Primetime

A series of new short plays written by primary school children aged 8 – 11.

Primetime is a free primary schools tour that has been running for the past 4 years. Primetime started in 2013, when 11 plays from the Young Writers Festival and Peckham Young Playwrights were chosen to be performed during the Open Court Festival. The following year, 8 of those plays were chosen to tour primary schools in Inner London.

The tour is accompanied by playwriting workshops, to inspire children who have seen the play to become writers themselves. In the autumn a selection of children are then invited to playwriting groups, run by a Royal Court playwright. During these workshops the children are taught the craft of playwriting, and a selection of these plays are then chosen for next year’s tour. The plays are directed, performed and designed by professionals to give the young playwrights the same opportunities as their older counterparts. Primetime improves literacy and imagination in its audiences, and as of 2017 will have toured 32 plays to 55 schools, and performed to over 4000 children.