The Women’s Prize for Playwriting has revealed the 20 shortlisted scripts for its 2025 award, selected from a record-breaking 1,275 submissions.
Launched in 2019, the Prize champions female and non-binary playwrights and campaigns for their plays to be staged across the UK and Ireland. Open to English-language plays over 60 minutes, the First Prize winner receives £20,000 and an option for Ellie Keel Productions, Paines Plough, and Sheffield Theatres to co-produce the work.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony at @sohoplace on 9 February 2026, following the announcement of finalists in December. The judging panel is chaired by Indhu Rubasingham, Director and Co-Chief Executive of the National Theatre.
The 2025 shortlist includes:
- Weeping Woman by Ellen Bannerman
- The Fingerprint Bureau by Sonali Bhattacharyya
- HIDE AND SEEK WITH JIMMY LING by Naomi Sumner Chan
- I LOVE STRANGERS by Nurit Chinn
- Sapling by Georgina Duncan
- The (Yellow) Wallpaper by Phoebe Eclair-Powell
- F**king Jane Austen by Billie Esplen
- A Patent Lie by Sarah Jane Gordon
- Three Boys by Danielle James
- Witch Play by Cordelia Lynn
- We’re Gonna Kill Billy by Alex Medland
- A to B by Tia-Renee Mullings
- Yes Chef by Laurie Ogden
- Przewalski’s Horses by Silva Semerciyan
- A Search for the End by Stef Smith
- Belongings by Jane Upton
- Up in the Mango Trees by Britny Virginia
- The Room by Manjinder Virk
- The Children of Glyndwr by Emily White
- Down Side Up by Mei Leng Yew
The judging panel also includes Kat Pierce, Milli Bhatia, Alice Hamilton, Romola Garai, Mel Kenyon, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Nancy Medina, Nina Steiger, and Katharine Viner.
Previous winners include Amy Trigg (Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me), Ahlam (You Bury Me), and Karis Kelly (Consumed), whose plays have gone on to critical success and major productions.
More information can be found here.
