Script Submissions

As part of our climate action in March 2020, we moved to an online script submissions system. We no longer accept paper submissions.
If you have any access needs which mean that this submissions system is a barrier, please contact literary@royalcourttheatre.com.

The Royal Court is dedicated to finding exciting new plays that ask bold questions about the way we live now. All playwrights writing in English around the world are invited to submit their plays to the Royal Court; and we commit to reading, considering and responding to every play we receive.

Our script submissions system is a way for us to get to know writers, build new relationships and discover the most exciting new plays being written today. We are unable to provide detailed feedback on every submitted script, but are committed to developing relationships with the most exciting writers we discover through submissions each year.

 

IS MY SCRIPT ELIGIBLE?

  • We can only accept scripts as a PDF or Word document with a maximum size of 10MB.
  • We are only able to accept full length plays – as a guide, we suggest this would be a minimum of around 50 pages or 25-30 pages for a monologue.
  • We are unable to accept more than one submission from a writer at any one time.
  • We do not read screenplays, novels, poetry collections, radio plays or adaptations.
  • We do not read historical/biographical plays
  • We are accepting scripts for original musicals that fit these criteria but cannot accept scores or soundtracks as part of first submission.
  • We cannot consider resubmissions or new drafts of plays we have read and responded to.

 

WHEN WILL I HEAR BACK?

You will receive an automatic acknowledgement of receipt of your script by email.

We only accept enquiries about your script via this email address: literary@royalcourttheatre.com

We are currently working through a backlog of unsolicited submissions, which means responses are taking longer than usual. We currently aim to respond to each play submitted within six months.

 

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY SCRIPT?

Please click here to send us your script.

 

Having problems submitting your script? Here are some things to try:

  • If possible, try submitting on a laptop or desktop rather than through a tablet or mobile.
  • Try using an alternative internet browser.
  • In the last instance, the Captcha form sometimes struggles with specific characters (for example: & or %) so if possible, try removing them from your form.

If after trying these, you’re still having problems, please contact us on the email address above.

 

How we store your data

We take data protection seriously and hereby undertake to look after all personal data in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation which came into force in May 2018 or any forthcoming data protection legislation. As part of our unsolicited script reading process, all personal data related to submissions will be stored securely on our server indefinitely and access limited to the Literary department, who manage the script reading process. The justification for keeping this data is legitimate interest, as we may need to contact writers about the script they have submitted or future work. This information will not be shared with third parties. Scripts will only be stored if they are recommended for a further read by the Literary Department. You have the right to request access to your personal data at any time and can ask to be removed from the database. Please click here for full details of our privacy policy.