Sussex Playwrights Constance Cox Playwriting Competition 2016 – 17 latest news

July 2017 – The Winners

We will announce the winners at the July 2nd meeting

June 2017 – The Shortlist

At the June meeting, the committee agreed the shortlist:

Cash
Distortion
The Other Apprentice
Rock and Chips
Storm in a League Cup
The Teaswell Incident
Will

We’ll announce the winners at the July 2nd 2017 meeting.

April 2017 – The Longlist

Cash
Distortion
Listening
Once in a Lifetime
Out of Darkness
Pass Words
Rock and Chips
Storm in a League Cup
The Other Apprentice
The Teaswell Incident
The Woman in Black II
Will

January – March 2017 – The Judging

The longlist is currently being judged. The 48 plays are all currently being read by the committee to take us to the longlist stage, then we’ll announce the shortlist.

We’ll announce the results on Sussex Playwrights’ website, social media and the press, and at the meeting following the decision.

About the competition

Please note – the competition is now closed.

Back in May 2016, Sussex Playwrights were delighted to announce our prize playwriting competition to launch our 81st year:

“The competition is open to members and non-members, and you don’t have to live in Sussex or even in the UK to enter.

We invite all aspiring, new and working playwrights, including writers of stage, screen, radio and online drama [no age limit] to submit:

A 30-minute radio drama

Thriller / Mystery genre

For two to six actors

News: All shortlisted entries will be read by a radio producer, with the possibility of further commissions

Prizes:

First prize £150

Second prize £75

Third prize £50

All three winners also receive:

A rehearsed ‘script-in-hand’ reading with a discussion before an audience of members, writers’ family and friends, with the winners as special guests

A recording of your reading

A prize certificate

Rules

We don’t accept monologues or musicals

All plays must be written in English

All plays must be the original work of the writer and not an adaptation

They must not have been staged before a paying audience, broadcast or published, nor previously been given a reading at Sussex Playwrights

Your script must be suitable for general audiences

Practical advice on writing with impact for audio

From former BBC script reader and producer with B7 Productions and The Tablet Book Company, Simon Moorhead:

You can take a high budget filmic approach to audio writing that you can’t with theatre.

You can do anything film can do and more on a low budget audio production

Take risks with your storytelling, characters and dialogue

Sound effects are great – they really do work

Exotic locations, extreme situations and very physical scenes [murderous fight scenes, love scenes]

You can have big crowds – layering sound is possible

You can go outside – go anywhere you like

Think about the logistics of recording

You can have many characters but maximum six versatile actors – think costs

You can have very very short scenes; a one liner, a bit of sound

Formatting – ensure the scene start at the top of the page, don’t run on one character’s dialogue over two pages [avoids page rustling and the actor breaking the flow to turn over]

Number the lines of dialogue – this makes it easy to do retakes

Keep dialogue short generally – although this is not prescriptive

Keep the story moving on, make it a journey so it’s different at the end

Sending your entry

Email each script entry in a separate email to chair@sussexplaywrights.co.uk

Your email subject line: Constance Cox / play’s title / writer’s pseudonym

Include in the text of your email:

Play’s title
Writer’s real name
Postal address
Telephone
E-mail contact

Attach your script as a PDF with all pages clearly numbered

We do not accept print copies

The title page must contain the play’s title and writer’s pseudonym

The real name and contact details of the writer must not appear anywhere on the script

Update – this competition is now ended.

We’ll announce the results on Sussex Playwrights’ website, social media and the press, and at the meeting following the decision.

Sussex Playwrights reserves the right to withhold all or part of the prize money or other prizes if we receive insufficient entries, or they are not of an acceptable standard.

Sussex Playwrights reserves the right to award further prizes at our discretion.

The judges’ decision is final and we do not enter into any correspondence.

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Contact us

Please note – the competition is now closed.