Today, Europe’s biggest playwriting competition, The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2025, opens submissions for its 20th Anniversary prize and announces this year’s Chair and judging panel.

2025 marks twenty years of committed investment in the Prize from Bruntwood, the Manchester based property company with a portfolio of commercial and residential properties around the UK, the Royal Exchange Theatre and The Oglesby Charitable Trust to produce this exceptional prize for playwriting.

 

To celebrate the anniversary, the prize pot has increased in 2025 to £50,000, with the overall winner set to receive £20,000. Other awards include: the Judges Award of £10,000, the International Award of £10,000, and the North West Original New Voice Award of £10,000 which also includes a funded year-long residency at the Royal Exchange.

 

The Prize is delighted that renowned journalist and broadcaster Naga Munchetty is Chair of the Anniversary judging panel; her fellow judges include award winning theatre-maker, director and producer and newly appointed Creative Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Selina Cartmell; previous Bruntwood Prize winner, Pheobe Eclair-Powell; award-winning playwright and director, Conor McPherson; international award-winning director and Artistic Director of London’s Kiln Theatre Amit Sharma; actors, Shobna Gulati and Cherylee Houston, and Munya Chawawa, a BAFTA-nominated broadcaster, writer and comedian, and 2022 British Comedy Awards Breakthrough Talent winner.

 

Naga Munchetty, Chair of the judges, said,

“My longstanding relationship with the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, which began when I hosted the award ceremony in 2017, is incredibly special to me. I am thrilled to be Chair of the judging panel as it celebrates its twentieth year of championing vibrant new work. New writing is vital to the ecosystem of theatre, and everyone has a unique and exciting story to tell – I can’t wait to get reading.”

The Bruntwood Prize gives writers of any background and experience the equal opportunity to anonymously enter original new work for the chance to win part of a prize fund. Submissions open at 12pm today (UK time).

 

To mark the 20th anniversary, the internationally renowned Mancunian artist and illustrator Stanley Chow has created an anniversary logo that celebrates the Prize’s proud connection to Manchester. Chow produces work for a wide range of clients, including EMPIRE, The New Yorker and Manchester Metrolink, and rose to international fame when he received a Grammy nomination for his work on The White Stripes’ Icky Thump.

 

Selina Cartmell, Creative Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, commented:

“I am thrilled to be part of such a distinguished panel of judges to mark the 20th anniversary of the iconic Bruntwood Prize. This partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and Bruntwood embodies a commitment to supporting artists and creating unique opportunities for writers and communities to feel empowered, to share their stories and to transform lives. We need writers more than ever, to make us think and feel differently, to shift perspectives and paradigms with bold, brave and vital stories. I love that this democratic submission process reflects the spirit of our values as a creative home in Manchester and for this ‘open exchange’ of stories to be celebrated locally, nationally and internationally.”

Chris Oglesby OBE, CEO of Bruntwood, said:

“As a long-standing supporter of the creative arts, we’ve long recognised the role that arts and culture play in injecting life into local communities and helping places like Manchester thrive. That’s why I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to bring back the Bruntwood Prize for its twentieth year. This continued partnership with the Royal Exchange Theatre has helped us to discover and nurture the next generation of creative talent by providing them with a platform to showcase their work, regardless of their experience or background. We can’t wait to see what comes through the programme next.”

Since its inception in 2005, The Bruntwood Prize has supported thousands of people to write plays and has launched the careers of some of the UK’s most respected and celebrated playwrights including Anna Jordan, Duncan Macmillan, Janice Okoh and Alistair McDowall. Over 15,000 scripts have been entered, £304,000 has been awarded to 37 prize winning writers and 27 winning productions have been staged in 39 UK-wide venues. The writers have gone on to win BAFTAs, Emmys, Oliviers and a range of other awards and have made a significant contribution to mainstream popular culture.

 

Each winner enters into a development process with the Royal Exchange Theatre in an endeavour to bring their work to production. There have been co-productions with the Bush Theatre, Ellie Keel Productions, HighTide, Live Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Manchester International Festival, Mercury Theatre Colchester, Orange Tree Theatre, Paines Plough Theatre Company, Royal Court Theatre, Sherman Theatre, Soho Theatre and the Young Vic. Work has also gone on to be produced internationally in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden and the USA.

 

International partners for the International Award are Melbourne Theatre Company and Australian Playwrights Transform, Stratford Playwrights Festival in Canada, and Playwrights Horizons in New York and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington. The winning plays will be published by Nick Hern Books who are one of original partners and a supporter of the Prize.

 

Suzanne Bell, Dramaturg at Royal Exchange Theatre, added,

“New writing is the lifeblood of theatre in the UK. Every play was a new play once and playwrights sit at the heart of the theatre landscape in this country. It is so exciting to launch the 20th anniversary of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, to support playwrights to explore the stories that fill their imaginations and encourage them to share those characters, worlds and journeys with us. It is an honour and privilege to read the work that is submitted and the excitement of everyone involved is palpable as we prepare to see what comes through.”

Submissions for the 2025 Prize will close on 9 January 2025. The longlist will be announced on 17 April 2025 and the shortlist in June, with the winning plays announced at the 2025 Awards Ceremony on 21 July in Manchester.