Papatango today announces the launch of the Papatango Playwrights’ Studio, an ambitious and inclusive new programme designed to support emerging writers across the UK.
In a first-of-its-kind programme, the Playwrights’ Studio is designed to break down barriers to opportunity. By blending digital access with in-person engagement, it ensures that emerging writers from every region can benefit from a national support network while also building meaningful relationships with their local theatres. Completely free, and open to all, the Playwrights’ Studio is a joined-up strategy of funding, 1-2-1 mentoring, workshops, CPD, and an industry database representing writers and scripts to empower early-stage playwrights.
This initiative comes alongside a strategic and forward-thinking evolution of their programme, including the renowned Papatango New Writing Prize, which will return in 2026 after a period of development to secure its long-term sustainability and impact.
Papatango’s Executive Director Chris Foxon said today, “Papatango has always been at the forefront of progress in new writing, and the Playwrights’ Studio is our latest long-term commitment to shaping a more inclusive and dynamic future for theatre. We look forward to welcoming the next generation of playwrights into this new programme and, in the years ahead, seeing their voices take centre stage.
“While we refine the Prize’s model to meet the new challenges facing playwrights, forge deeper community partnerships, and secure its sustainability, the Playwrights’ Studio will provide a powerful new offer giving vital support to emerging voices. It ensures that when the Prize returns in 2026, it will be stronger, more ambitious, and more impactful than ever before, and every writer will be fully prepared to benefit from it. The Studio will then continue to run alongside the Prize and our other work for years to come, with the goal of championing new voices in playwriting with even greater depth, reach, and sustainability.”
By joining Papatango Playwrights’ Studio, writers will access a holistic programme empowering them to build and sustain a writing practice through a single, one-stop resource offering:
- .A bespoke representation platform, with writers able to create profiles and list scripts on a searchable industry database, connecting them with collaborators, agents, and publishers.
- One-to-one mentoring sessions via a unique fortnightly live chat service, ensuring tailored support for every participant.
- Structured development through monthly digital workshops, led by Papatango’s expert team (including the authors of Being A Playwright: A Career Guide For Writers).
- Captioned CPD interviews with industry-leading playwrights and theatre-makers.
- In-person events at theatres across England, ensuring writers have access to local creative communities and vital regional and national networks are forged.
- Financial support, with £500 available every other month through an open call-out to meet specific needs such as dramaturgical support, financial barriers, or lack of access to writing equipment.
For further information, please see: http://papatango.co.uk/studio/
Since its inception in 2008, the Prize has been a game-changer for new playwriting, producing 18 world premieres, touring to 25 venues nationwide, and offering invaluable support to thousands of writers. Writers produced under the Prize include Laura Waldren, Dawn King, Dominic Mitchell, Iman Qureshi, Samuel Bailey, Tom Morton-Smith, Fiona Doyle, Matt Grinter, Luke Owen, Louise Monaghan, James Rushbrooke, Tajinder Singh Hayer, Tom Powell, Jaki McCarrick, Clive Judd, Igor Memic, Nkenna Akunna, and Hannah Doran, whose play The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights will be produced by Papatango at Park Theatre later this year. Collectively, writers launched through the Prize have won Olivier, BAFTA, Critics’ Circle, The Times Breakthrough, OffWestEnd and RNT Foundation Awards, been nominated for the James Tait Black Drama Prize and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, premièred in over thirty countries worldwide, and gone on to work with many leading companies as well as in the West End.
