If you’re passionate about theatre and creative writing, aged 13-25 and live or learn in Hammersmith & Fulham, we want you to submit your work for the chance to be programmed as part of the Young People’s Borough of Culture New Writing Night.

If you’re passionate about theatre and creative writing, aged 13-25 and live or learn in Hammersmith & Fulham, we want you to submit your work for the chance to be programmed as part of the Young People’s Borough of Culture New Writing Night.

A panel of young people, led by a Young Curator, will review all of the submissions, and will offer a small group of writers the opportunity to stage their work in the upcoming New Writing Night, which will take place on Monday 26th October as part of the upcoming Youth Arts Festival.

We are looking for:

• Original creative writing pieces that are approximately 5-10 minutes long when read aloud. It should feature 1 or 2 characters/voices and respond to the stimulus ‘LONDON: 2036’

You do not need to write something brand new to respond to this stimulus. If you’ve already got a piece that you’d like to submit with, we actively encourage you to adapt or rework it and use the prompt as an creative way to look at your writing in a fresh way and see what you discover. This could mean changing the setting, imagining your characters ten years later, exploring how their world might have changed, or finding your own connection to the stimulus.

 

Writers selected to have their work featured in the New Writing Night will receive:

• £100*
• 1 hour of free rehearsal space in a Hammersmith and Fulham venue in the week commencing 19th October
• A director and/or actors* to stage their work, if required
• A high-quality recording of the live performance to keep
• Feedback on your writing from industry professionals

*For those 18+ with the right to work in the UK, you will receive this via invoice, for anyone else you will receive £100 worth of Sainsburys vouchers.

You don’t need to call yourself a playwright to apply. Maybe you’ve written plays before. Maybe you write stories, scenes or ideas in your Notes app. Maybe you’ve never written for the stage but have an idea you’d love to try. We hope to programme a range of work from a variety of ages and experience levels, showcasing the range of talent in the borough.

The deadline to apply is midday on Friday 9th October. All you will need to do is submit your piece of writing and answer one short question about what inspires and interests you creatively. Want to know more? See below for full details

Full submission criteria information:

• Your submission can be a stand-alone short piece, or it could be an extract of a longer play
• It can be something brand new, or something you’ve been working on for a while. If you’ve already written something (either for theatre or in another medium) we encourage you to use this prompt to adapt your pre-existing work to meet this brief, and see what you discover about the story, characters, and dialogue as a result
• Direct adaptations of other stories are not eligible, but plays inspired loosely by pre-existing stories (for example myths, legends, classic literature from authors like Shakespeare) are acceptable
• It is okay if your piece is slightly over or under the recommended time limit but we will stop reading submissions after 15 minutes, so please make sure you choose what you send in carefully

We will be looking for creative writing projects that are interesting or show potential – they do not have to be perfect or polished. Works-in-progress or first drafts are very welcome.

Prompts for the stimulus ‘LONDON: 2036’

Remember, these are to help you get creative ideas flowing. You do not have to use these prompts.

Place / community

• What might your neighbourhood look like in 2036? What could disappear, appear or change? You could even imagine a place that doesn’t exist yet.

Imagination / possibility

• What if? What might feel extraordinary to us now but completely ordinary in 2036? What hidden or imagined worlds could exist alongside the London we know?

People / encounters

• Who might meet or cross paths in London in 2036? What could bring two people together who might otherwise never meet?

Heritage / identity

• Think about roots and routes: where we come from, where we’re going and what we carry with us. What might we inherit or pass on to the next generation?

Time / change

• What can change in ten years: in a person, a relationship, a neighbourhood or a whole city? Think about memory, turning points, being in-between, or different versions of who we might become.

 

The deadline to submit your writing for this opportunity is midday on Friday 9th October.

• First, make sure you have read the full the submission requirements below to properly understand the type of pieces that are eligible for the New Writing Night
• Then, get your writing ready to submit. You will need it saved as a PDF or word document.
• Finally, send an email to contact@ypboc.org with the subject line ‘YPBoC New Writing Night’. Attach your piece of writing piece, and be sure to include
  • Your name
  • The first half of your Hammersmith & Fulham postcode (this should be where you live or learn in the Borough)
  • Your date of birth
  • In up to 100 words, tell us what excites you about the piece you’re submitting. Is this a brand-new idea, something you’ve been developing already, or part of a bigger piece? Don’t worry about making this sound formal - we just want to hear a little about you and your idea.
  • If you are aged 13-17 at the time you are submitting, you must provide the name & email address/phone number of a parent/carer aged 18 or over (we will contact this person as well as you to notify applicants of the results). Please indicate this adult’s relationship to you in your email

We’re looking forward to reading your work!