The Bread & Roses Playwriting Award 2016/2017

The first Bread & Roses Playwriting Award was open for submissions in 2016 and presented in collaboration with Lazy Bee Scripts. It called for full length theatre plays (by UK based playwrights) that have not previously been produced or published and feature at least half of female roles, non-binary or gender neutral roles. The winner was chosen out of over 450 submissions and announced as well as produced in 2017. Two runner-ups were produced in 2018.

Winner

The Black Eye Club by Phil Charles
Production November 2017
"Funny, moving, powerful new play" ★★★★★ - Remotegoat
"a renewed sense of wonder at the human spirit" ★★★★★ - Breaking the Fourth Wall
"Full of mellow humour and tasty conflict of character" ★★★★ & Top Pick of the Month - LPT Magazine

Runner-ups:
Little Did I Know by Doc Andersen-Bloomfield
Production February 2018
"A strong and touching play" ★★★★ & Top Pick of the Month - LPT Magazine
"sidesteps empathy fatigue and gives the audience a palpable figure" ★★★★ - Breaking the Fourth Wall
The Buzz by Lydia Rynne
Set for publication & production in May 2018

The winning playwright will receive:

  • £500 prize money
  • Free appraisal provided by Lazy Bee Scripts (a critique of the script, covering points of style, content and suitability for the chosen market and highlighting any errors), leading to consideration for publication.
  • A full production or rehearsed reading in 2017 at The Bread & Roses Theatre produced by the in-house Bread & Roses Theatre Company.

Two runner-up playwrights will receive:

  • Free appraisal provided by Lazy Bee Scripts (a critique of the script, covering points of style, content and suitability for the chosen market and highlighting any errors), leading to consideration for publication.
  • Detailed written feedback on the script provided by The Bread & Roses Theatre (looking at it primarily from a performance/production angle).
  • One-on-one mentoring session with a theatre professional or other professional support

Submission Criteria

  • Full-length, at least 60 minutes in expected running time (for a comprehensive guidance on what weighs in as a full-length play, see Lazy Bee Scripts blog).
  • Playwrights must be based in the UK and may only submit one play each.
  • Submissions may not previously have been produced or published (up to 3 rehearsed readings are permitted and playwrights may have had other work that's been produced and/or published).
  • At least half the material should be female or non-binary roles (this could be measured by number of roles or number of lines and may include non-gender-specific roles).
  • Plays must be submitted in one single file in Word format (PDF would also be acceptable but please note that Lazy Bee Scripts has a distinct preference for NOT receiving files in pdf format because the appraisal service needs to be able to edit the script in order to provide mark-up of errors).
  • The playwright’s name should NOT be anywhere on the document itself, as the judging process will be anonymous.
  • The Bread & Roses Theatre reserves the right of first refusal for the performance rights for the winning play for a period of 6 months from the date of the announcement of the winner (in case of a full production the playwright will also receive a royalty payment of 10% of the box office income, in excess of the £500 prize money).
  • Lazy Bee Scripts reserves the right of first refusal for the publication rights of the winning play for a period of 6 months from the date of the announcement of the winner (if the winning play is published it will receive royalty payments for script sales and performance rights in accordance with Lazy Bee Scripts Terms and Conditions).
  • Plays should preferably be submitted through the submission form on our website (in case of technical difficulties plays can also be submitted via email but must still include all details required on the website form, incomplete submissions will be disqualified).
  • Late submissions cannot be accepted under any circumstances (including technical difficulties), so we recommend to submit in good time.

Competition Judges

Rebecca Pryle – Managing Director of The Bread & Roses Theatre
​Tessa Hart – Artistic Director of The Bread & Roses Theatre
Additional readers/associates of The Bread & Roses Theatre
Lazy Bee Scripts (judging top 3)

2016/2017 Shortlist

  • Hippolyta's Handmaiden by Lucy Flannery
  • The Spare Room by Brian Coyle
  • Sweatin' It Out by Aaron Gordon
  • Full Tilt by Sarah Pitard
  • The Golden Age by Chloe Biggs
  • Little Did I Know by Doc Andersen-Bloomfield
  • The Only Way by Olu Alakija
  • The Buzz by Lydia Rynne
  • Snow Angel by Joe McKie
  • The Black Eye Club by Phil Charles
  • Winning by Elizabeth Rutherford-Johnson

2016/2017 Longlist

The plays longlisted (in no particular order) are below. Congratulations to the top 12% of plays longlisted!
  • 49 Conway Road by Roisin Rae
  • Hubble Bubble by Janice Hallett
  • Moonlight by Steve Lambert
  • Single Bed by Laura Harper
  • Snowangel by Joe McKie
  • Star Passing Over Kilburn, London, NW6, England... The World by Michael Sharp
  • Tortoise by Naomi Westerman
  • White House by Simon Brett
  • Full Tilt by Sarah Pitard
  • Powerhouses by Alan Cliff
  • Sweatin' It Out by Aaron Gordon
  • Better or Worse by Catherine Nichols
  • Burnout by Louise Gooding
  • Harriet's Case by Richard Moore
  • Little Did I Know by Doc Andersen-Bloomfield
  • Prophecy by Caroline Summerfield
  • Sans Comic by Hugh Dichmont
  • Smokey Bacon by Steve Harper
  • Starfish by Richard Fitchett
  • The Black Eye Club by Phil Charles
  • A2 by Sarah Gordon
  • Blink by Edward Davenport
  • All in it together by Peter Bird
  • Consent by David Hendon
  • Vixen's Scream by Katherine Manners
  • Winning by Elizabeth Rutherford-Johnson
  • Hippolyta's Handmaiden by Lucy Flannery
  • Petals by Gillian Greer
  • Table Manners by Ian Critchley
  • The Spare Room by Brian Coyle
  • There Is An Island With A Peach Blue Sky by Heloise Thual
  • Marks by Danielle Wager
  • The Golden Age by Chloe Biggs
  • Her Altered Self by Fiona Moon
  • Mozart with the Morrisons by Karen Bartholomew
  • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow by Jonathan Skinner
  • The Acceptance Speech by Grace Chapman
  • The Life of Cardboard by Iskandar Sharazuddin
  • TW: Rape or Every Woman You Hate by Molly Sweeney
  • The Gatepost by Theodore Chester
  • A Capitalist's Guide To Sharing by Will Hobbs
  • Bromley Bedlam Bethlehem by Rachel Tookey
  • Burning Books by Jess Green
  • Doe by Rebecca Robinson
  • Duppy Man and the Lioness by Clare Knights
  • Hong Kong City by Max Wilkinson
  • Jellyफ्युजी by Eugenie Rose Abbott
  • Safeguarding by Stuart Turner
  • The Buzz by Lydia Rynne
  • All You Need by Alexa Kesselaar
  • Fridge by Emma Zadow
  • Sisters by Ana Mendes
  • The Only Way by Olu Alakija
  • The Man in the Rubber Mask by Eddie Coleman