Bruntwood Prize Announce Growth in 2017 Entries

Today, property company Bruntwood together with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester have announced that the 2017 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting has inspired 1,898 writers to submit their plays to Europe's largest prize for playwriting - which closed for entries on Monday 5 June.

Each of the original plays will be judged anonymously by a team of readers with the final 10 plays announced on 24 October 2017 before being read and debated by a prestigious panel of top industry figures. The total prize fund of £40,000 will be awarded to four winners at a ceremony at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester on 13 November 2017.

Michael Oglesby CBE, Chairman of Bruntwood, commented: 'That almost two thousand people put pen to paper to submit an original, unperformed play to the 2017 Bruntwood Prize is outstanding. In the prize's twelve years I believe it has been the success of previous winners? and the very high standards they have set that has challenged? writers to push boundaries and take risks.'

In the new autumn/winter season at the Royal Exchange, two Bruntwood Prize winning plays will have their premieres in this unique Manchester theatre. James Fritz's PARLIAMENT SQUARE, co-produced with the Bush Theatre and directed by Manchester-based Jude Christian, imagines the fall-out from a powerful act of protest (18 - 28 October 2017). Kendall Feaver makes her professional debut with THE ALMIGHTY SOMETIMES. Directed by Katy Rudd it paints an extraordinary portrait of Anna, a young woman battling against a childhood diagnosis of severe mental illness (9 - 24 February 2018).