James Rushbrooke Wins VCA Playwriting Award 2026 for BEFORE I'M DEAD

VAULT Creative Arts has named James Rushbrooke's Before I'm Dead as the winner of the 2026 VCA Playwriting Award. The play will receive a full four-week production at The Glitch, Waterloo, running 25 May - 21 June 2026.

Rushbrooke's two-hander was chosen from more than 500 submissions received from around the world - the most competitive field in the award's two-year history. The prize includes a £2,500 cash award, publication by Methuen Drama, and a bespoke mentoring package.

VAULT Creative Arts, former producers of the VAULT Festival, exists to provide an unparalleled quality and quantity of opportunities for artists to develop their craft. One of their flagship programmes, the VCA Playwriting Award, is an annual initiative providing one early-career writer with a fully-realised, professionally produced four-week run of their script. Generously supported by the Garrick Charitable Trust, the initiative also includes publication from Methuen, removing the financial and industry barriers that prevent emerging talent from reaching the stage.

About the Play

"I'm not going to die happy, I'm going to die really f-ing angry and I want people on Radio 4 to hear all about it."

Zara is dying. But she's not about to go out without making some noise.

At seventeen, with a terminal diagnosis and a very limited tolerance for nonsense, she has one final project: record her own eulogy, in her own words, before her brain tumour makes that impossible. Funny, angry, and absolutely unwilling to be reduced to her illness, Zara is the last person who needs saving.

Stuart thinks he's there to help. He's good at helping - he's built a career out of it, a quiet, careful life of service that keeps his own grief at a comfortable distance. But Zara doesn't need managing. She needs witnessing. And that's something Stuart has never quite learned to do.