New £10K Mainstage Prize Launches to Champion Large-Scale Playwriting
Backed by Riverside Studios, the prize is chaired by ex-RSC head Pippa Hill, with horror as the first genre
A new £10,000 national playwriting award, the Mainstage Prize, will launch this year to discover and champion new large-scale theatrical work with wide audience appeal. At a time when theatres are actively seeking work that can attract audiences and sustain runs, the Prize responds to a growing demand for ambitious new plays with the potential to fill major venues and tour nationally. Founded by producer Sophie Cairns and supported by Riverside Studios, the Prize has been created after conversations with independent producers to fill a gap in the market by platforming plays that tell theatrical stories with scale.
Pippa Hill, former Head of New Work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, will chair the award, alongside a panel of judges including Sunday Times best-selling author and Founder Director of The Women's Prize for Playwriting Ellie Keel, who will act as a strategic advisor on the project. Laura Turner, Associate Literary Artist at Nottingham Playhouse, will join as Literary Manager, overseeing submissions and managing the shortlisting process for the judging panel.
Each year, the Mainstage Prize will identify a guiding theme or creative direction that reflects the stories audiences are hungry for now with the inaugural theme of horror selected for 2027. The Prize is open to writers in the UK and Ireland, who have had at least one two week long professional production of their work, submitting an unproduced, full-length play. Three finalists will receive rehearsed readings for industry professionals and the public, with the overall winner awarded £10,000 alongside mentorship sessions with members of the judging panel to further develop their play. Submissions will be open from 15th May – 1st August, with the three rehearsed readings shared at Riverside Studios and the announcement of the winner in early 2027.
Founder Sophie Cairns said, “I wanted to create more opportunities for artists to develop work specifically designed for major venues and set up the Prize to do just that. By focusing on horror this year, we are leaning into a genre that is fundamentally theatrical and undeniably in the zeitgeist. Audiences are hungry for the visceral, high-stakes experience that a large-scale horror production can provide, and I am so excited to see how writers harness that energy.”
Chairperson Pippa Hill said, “I am absolutely delighted to Chair the Mainstage Prize in its inaugural year. Now, more than ever, is the moment to back UK playwrights and to encourage them to write ambitious, original big new plays. The Mainstage Prize is looking for writers who have the talent to write at scale, who take bold approaches to the horror genre and who understand how to confidently hold a large audience rapt. I cannot wait to see these new plays up on their feet, terrifying and delighting audiences in equal measure.”
Sophie Cairns is a producer and director dedicated to new writing with over a decade of experience across the UK, Ireland, and the USA. Through Sophie Cairns Productions, she has championed over 200 artists and commissioned 50+ original works, leading to award-nominated runs and successful Fringe tours.
Pippa Hill is a dramaturg and producer with a career in developing new plays at Hampstead Theatre, Paines Plough and most recently as Head of New Work for the Royal Shakespeare Company. She is Co-Director of Rum & Raspberry Theatre Company and Artistic Associate for Liminal Stage. Her recent dramaturgy work includes My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican 2022 and Gillian Lynne, 2025/26), Hamnet (RSC Swan, Garrick Theatre, 2023 and USA tour 2026) and Anne Boleyn the Musical (Hever Castle,2025).
Laura Turner is a playwright, screenwriter, dramaturg, actor and university lecturer. An Associate Artist at Nottingham Playhouse, she has over 15 years' experience working with the BBC, BFI, Hull Truck Theatre, the Almeida, the Universities of Lincoln and York, the Undergraduate Global Awards, the Women of the Future Awards, among others.
Ellie Keel is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Four (HarperCollins), an Olivier Award-nominated theatre producer, and the youngest ever winner of The Stage's Producer of the Year Award (2024). She is the Founder Director of the Women's Prize for Playwriting, the leading award for female and non-binary playwrights from the UK and Ireland. With her company EKP, Ellie has produced over twenty-five new plays to critical acclaim in London, at the Edinburgh Festivals, and on tour across the UK, at venues including The Royal Court Theatre, Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, Chichester Festival Theatre, and Sheffield Theatres. She is the co-leader of The National Theatre's How to be a Producer course.
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