Our script submission widows are open across the year. Please watch this space for opening dates.
What is a Script Submission Window?
These are periods of time when we ask for you to send us an unsolicited script. This give us the opportunity to discover new voices, new stories and new playwrights who are based in our region (North West).
During script windows, we welcome work by playwrights who demonstrate the skill and ambition to rise to the challenge of writing for our unique spaces. We aim to build long-term, supportive relationships with writers and invest in their talent. While it is very unlikely that a script sent during our Script Window will receive a full production at the Theatre, it could mark the start of a longer conversation and journey for both of us.
As an introduction to the theatre, please consider whether this is the best example of your work at this stage of your development as a playwright. Only send your script to us when it is ready and the formatting is clear. Completing this draft of your play and sending it to a theatre is a major achievement and something of which to be proud. However, it is only the beginning of the journey…
Our script submission window is currently closed as we do not have the capacity to give each script the dedicated time and attention it deserves.
We hope to open another window later in the year so please do keep checking back.
Thank you for your interest in the Royal Exchange Theatre and best of luck with the continued development of your writing.
Script Submission FAQs
Guidelines to submitting your script
You are a playwright living in the North West. We define the North West to include: Cheshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Staffordshire and West Yorkshire.
Following the success of the anonymous script submission for the Bruntwood Prize, please remove your name and contact details from the script attachment. The reader will then read your script as
an anonymous submission.
We are only able to accept one script per playwright
As the script will be anonymous, please include the following in the body of the e-mail which will not be seen by the reader
your name
postal address
contact number
e-mail address
Short paragraph about yourself and your experience to date.
Short paragraph about what the play is about for you, what has driven you to write this play or what is the question you wish to pose and explore at the heart of the play (not a synopsis).
Your finished play should be attached to the email, with the following included, on a single document (PDF, DOC, or DOCX):
A pseudonym, or a name that’s not your own (remember to remove your name from this document)
Title of your play
Include a cast list and any potential doubling.
Ensure pages are numbered.
Please email your script to literary@royalexchange.co.uk and mark the subject line “SCRIPT WINDOW MONTH YEAR” (For example: “SCRIPT WINDOW MARCH 2023”)
What Happens After Submission
We will acknowledge receipt of your script and estimate how long it will take us to respond. Each script deserves dedicated time and attention so please bear with us. We will then offer feedback on the script. The aim of this feedback is to suggest where the play impressed or intrigued us and where we feel there may be potential to explore further.
This isn’t intended as a set of notes for a next draft or instructions on how to write the play more successfully but more a series of provocations and questions to hopefully enable you to write the play you want to write. If you do not wish to receive this feedback, please state this in your e-mail.
Upon receipt of your script we will send you a link to complete a short survey to help us monitor the effectiveness of our Equal Opportunities Policy. It should only take a few minutes to complete and all information will be treated confidentially and will be separate from your play submission and your personal details.
Please allow us up to 12 weeks from your submission to read and prepare our feedback to you. Kindly refrain from getting in touch within this time frame.
