Shakespeare’s Globe, in partnership with Climate Spring and Fern Culture, has announced the shortlist for the inaugural 2026 Climate Playwriting Prize, an initiative created to champion playwrights engaging with the climate crisis and encourage bold new storytelling on one of the defining issues of our time.
The ten shortlisted plays are Exposure by Aaron Sze, Merrymeade by Coral Wylie, The Play That Solves Everything by Grace Waga Glevey, Llandonna Witches by John Dawson, Gods and Monsters by Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane, Wilt by Kieran Knowles, Pelt by Kitty Archer, No Eels this Year by Sydney Trotter, Tiny Alarms by Timothy X Atack, and Cambium Layer by Zoe Cooper.
The shortlist was selected from a longlist of 47 plays. The overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at Shakespeare’s Globe on Friday 27 November and will receive £15,000 alongside dramaturgical support to develop their work.
Judging the prize are Sir Lenny Henry, Lucy Kirkwood, Nancy Medina, Professor Pablo Mukherjee, Amir Nizar Zuabi, Lucy Stone and Shakespeare’s Globe Artistic Director Michelle Terry.
The Climate Playwriting Prize has been delivered in association with partner organisations including Chichester Festival Theatre, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Belfast, Mercury Theatre Colchester, New Earth Theatre, Pentabus Theatre and tiata fahodzi.
Guy Jones, New Work Associate at Shakespeare’s Globe, said: “We had 614 applications for the Climate Playwriting Prize. In a year defined by extreme heatwaves, with the climate making itself known more acutely than ever in our day-to-day lives, addressing the crisis is clearly a priority for theatre artists. The plays have been a source of righteous rage and huge optimism; they are bold and they are entertaining.
“This shortlist represents writers from all over the country, many of whom wrote their play in response to our callout, inspired by workshops they attended over the summer. Some of them are early in their playwriting careers, and others have been writing for decades.
“Their plays uncover stories from urban, suburban and rural communities in the UK. They take us on a journey to Caribbean islands, Ugandan protest movements, Loch Neagh in Northern Ireland and ancient Iraq. They delve into what folk cultures across the world have to teach us, the value of activism, and remind us of the people who might get left behind if we’re not careful.
“And they ask provocative questions about what role a story might have in all of this anyway. Huge thanks to everyone who sent us a play: we celebrate the imagination and bravery of writers. We need them now more than ever.”
Founded to support outstanding new writing about climate and nature, the Climate Playwriting Prize aims to empower playwrights and theatre-makers to tell impactful stories informed by the latest thinking from across the climate sector.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
