Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting Announces 2011 Shortlist

According to press material: “The UK’s biggest playwriting competition, this year’s Bruntwood Prize attracted record entries with voices from Eastbourne to Aberdeen, Scarborough to Galway, telling stories on an astonishing variety of subject matter.”

Of the entrants, 52% had never written a play before, with 76% being new to the competition.

The ten plays will be read by the judging panel consisting of: writers Simon Stephens (chair) and Jackie Kay; actors Sue Johnston and Maxine Peake; Royal Exchange joint artistic director Sarah Frankcom and chairman of Bruntwood Michael Oglesby.

They will award a first prize of £16,000, the largest single award to date, and three Judges’ Awards of £8,000 each. All four award winners will have the chance to develop their play with the Royal Exchange, with a view to production. In addition, leading theatre publishers Nick Hern Books will publish all winning plays that receive a production at the Exchange.

The shortlisted plays are: A Map of the Region, Brilliant Adventures, Britannia Waves the Rules, Climbing Snakes, I and the Village, I Started a Fire, One Look, Shadow Play, Three Birds and White.

Panel member Sarah Frankcom said, “This is a shortlist of plays that feel urgent and young. They are pieces of writing that say something about the world we live in now, across class and generations. From an eleven year old girl from Harpurhey to an Estonian family in the twilight of the USSR, these plays reflect experiences and voices that are being heard for the first time.”