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)?
We will read unsolicited scripts by writers from or living in Northern Ireland, provided they meet the criteria on our website; however we do not currently have the resources to provide in depth written feedback to each play we receive.
Please make sure that the play is in the best shape you can get it before sending it to us. Please submit the full play in either pdf or .doc format accompanied with a completed script submissions form (found on our website) to scriptsubmissions@tinderbox.org.uk.
What should writers expect if they send a script to you? (E.g. written acknowledgement, length of time between submission and response, feedback, etc.)
The Northern Ireland theatre sector is in a period of change due to the reduced availability of funding through the Arts Council. Having sustained a significant cut in April, Tinderbox is restructuring its programme, and it will take some time to establish new patterns of response to unsolicited scripts.
Is there a designated point of contact in your company for new writing (e.g. a resident dramaturg or literary manager)?
Tinderbox’s Dramaturg Hanna Slattne is the point of contact for new writing.
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.)?
In the last 10 years we have run extensive programmes for writers at all levels of experience, including skills workshops, Fireworks (our young writers programme), Writer’s Labs, collaborative development projects, international exchanges, a range of readings and work in progress presentations, and a number of different commissions. Tinderbox has also played a major role in promoting plays and playwrights from Northern Ireland throughout Ireland, the UK and internationally.
We are currently exploring innovative ways to serve new, emerging and established writers despite reduced resources and looking at how we can begin a new era for work that has produced award-winning plays on the stages of Belfast and Dublin.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is conducting a review of dramaturgy and new writing provision in the region.
What kind of new writing is your company interested in?
Tinderbox is interested in new writing that will resonate strongly with its audiences in Northern Ireland and beyond, and the company is committed to serving the playwright’s vision in its productions.