EKP and Paines Plough, with 45North and in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, today announce the seven finalist scripts for the inaugural The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020, selected from 1,169 entries. The prize has been created to celebrate and support exceptional UK and Ireland-based playwrights who identify as female. The winning playwright will receive £12,000 in respect of an exclusive option for the lead producers of the Prize to co-produce the winning play. The prize is sponsored by Samuel French Ltd, a Concord Theatricals company, who are the official publishing partner of the prize.
Ellie Keel today said, “I’m overjoyed to have arrived at these seven remarkable plays after receiving an incredible 1,169 submissions to The Women’s Prize for Playwriting in our inaugural year. The breadth of these plays is outstanding in terms of their subject, form and style. I am thrilled with their ambition and scope and firmly believe that they all deserve to be produced. I also want to congratulate every single writer who wrote and submitted a play to us this year. There has been a tremendous sense of community and mutual support amongst all our writers, and that celebration of the craft of writing for the stage is, to me, a big part of what The Women’s Prize for Playwriting set out to do. ”
Sonia Friedman Productions added, “We are deeply proud to be part of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting and we are delighted to be announcing these seven finalists today. In these difficult times, it is more important than ever to champion underrepresented voices of the future and find vital stories that help us make sense of our world.”
The judging panel for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020 is chaired by senior literary agent Mel Kenyon, and includes Sarah Frankcom, Director of LAMDA; playwright Ella Hickson; actress and playwright Maxine Peake; and Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham.
The finalists in full are:
- …blackbird hour by babirye bukilwa
- COLOSTRUM by Liv Hennessy
- PARADISE STREET by Chinonyerem Odimba
- Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me by Amy Trigg
- Red Sky at Night by Eve Leigh
- The Virgins by Miriam Battye
- YOU BURY ME by Ahlam
The winner for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting will be announced later in the autumn.
