FAQs

Eligibility criteria

Can plays be co-written?
Yes – as long as each writer is individually eligible, and the play meets all other entry criteria.

Do you accept scripts for radio or screen?
As a playwriting prize, we only accept work written for the stage.

Is comedy allowed?
Yes, comedy-based plays are eligible and will be considered.

Do you accept plays for children and young people?
Yes, we accept plays for people of all ages.

Why don’t you accept musicals?
We specialise in plays, and at this stage don’t have the resources to consider musicals as well. Plays with music are accepted.

How do you define ‘musicals’ (as opposed to ‘plays which contain songs’)?
For the purposes of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, we define a musical as a scripted performance in which songs

• actively move the plot forwards,
• take up a high proportion of stage time, and/or
• are non-diegetic (i.e. the characters don’t know they’re singing – there’s no difference in their world between sung and spoken text).

If you’re still not sure whether your play is eligible, you can email submissions@womensprizeforplaywriting.co.uk to discuss it with a member of our team.

What does “professionally produced” mean?
We consider a play to be professionally produced if it has run for more than five ticketed performances and/or received professional reviews.

Scratch nights, work-in-progress performances and readings, one-off sharings, excerpts, and amateur dramatics performances of your script will all be considered ‘unperformed’.

My play has been shortlisted / received a commendation in another competition – is it still eligible?
Absolutely. Your script is only ineligible if it has already won an award or prize.

Does ‘female’ include trans women?
Absolutely.

Submissions

How many plays can I submit?
You can only submit one play per year.

Can I submit a play this year that I submitted to you previously?
Yes – but since you can only submit one play per year, we advise that you only do this if you’ve developed it since last time!

Are submissions anonymous?
No – please make sure you include your name in the script and filename.

Can I use a pseudonym?
You’re more than welcome to enter under a pseudonym if you prefer – as long as you still give us an email address and phone number to reach you with.

Do you accept unfinished scripts?
You can submit anything from a first draft onwards, as long as it’s a full play. So it doesn’t need to be finished, but it should be complete.

Does the cast have to be all-female?
No – the characters and content of the play are entirely up to you.

Who reads my play once it’s submitted?
Once we’ve got your script, we’ll assign it to our panel of expert readers, which includes theatre professionals from a range of backgrounds, locations and roles. In later rounds, your play is also read by team members at the Women’s Prize for Playwriting and our partners – and ultimately by our judges.

Why do you collect Equal Opportunities data with submissions?
The Equal Opportunities section of the submission helps us to understand who is submitting to the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, and their journey to doing so. We use it to evaluate our work and strategy, both internally and for our funders.

This information is anonymised and stored separately from submissions – it’s not seen by readers or judges.

General

Do you accept invitations to sharings or performances of submitted scripts?
Due to us being a small team we are unable to accept or consider invitations to sharings of your submitted scripts.

Where can I find more information about the Prize?
All the information about the Women’s Prize for Playwriting can be found on this website, and we also post updates via our social media channels. If you have specific questions which haven’t been covered in our FAQs, please get in touch: info@womensprizeforplaywriting.co.uk.