Back in 2014 Theatre503 announced the winners of its inaugural playwriting award which saw joint winners Bea Roberts and Paul Murphy each receive £6,000. Both plays were staged at Theatre503 to high acclaim with And Then Come The Nightjars receiving 14 four-star reviews and six Off West End Award Nominations.

Now the Theatre503 Playwriting Award is back for its second awards session and will open for entries from 1st – 29th February 2016. Given that last time there were over 1,600 applications from 42 countries, the number of entrants is only likely to increase, especially given the critical attention that the award has received over the last year.

Theatre503 has a strong history of supporting new writing and is well-known for launching the careers of playwrights such as Dennis Kelly (Matilda The Musical, Utopia), Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer), and Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51). For those interested in entering the competition, the award will be open to any playwright aged 16+ and writers may submit one unproduced, full-length play. In addition, all UK submissions will automatically be put forward for the next 503Five resident writer’s scheme.

Full information about submission criteria will soon be released, but in the meantime, writers are encouraged to sign up to the Theatre503 Writers’ Newsletter or follow the Writers’ Facebook page.

For more information about Theatre503, visit https://theatre503.com/ or follow @theatre503.