Homotopia and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse are teaming up again to give a £1,000 award to an LGBTQIA+ playwright in Liverpool – as well as a showcase of work by the winner and two runners-up in the Playhouse Studio.
We’re inviting writers to submit an original, unproduced play, which will then be read and judged by members of the Homotopia and E&P teams – with the Award being announced in November.
Past winners include Patrick Maguire (A Billion Times I Love You) and Tasha Dowd (Tell Me How It Ends), whose plays were both ultimately produced at the Everyman Theatre.
This year, we’re particularly interested in reading plays on the theme of uprising in all its forms – work that is unapologetically queer, joyfully subversive, and deeply connected to our community, with ties to the theme and concept of local resistance, in Liverpool and beyond – but are happy to read any play you choose to send.
Deadline for submissions: 1pm, Wednesday 1 October.
Submit your play here.
What we’re offering
- £1,000 award to the winner
- a showcase of excerpts from the winning play, and two runners-up
- dramaturgical support with further development
We’ll also offer feedback on shortlisted scripts, if requested – with an option to ask our readers specific dramaturgical questions you may have.
How to apply
Process
The process is simple: just upload your play, with a brief summary and any content warnings.
There’s also an optional section to tell us about any further development work you want to do on the script, or dramaturgical questions you have.
Submission is via an online form.
Eligibility
Submitted plays must be:
- by writers who identify as LGBTQIA+
- by writers currently living in Liverpool City Region (i.e. the boroughs of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral)
- written for stage (i.e. not film, TV or radio scripts, or poetry/prose)
- original works (i.e. not adaptations of novels or existing plays)
- full-length (i.e. 60mins of playing time or over)
- unproduced (i.e. not staged in a full production – scratches or sharings are fine)
We can only accept one play per writer.
We do accept musicals, but can only assess their book and lyrics rather than listening to composition.
Co-written works are accepted, but please note that the Award money would be split between the writers.
Key dates
- Submissions. Deadline 1pm, Weds 1 Oct.
- Decisions. w/b 27 Oct.
- Showcase rehearsal and performance. 21-22 Nov.
What we’re looking for
The theme of this year’s Homotopia Festival is uprising, so we’re especially interested in reading plays that somehow engage with this idea in its themes, story, form, attitude – or anything else!
If you’ve written a play with a queer, subversive or revolutionary spirit, however that’s expressed, we want to read it.
Beyond that, we’re looking for playwrights who:
- create vibrant, complex characters and relationships
- craft emotionally and intellectually stimulating narratives with a distinct outlook on the world
- engage robustly with their subjects and themes, and harness the full potential of their form and/or genre
- write with a distinctive voice and an appetite for theatricality.
Decision-making
Scripts will be read and judged by members of the Homotopia and Everyman & Playhouse teams, using the criteria above.
We’ll curate a shortlist from the submissions, before choosing a winner and two runners-up.