Past Winners
The 2025 Young Playwrights Award winners were:
Ages 16-18
Bad Hair Day by Sapphire Naggie
Fox Hunt by George McAree
Godot’s To-Do List by Leo Simpe-Asante
Ages 13-15
Happily Haunted by Aasiya Nsubuga
Hello, My Name Is… by Marcos Byrne
Library of the Imagination by Leon Chin-Kemp
The plays were presented in a festival of professional, staged readings from 10-12 July at the Royal Court Theatre, London. You can read all the winning plays in the free, special edition e-book published by Nick Hern Books, available here.
For 2025, the shortlisted writers were: Henry Gill, Harry Jones, Noble Laturia, Lily Knott, Salma Jaama, Charlie Swann, Jessica Obace, Keturah Peirson, Tobi Sulemon, Asia Pshenychna, Ben Hickey, Naima Onitolo, Noah Dryden, Holly Hellman and Joelthomas Coleallison.
The Young Playwrights Award gave life to my passion, one I had no idea I could take so far. It is simply an unmissable opportunity if you love writing and one that could soon become unforgettable – Marcos Byrne, 2025 Winner