Here comes Grace Hatchell, trotting in with her satchel bursting at the seams and a letter stamped VERY IMPORTANT THEATRE BUSINESS…
Well darlings, gather round, because I’ve just pulled a rather weighty envelope from the depths of my satchel — the kind that practically hums with excitement (and possibly a leaking glitter pen). It’s from the marvellous folks at the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, and oh boy, have they been busy.
This year they’ve smashed their own record with 1,275 submissions. Yes, one thousand two hundred and seventy-five scripts. I nearly dropped my mailbag just reading that number. The Prize — cooked up by Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough back in 2019 — continues its mission to champion female and non-binary playwrights, and to make sure their stories get the spotlight they deserve on stages across the UK and Ireland.
If you’re new to this one: entrants send in an English-language play over 60 minutes, and the eventual winner pockets a delicious £20,000 and a co-production option with Ellie Keel Productions, Paines Plough and Sheffield Theatres. Not too shabby for a script dreamed up at 2am over a cold cuppa, eh? It’s all supported by Samuel French Ltd (the Concord Theatricals folks, who also publish the plays so we can sniff the freshly printed pages).
Now, onto the juicy bit — the 20 shortlisted scripts for 2025. I’ve arranged them neatly so they don’t fall out of the satchel:
Weeping Woman – Ellen Bannerman
The Fingerprint Bureau – Sonali Bhattacharyya
HIDE AND SEEK WITH JIMMY LING – Naomi Sumner Chan
I LOVE STRANGERS – Nurit Chinn
Sapling – Georgina Duncan
The (Yellow) Wallpaper – Phoebe Eclair-Powell
F**king Jane Austen – Billie Esplen
A Patent Lie – Sarah Jane Gordon
Three Boys – Danielle James
Witch Play – Cordelia Lynn
We’re Gonna Kill Billy – Alex Medland
A to B – Tia-Renee Mullings
Yes Chef – Laurie Ogden
Przewalski’s Horses – Silva Semerciyan
A Search for the End – Stef Smith
Belongings – Jane Upton
Up in the Mango Trees – Britny Virginia
The Room – Manjinder Virk
The Children of Glyndwr – Emily White
Down Side Up – Mei Leng Yew
Quite the spread, right? My satchel nearly applauded.
The finalists will be revealed in December, and then the big winner will be crowned on 9 February 2026 at @sohoplace — chosen by a judging panel chaired by none other than Indhu Rubasingham, the National Theatre’s Director and Co-Chief Executive.
Her fellow judges include Kat Pierce, Milli Bhatia, Alice Hamilton, Romola Garai, Mel Kenyon, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Nancy Medina, Nina Steiger and Katharine Viner — basically a room full of people you absolutely do not want reading your diary.
Past winners? Oh they’ve done rather well: Amy Trigg (Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me), Ahlam (You Bury Me), and Karis Kelly (Consumed) — the latter has been touring and selling out like hotcakes, with more venues lined up for 2026. Last year’s winner, Sarah Grochala, is currently developing her play Intelligence with Paines Plough and Ellie Keel Productions.
If you want the official lowdown, all polished and proper, trot over to:
www.womensprizeforplaywriting.co.uk
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to shake out my satchel — it’s full of confetti from last night’s gala and I’m starting to leave a trail.
With ink-stained fingers and a wink,
Grace
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