The 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the prestigious playwriting award will be presented at an invitation-only event on Monday 10 March at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. The Prize is the largest and oldest international playwriting award recognising women+ writers for plays of outstanding quality written for the English-speaking theatre, celebrating its 47th year.
The judging panel for the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize are Tony Award-winning costume designer Linda Cho (US), Tony and BAFTA Award-winning actress Jennifer Ehle (US), Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic Nancy Medina (UK), Legendary playwright and actor Mark Ravenhill (UK), Founder of Breaking the Binary Theatre George Strus (US) and Olivier Award-winning actress Indira Varma (UK).
The winner of the 2025 Prize will be awarded $25,000 and a special limited-edition piece of art created specifically for Winners and signed by Willem De Kooning. A Special Commendation of $10,000 may be given at the discretion of the judges and each Finalist will receive $5,000. The finalists for this year’s Prize will be announced in February.
Prize Executive Director Leslie Swackhamer said today, “We are thrilled to announce this year’s panel of judges, who represent excellence in all areas of the theatre. Their expertise, talent and vision are central to our process of curating and celebrating the Prize’s incredible roster of playwrights.”
Founded in 1978, the Prize is awarded annually to celebrate women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. Over 500 plays have been honoured as Finalists of the Prize and many have gone on to receive other top honours, including Olivier, Lilly, Evening Standard and Tony Awards for Best Play. Eleven Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist playwrights have subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. The Prize results in more productions of plays by women+ writers and fosters the interchange of plays between the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other English-speaking countries.
Winners of the Prize include Annie Baker, Julia Cho, Caryl Churchill, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Katori Hall, Lucy Kirkwood, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, Lucy Prebble, Wendy Wasserstein, Timberlake Wertenbaker and Cheryl West.
Each year artistic directors and prominent professionals in the theatre throughout the English-speaking world are asked to submit plays. Over 400 theatres from North America, Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand and the UK serve as Source Theatres for the Prize. Plays are eligible regardless of whether they have been produced, but any premiere production must have occurred within the preceding year. Prior Winners are not eligible. Each script receives multiple readings by members of an international reading committee that then selects ten finalists. A panel of six judges then selects the winning play.
Past Judges of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize constitute a Who’s Who of the English-speaking theatre and include Edward Albee, Eileen Atkins, Zoe Caldwell, Glenn Close, Harold Clurman, Colleen Dewhurst, Marianne Elliot, Ralph Fiennes, Greta Gerwig, John Guare, David Hare, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tony Kushner, Marsha Norman, Joan Plowright, Indhu Rubasingham, Fiona Shaw, Tom Stoppard, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, and August Wilson among over 250 artists in the United States, England and Ireland.
For more information about the Prize, please visit www.blackburnprize.org
