The Papatango New Writing Prize opened for submissions this week whilst also announcing a partnership with Park Theatre.
The London venue and Papatango will co-produce the 2024 prize-winning play which will be chosen by a panel of professionals and judged anonymously.
As well as a guaranteed full production of the script with a £7,500 commission and full developmental support, the winning play will be published by Nick Hern Books; the playwright will also receive a royalty of 8% of the box office.
Eligible plays will be complete, full-length scripts with a minimum running time of 60 minutes or be at least 9,000 words, written by residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It must be an original, unpublished and unproduced piece of work; works submitted to the Prize in previous years are eligible to be resubmitted. Full information is available from Papatango's web site.
It was also revealed that the inaugural production of the 2023 prize-winning play, Some Demon by Laura Waldren, will now enjoy a run at Bristol Old Vic after opening at the Arcola Theatre, having received an Ian McKellen / ATG grant.
Papatango’s George Turvey and Chris Foxon said, “launching the 16th annual prize, as we prepare to produce the debut script by last year's winner Laura Waldren in two cities and make a short film by another outstanding 2023 entrant, Josh Barrow, makes us realise how far Papatango has come. That the 2024 Prize will see us commit to première a new play by an emerging writer on our biggest stage to date, thanks to the new partnership with Park Theatre, shows how much further we can still go.
"New plays and new artists don't need to be seen as a 'risk'—their stories deserve to be presented with the same ambition and the same confidence as any other writer's. We are more determined than ever to present the next generation of playwrights on the stages they deserve and need to sustain a career.”
The window for submissions closes at noon on 11 March. Unique to the Papatango New Writing Prize, every entrant will receive feedback on their script.
Some Demon plays Arcola Theatre from 13 June to 6 July and Bristol Old Vic from 9 to 13 July.