The Woven Voices Prize is an open invitation to all migrant writers in the UK to share outstanding new work for the stage.

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The aim of the prize is to celebrate and platform migrant writers, an underrepresented demographic on UK theatre stages. Around 14% of the UK population and 37% of London’s population were born outside the UK. The Woven Voices Prize celebrates this rich source of creativity. It is a proclamation of a global, multicultural Britain, and it opposes the ‘Little England’ mentality of isolationism.

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Your play might be personal, political, funny, or serious. It might be set in the UK or abroad. It might be set today or a thousand years in the past. It does not have to be about migrants or migration. All we ask is that it tells a story.

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The Prize

The winning playwright will receive a commission of £3500 and a bespoke R&D process for the winning script which includes a further 3 weeks of paid development time. Two of these weeks will include additional creative team members and cast, culminating in an optional public sharing.

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The first runner up will receive a commission of £750 and up to three runners up will be offered the opportunity to work with a Director and Performers for a day to produce a rehearsed reading which will be professionally filmed for their portfolio.

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In addition, Woven Voices will produce new episodes of their Migreatives podcast featuring the winner and runners up of the prize. 

 

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Deadline

The Woven Voices Prize will be open for entries until midnight on the 27th of July 2025.

Please make sure you submit with some time to spare in case of any technical problems. No extension will be possible for any reason.

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Eligibility

The competition is open to those who primarily live and work in the UK, who identify as a ‘migrant’. This is a sometimes fluid category. For the purposes of the competition, we draw on the Migrants in Theatre definition of ‘migrant’, available here. This includes those who:

• do not hold a British passport but reside primarily in the UK 

• have moved to the UK after spending formative years abroad 

• have moved to the UK as a child, are culturally British but are sometimes seen as a migrant or see themselves as a migrant

• weren’t born in the UK and have English as a second language

• are an asylum seeker, a refugee or undocumented in the UK

 

Ultimately, you are the best judge of whether you identify as a migrant.  

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There is no age limit, and no minimum or maximum level of experience to enter.

The script must be an original, unpublished and unproduced piece of work. ‘Unproduced’ is defined as having both (a) had no more than 6 performances for which people could buy tickets and (b) not having received a professional review. Any scripts that have been published or produced will be automatically disqualified. 

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Translations, children’s plays, adaptations of other plays or other works in other media (e.g. novels, musicals, films) are not eligible. The only exception might be a re-telling of an ancient story or myth where no direct use is made of another writer’s work.

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Scripts may be written by more than one writer, but in this situation both writers must meet the definitions above.

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A play can be submitted that has previously been submitted to the Prize only if the play has
been significantly developed since.

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You may submit only one script.

 

 

Length, Scale and Focus

Scripts must be 'full length'.​ Our definition of ‘full length’ are scripts that have a running time of at least 60 minutes. Typically, this will be indicated by being of at least 8000 words OR being at least 45 pages in length, but your play might be written in a different form. There is no upper length limit.

 

There is no restriction on the size of cast.

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The script may call for music or singing but it should not be a musical or a pantomime. 

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There are no requirements for the focus or topic of the script. 

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Language

The script must be written primarily in English, and accessible to an English-speaking audience. Where the script incorporates other languages, translations should be provided for the reader. We recognise that English is a language that takes many forms, variants and dialects. We also recognise that English proficiency can be a barrier to those writing in English for whom this may not be their first language. Our judging process takes account of this and seeks not to discriminate on this basis.

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How To Submit

Scripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF formats only.

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As a separate attachment, you should include a cover letter including your professional name, the title of your play, your full contact details (email and telephone number) and a brief description of your migrant identity (e.g. where you were born / grew up).

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Entry to the prize is anonymous. Please ensure that your script, including the file title, contains no mention of your name or email address.

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Please do not include a synopsis or CV.

 

All entries should include page numbers on every page.

 

All entries & queries should be sent to submissions@wovenvoices.org

 

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Rights

The entrant must exclusively own and control all copyright and all other related rights to the submitted script. It must be available for production and unattached to any other organization or individual.

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Entrants grant The Gate the right to produce their script on stage within the UK.

The winning script will be under exclusive option to The Gate for a period of 12 months after the last date of the R&D. In the case of runners-up, no such option shall automatically apply.

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Assessment

Scripts will be read blind by a panel of readers. All play submissions will be read by a minimum of two paid readers, one of whom is guaranteed to be a first generation migrant artist themselves. All readers will take part in anti-bias training, developed in previous years by Global Voices Theatre.​

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Shortlisted scripts will be read blind by a panel of expert judges, most of whom identify as coming from migrant backgrounds. The judging panel will select one winning play and up to three runners-up.

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Acceptance of Terms

Entry to the Prize constitutes an acceptance of these terms.

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About The Gate

The Gate exists to platform international voices and political, innovative stories through theatre. Founded in 1979 to stage ground-breaking, international plays, the Gate has become a platform for some of the most radical artists, writers, directors and designers from across the globe; known for its transformative ability to push the boundaries of what theatre is and can be. It is where creatives have come together to imagine storytelling differently and where experimental thinking is placed front and centre.

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Now in its third year, the Woven Voices Prize builds on the success of its previous editions, celebrating migrant writers and their vital contributions to a global, multicultural Britain. We are very proud to be partnering with the Gate, who are deeply committed to showcasing international theatre, to make it possible for more migrant voices to be heard on UK stages.