Come along and try to guess which script is the overall winner in this year’s drama award for amateur playwrights!
We’ve been running the drama award for 20 years now, and in that time we have assessed more than 4,000 scripts from writers in 49 countries, many of whom have gone on to succeed in theatre, film and television.
Our three finalists this year were selected on the basis of more than 300 scripts from amateur playwrights in 15 countries. Our distinguished judges Joan Lane (executive producer of The King’s Speech) and Abigail Morris (former Artistic Director and CEO of the Soho Theatre) assessed the scripts purely on the basis of the writing – they’ve already identified the prize-winning script, but we won’t know which one it is until it’s announced on the final night.
The three finalists will have their plays fully staged each night for three nights on 3, 4 and 5 October. On the final night the overall winner will be announced, and will be awarded the £500 prize.
Our finalists, in author alphabetical order, are
Copernicus, Darwin and Freud by Dan Borengasser (Arkansas, USA)
Star Light in a Jar by Celeste Engel (Bournemouth)
Die Trying by Niall McCarthy (London)
"I am delighted to sponsor this writing award and to be a small part of the Windsor Fringe initiative that supports new writers. Without a good play or script, the best actors and directors in the world cannot hope to produce good work and I welcome the encouragement that this award offers to writers, both local and international."
Kenneth Branagh