Today the Bush Theatre, London has announced that their latest script submissions window will run from 15 December 2021 until 21 January 2022.
The Bush Theatre is internationally famed for developing the very best of the UK’s leading writers, often through cold submissions or its talent development programmes, which open routes into theatre to people who didn’t previously have access. The theatre has been supporting writers for nearly 50 years and has most recently helped launch the careers of Ambreen Razia (The Diary of a Hounslow Girl), Sophie Wu (Ramona Tells Jim), Temi Wilkey (The High Table), and Ella Road, whose latest play Fair Play can be seen at the Bush until 22 January and online from 10 – 16 January 2022.
During the window, the theatre will welcome submissions of full-length plays (running at 60 mins or more) from writers based in the UK or Ireland who are not currently represented by an agent. This year two writers will be selected for the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers’ Group; the theatre’s literary team will meet with 25 writers and 100 more will receive feedback via email.
Deirdre O’Halloran, Literary Manager of the Bush Theatre said, ‘Open submissions have become our most exciting way to get to know new talent, bringing us ten members of our Emerging Writers Group, four commissioned writers, and even a production over the last two years. I can’t wait to meet the brilliant writers who come through this year!’
Full details of how to submit your play can be seen at https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/artists/get-involved/submissions/
The Bush Theatre announces the seventh year of its Emerging Writers Group with a new intake of writers. The 2021 cohort will be Nicole Acquah, Georgia Green, Dilan Raithatha, Lydia Sabatini, Jilly Sumsion, and Diyan Zora.
Nicole Acquah is a multi-disciplinary storyteller, working as a playwright, dramaturg, and performer. Nicole was shortlisted for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Playwriting.
Georgia Green is a writer and theatre director from North London. She sometimes writes about reconciling her Ashkenazi Jewish heritage with her Britishness, sometimes about grief and sometimes about joy. She writes about people, their little victories and losses, to tell big stories about the world.
Dilan Raithatha graduated in Acting from the Arts University Bournemouth and after returning home to Leicester, decided to write his first full-length script, Little India, which won the Masterclass Pitch Your Play Award. Dilan has also written a selection of monologues that will be published in Hear Me Now: Volume 2 in association with Tamasha Theatre.
Lydia Sabatini is a writer originally from Essex and now based in West London. She was shortlisted for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Playwriting and is studying for an MA in Writing for Stage & Broadcast Media at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Jilly Sumsion is a Northern female writer from a working-class background. Jilly’s writing is inspired by real people, lesser-heard voices, and her hometown of Barnsley. She is passionate about Disability rights and interested in Deaf culture especially the art of Sign Singing.
Diyan Zora is an Iraqi-born London-based theatre director and writer. She was the 2021 recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award at the Young Vic, where she directed Klippies by Jessica Sian.
The EWG is an opportunity for the Bush to develop relationships with new playwrights encountered through unsolicited submissions process and further afield – all of whom are at early stages in their careers. It aims to support writers over a sustained period and help encourage work on a new full-length play.
A previous member of the EWG, Benedict Lombe, whose play Lava was produced at the Bush earlier this year said, ‘The Bush is my theatre family. I submitted a script during their open calls for script submissions, and they invited me to join their Emerging Writers Group. This was an investment, in every sense of the word. From giving me the space to experiment and develop my craft – straight through to programming the world premiere of my debut play on their main stage. If you think it’s just another scheme, think again. And then send in your play – they really are rooting for you.’
