Now in its third year, The Women’s Prize for Playwriting today announces the 50 longlisted scripts for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2023, selected from 1,002 entries.
Launched by Ellie Keel and Paines Plough in 2019, the Prize is designed to celebrate and support exceptional playwrights who identify as female or non-binary. By seeking out, championing and staging extraordinary new plays by women and non-binary people, the Prize strives to redefine and revitalise the canon for future generations.
The Prize is for a full-length play (defined as over 60 minutes in length), written in English, and the winning playwright wins £12,000 in respect of an option for Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough 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, and by commercial theatre producers Fiery Angel. The Founding Sponsor is the leading recruitment agency, PER.
The judges for this year’s Prize, chaired by Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre Indhu Rubasingham, are journalist Samira Ahmed, playwrights April de Angelis and Chris Bush, actor Noma Dumezweni, literary agent Mel Kenyon, journalist and critic Anya Ryan, Head of Play Development at the National Theatre, Nina Steiger, and Guardian Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner.
Ellie Keel, Founder Director of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting, today said, “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that it feels harder to be a freelance writer today than ever before. As belts tighten and precarity in general swells across our industry, I am deeply proud of the 1,002 writers who completed a play and sent it to us for consideration. What’s more, I’m in awe of the fact that these writers’ response to things getting harder seems to be to write bigger, better, and more boldly. Choosing only 50 plays from such a rich and exciting trove of submissions was incredibly difficult. Ultimately, the Longlist is a resource that I hope directors, artistic directors, producers, programmers, agents and creatives everywhere will mine for the very best of female and non-binary writing talent: these are 50 plays which will inspire and entertain audiences everywhere.”
Katie Posner and Debo Adebayo, Joint Artistic Director and Deputy Artistic Director of Paines Plough, added, “What an honour it’s been to read so many beautiful, captivating, compelling and courageous scripts. We were blown away by the number and quality of submissions this year, making this year’s long-listing harder than ever, and further proof of the wealth of female and non-binary playwriting talent. A huge thank you to every writer who submitted, we are deeply indebted to you for sharing your work, and a massive congratulations to this year’s long list. We cannot wait to see how the next stages unfold.”
The longlist in full is:
WORTHY WOMEN by Abi Zakarian
Birdie by Alison Carr
Girl Disappeared by Amy Ng
Sunrise at Katavi Park by Ana Peralta
To be a bat by Ariella Como Stoian
Tap Root by Ashley Milne
Cow and Pig by Ava Hickey
Watching a Whale Fall by Ayse Evans
Hello Charlie by Caoimhe Farren
Stuff & Things & Junk & Belonging by Carley Magee
Bellringers by Daisy Hall
Children of the Night by Danielle Phillips
Wonderkid by Eleanor Cartmill
the thing about touch by elle van lil
LUMIN by Emma Gibson
WISHBONE by Esme Mahoney
Pots and Pans and Prayers by Esohe Uwadiae
PRIVATE ADULT THINGS by Georgia Green
Dogs Don't Do Wolves by Héloïse Thual
Spooky Action at a Distance by Jess Edwards
Thread by Jessica Siân
The Bouncy by Joanne Gallagher
An Unexceptional Mother by Judi Amato
the light that blinds by Kaleya Baxe
Watchdog by Kayla Feldman
This is a Gift by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir
Cally by Laila Latifa
the invisible by Linda Marshall Griffiths
AHEMMAA (QUEENS) by Louisa Hayford
You Are Now Approaching Brackham-Under-Sea. Please Dive Carefully. by Lydia Sabatini
Ask Her If She Still Keeps All Her Kings in the Back Row by Martha Watson Allpress
very wet by Mary Higgins
Great Mother - Iya Ayaba by Mojola Akinyemi
The Stoor by Morna Young
Radiant Boy by Nancy Netherwood
The Peace by Natalie McGrath
Eleven at Night Somewhere Without You by Natasha Collie
BLOOD PLAY by Rachel Mars
Sweet Smoke by Roberta Livingston
Non-Negotiable by Rosie Pierce
Jicama by Sandy Foster
Intelligence by Sarah Grochala
Spirits by Sarah Sigal
A Good Day Will Come by Sepy Baghaei
The Angels Were Worms by Shaan Sahota
King Troll (The Fawn) by Sonali Bhattacharyya
Glass Houses by Sophie Jacome
Nine Avalanches by Stella Green
Small Talk by Tiwa Lade
Cambium Layer by Zoe Cooper
In the inaugural year of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, two First Prizes of £12,000 were awarded. The first was to Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me by Amy Trigg, which premièred at Kiln Theatre to critical acclaim in May 2021, followed by an Audible production in June. The play embarked on a UK tour in 2022, directed by Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough Charlotte Bennett. The second was to You Bury Me by Ahlam, directed by Joint Artistic Director of Paines Plough Katie Posner, which had a staged reading at the Lyceum Theatre in August as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, and was developed for a major production at Bristol Old Vic, the Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Orange Tree Theatre in Spring 2023. Consumed by Karis Kelly was the 2021 winning script, and the play is currently in development, with further details to be announced.
From time to time, the Prize also supports script development and other opportunities for plays which have been longlisted, shortlisted or finalists. For example, in summer 2023 the Prize was a co-producer on Isley Lynn’s The Swell, a shortlisted play in 2020. The production was Offie-nominated for Best Director, Best Production and Best New Play, as well as the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright in the Evening Standard Awards.
The shortlist will be announced in late November, followed by the finalist plays in December. The winner(s) will be announced at a ceremony in London in January 2024.
