Festival and Prizes
Every writer who finishes and sends us a play has achieved something worth celebrating. Anyone who enters will receive feedback and encouragement from our world-class artistic team.
For the most exciting new plays we receive, we also want to offer something special to showcase and support young talent.
Key information and dates
- Shortlisted plays will be announced in June 2025
- Winning plays from the shortlist will be announced in June – July 2025
- Performance festival of all winning plays: Thu 10 – Sat 12 July
- Prizegiving celebration: Sat 12 July.
The Award is decided by the Royal Court Theatre’s artistic and play-reading team, with final decisions made by a panel including our Associate Playwrights in two age categories: 13-15 years old and 16-18 years old.
Shortlisted plays will receive:
- A certificate of recognition
- A free book on playwrighting, donated by Nick Hern Books
- An invitation for free tickets to attend the festival in July.
Award-winning plays will receive:
- Performances as part of a festival over three days, Thu 10 – Sat 12 July, presented as staged script-in-hand readings over three days by a company of professional actors and directors.
- Invitations and tickets to attend the festival with friends and family, and (if applicable) their classroom or group.
- A special trophy presented as part of a prizegiving event at the Royal Court Theatre on Sat 12 July, with invitations for friends and families to join a special afternoon celebration.
- Publication of the plays as a free e-book and limited edition print run, produced by the Award’s publishing partner Nick Hern Books.
For winning writers, we can provide support with travel expenses and access costs where needed, to ensure that everyone can join us for the festival and prizegiving.
The prizes are supported by the Publishing Partner for the Royal Court Young Playwrights Award, Nick Hern Books.