New Writing North and the People’s Theatre Company are proud to announce the launch of the 2010 People’s Play Award. The award is run to find an exciting new play that will be produced for one week in the studio theatre at the People’s Theatre in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, in November 2010. The winning writer will receive an award of £2,000.

The competition aims to discover and develop new writers for theatre and is only open to writers who have not yet received a full professional production of their work on the stage.

The People’s Theatre is one of the largest, oldest and most prestigious amateur theatres in the country. Many of its members go on to professional theatre work. The theatre has always been keen to promote new writing and the People’s Play is now a well-established event in its calendar. For more information about the theatre, see www.ptag.org.uk. New Writing North is the reading and writing development agency for the north east of England. New Writing North works with writers in all forms of writing, from plays and screenplays to fiction and poetry, to develop new opportunities and projects.

Winning The People’s Play is a great first step to establishing a career as a professional writer. Former winners who have gone on to write professionally include Alison Carr, Peter Straughan (who recently wrote the screenplay for The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney) and Carina Rodney.

The award is funded by New Writing North and The People’s Theatre and is open to writers who live and work within the Arts Council England North East region (Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, Tees Valley and County Durham).


HOW TO ENTER
You may enter for the award if you are permanently resident in Tyne and Wear, the Tees Valley, County Durham or Northumberland and have lived here for at least one year. The awards are supported by Arts Council England North East and as such are designated for this region of the UK. Writers may only enter one script for the award. The play that you enter for the award must be a new play that has not yet received a professional production.

For full details on how to apply, see www.newwritingnorth.com/awards/awards.php?section=584

Good luck with your application