Paines Plough
London, UK
http://www.painesplough.com/about-us/introduction
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Does your company accept unsolicited scripts? What is your preferred method of script submission (e.g. full scripts, 10-page extracts, synopses)? Do you prefer hard copy (if so, to what address) or electronic submission (if so, to what email)? What should writers expect if they send a script to you? (E.g. written acknowledgement, length of time between submission and response, feedback, etc.)
We accept unsolicited script submissions by email (because we’re trying to save trees). If people would like to submit scripts they must send it to [email protected] along with an Equal Opps form. We’re the national theatre for new plays looking to get a diverse range of writers from all over the country, which is why we ask for the writers’ postcodes along with their submission. As well as this we ask that they send their number so we can contact them directly once we’ve received their script. When contacting the writers, we let them know that the response takes 8-10 weeks, but to bear in mind that when our Joint Artistic Directors are in Production, to just bear in mind that it may take longer. Is there a designated point of contact in your company for new writing (e.g. a resident dramaturg or literary manager)? In terms of the unsolicited scripts, the main contact will be the Administrator who is the point of contact regarding submissions and whether they were accepted or not. What structures does your company generally employ when working on new writing (commissions, workshops, readings, work-in-progress presentations, one-on-one dramaturgical meetings, etc.)? We have two major structures by which we work with new writing: The Big Room Fellowship is our playwright development space. Through The Big Room, we invest in a small number of invited playwrights each year, offering bespoke development support, on their terms. It is not driven by a production at the end, but will primarily help playwrights develop their art rather than their careers. We also contact contemporary writers to discuss producing their work. What kind of new writing is your company interested in? We're interested in contemporary plays that tell us something about being alive today. Plays that we recognise as being in some way about our own lives. We don't produce plays set in the past, or historical biopics. Not that they're not sometimes great, more that we're focussed on the here and now. Do you accept scripts from playwrights based in Ireland? (If you have a track record of producing Irish playwrights, could you mention some of the writers you have worked with?) We have worked with Irish writers such as Richard Dormer and Sebastian Barry. |
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