The Women’s Prize for Playwriting was launched in November 2019 by Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough, with 45North and in association with Sonia Friedman Productions. The aim of the prize is to celebrate and support exceptional UK and Ireland based playwrights who identify as female. The prize is £12,000 and includes an exclusive option for Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough to co-produce the winning play.
The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is designed to celebrate and raise the profile of female playwrights by providing them with anational platform. Anyone who is aged 16 years and over, who is resident in the UK or Ireland and who identifies as female can enter. The prize is for a full-length play (defined as over 60 minutes in length), written in English. Musicals and pantomimes are not eligible.
The mission of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is to address inequality in the number of plays written by women and men on major stages in the UK. In 2018, only 26% of new plays on main stages in Britain were by women. This prize is designed to level the playing field and to honour and celebrate the work of playwrights who identify as female.
The prize is sponsored by Samuel French Ltd, a Concord Theatricals company, who are the official publishing partner.
Mel Kenyon (Chair) – Senior Literary Agent
Arifa Akbar – Chief Theatre Critic, The Guardian
Lucy Kirkwood – Writer and screenwriter
Winsome Pinnock – Writer and dramaturg
Jasmine Lee-Jones – Actor and Writer
Indhu Rubasingham MBE – Artistic Director of the Kiln Theatre
Jenny Sealey MBE – Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre Comapny
Nina Steiger – Senior Dramaturg, National Theatre
Nicola Walker – Actor
Jodie Whittaker – Actor
- Wednesday 07 April – Prize launched, judges announced and submissions open
- Monday 12 July – Submissions close
- Monday 8 November – Longlist announced
- Friday 19 November – Shortlist announced
- Thursday 9 December – Finalists announced
- Thursday 27 January 2022 – Awards Ceremony
