for promising writers, rather than projects specifically targeted for production. The winner will be given the chance to develop and present their work in a supportive environment.

The Award is open for submissions from Friday, 1 January 2021 until 11pm on Friday, 30 April 2021.

The winner will receive:

• The winner will receive a prize of £6,000.
  (£3000 will be presented on the announcement of the winner, and the remaining £3000 will be presented at the conclusion of the staged reading performance).
• A development relationship with the Finborough Theatre including one-to-one dramaturgy with Finborough Theatre Artistic Director and playwright Neil McPherson.
• A rehearsal workshop with actors and a director to develop the play.
• Pandemic permitting, either a staged reading performance of the winning play at the Finborough Theatre, London, or a rehearsed reading online.
• Publication of the winning play by Salamander Street, independent publisher of theatre, performance and live art.

There will be ten runner-up prizes of £300 each.

• The Award is open to new playwrights who have previously worked in theatre in another capacity for a minimum of two years:
• ‘New playwright’ – you must not have had more than ten performances of a full length play you have written including plays that you may have co-written with someone else.
• “Working in theatre” – This refers to any role from front of house and administrative roles, to backstage, to acting, directing or design. You must submit the name and contact details of a referee, or referees who can verify your work. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AWARD IS NOT OPEN TO THOSE WHO HAVE WORKED IN ANY CAPACITY IN A LITERARY DEPARTMENT OR A LITERARY AGENCY, THEATRE CRITICS, OR THOSE WHO HAVE EVER UNDERTAKEN PAID SCRIPT READING WORK. 

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not an award for playwrights. It is an award for those who work in theatre IN SOME OTHER capacity who also write plays.

The judges for the 2021 Award will include Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre and playwright Neil McPherson; Literary Manager of the Finborough Theatre and playwright Sue Healy; producer Ameena Hamid; actor, playwright and activist Athena Stevens; and Clive Webster of the Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust, which founded the award.

• What to submit:
  • ONE full-length play (without contact details) via email to the contact details given below, and:
  • Cover sheet with contact details.
  • CV.
  • Referee contact details or references.

• We will accept plays on any theme, although we tend to look favourably on plays with a contemporary subject or a fresh perspective on a historical situation, or life as we know it.
• The competition is open to anyone resident in the United Kingdom.
• There is no age limit.
• The play should be full length, with a playing time of at least seventy minutes.
• Entries should include page numbers on every page.
• Any entries received after the deadline will not be read, and no extension is possible.
• We are only able to accept entries submitted by email in Word or PDF format.
• Scripts must be entirely complete and in one document only, and not include the writer’s name or contact details anywhere on the script.
• All entries should include a separate cover sheet with the writer’s name and contact details, including an email address and telephone number.
• All entries should also include a professional CV (if you have a writing CV you are welcome to include that, but the prize is only open to those who work or have worked in theatre IN SOME OTHER capacity who also write plays, so we need your CV for your non-writing job in theatre. Also please include the name and contact information of a referee, or referees, who can verify the details of your background working in the theatre.
• To prevent confusion, please note that the two year’s experience period does not include training or education, therefore someone who left drama school last year would not be eligible. Likewise, the competition is only for those actively working in the professional theatre – drama teachers or lecturers are not eligible.
• People who have worked for at least two years in the professional theatre in the past, but no longer do so, may enter the competition, strictly provided that they can submit a CV of their theatre experience, and the name and contact details of a referee, or referees who can verify their work in the professional theatre.
• Co-written plays are eligible, but only if all the writers meet the other entry criteria.
• The award will be judged completely anonymously until the very final shortlist and interview stage, and brief feedback will be provided on every entry.
• The play submitted must be an original, unperformed and unproduced piece of work. It cannot have received a professional production in any form, anywhere in the world. This does not include amateur productions, or up to a maximum of THREE script-in-hand readings or work-in-progress showings. Plays that have already received more than three months of dramaturgy and development with a professional theatre company are not eligible. Any scripts that have been professionally produced or published will be automatically disqualified.
• Only one entry per person is permitted.
• Plays previously entered for the ETPEP Award in the past are not eligible.
• Translations, children’s plays, adaptations, music theatre, television, film or radio scripts are not eligible for the competition.
• The entrant must exclusively 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.
• The winning play will be under exclusive option to the Finborough Theatre for a period of three months after the announcement of the awards; this reflects the substantial development the play will be likely to undergo with the Finborough Theatre.
• The judges’ decision on all matters is final including decisions on an entrant’s professional status, and we regret that no correspondence can be entered into regarding any part of the judging process.
• We reserve the right to withhold awarding a prize in the event of entries not reaching a sufficiently high standard.
• All entries must be received by 11pm on Friday, 30 April 2021.
  The winner will be announced by 1 September 2021.
• The final shortlist will be announced by 1 August 2021. Interviews with the final shortlist writers will be held at the Finborough Theatre, London, or online, in the last week of August 2021, and you should ideally be available around those dates.
• The performance of the winning play will be at the Finborough Theatre or online in the autumn of 2021 and you should ideally be available around that period for rehearsals and dramaturgy.
• Submissions should be emailed to info@etpepaward.co.uk
  Any submissions sent direct to the Finborough Theatre will not be entered in the competition.
• Any queries should be emailed to info@etpepaward.co.uk
  Any queries sent direct to the Finborough Theatre will not be answered.

The ETPEP Award is managed by the Finborough Theatre on behalf of a charitable trust, the Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust.

The Finborough Theatre is a Registered Charity no. 1071304.

The Experienced Theatre Practitioners Early Playwriting Trust is a Registered Charity No. 1154561.