Bruntwood Prize announces anniversary-year judges and increased awards pot

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Naga Munchetty, Conor McPherson, Phoebe Eclair-Powell, Munya Chawawa, Amit Sharma and Cherylee Houston. Photos: Steve Schofield/Helen Murray

Playwrights Conor McPherson and Phoebe Eclair-Powell are among the judges for this year’s Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, which is increasing its prize pot to £50,000 in its 20th anniversary year.

The judging panel will be chaired by broadcaster Naga Munchetty, and also includes newly appointed Royal Exchange creative director Selina Cartmell, Kiln Theatre artistic director Amit Sharma, actors Shobna Gulati and Cherylee Houston, and Munya Chawawa, broadcaster, writer and comedian. Eclair-Powell was the winner of the prize in 2019.

To celebrate its anniversary, the prize pot has increased in 2025 from £40,000 to £50,000, with the overall winner set to receive £20,000.

Other awards include the Judges Award, the International Award and the North West Original New Voice Award, winners of which will each receive £10,000. The New Voice Award also includes a funded year-long residency at Manchester’s Royal Exchange.
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Munchetty said: “My long-standing relationship with the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, which began when I hosted the award ceremony in 2017, is incredibly special to me. I am thrilled to be chair of the judging panel as it celebrates its 20th year of championing vibrant new work. New writing is vital to the ecosystem of theatre, and everyone has a unique and exciting story to tell – I can’t wait to get reading.”

The Bruntwood Prize gives writers of any background and experience the equal opportunity to anonymously enter original new work for the chance to win part of the prize fund. Submissions open today.

To mark the 20th anniversary, the internationally renowned Mancunian artist and illustrator Stanley Chow has created an anniversary logo that celebrates the prize’s proud connection to Manchester. Chow produces work for a wide range of clients, including EMPIRE, the New Yorker and Manchester Metrolink, and rose to international fame when he received a Grammy nomination for his artwork for The White Stripes’ Icky Thump.

Manchester-based property company Bruntwood partners with the Royal Exchange and the Oglesby Charitable Trust to produce the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.

Cartmell said: "This partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and Bruntwood embodies a commitment to supporting artists and creating unique opportunities for writers and communities to feel empowered, to share their stories and to transform lives. We need writers more than ever, to make us think and feel differently, to shift perspectives and paradigms with bold, brave and vital stories. I love that this democratic submission process reflects the spirit of our values as a creative home in Manchester and for this ‘open exchange’ of stories to be celebrated locally, nationally and internationally.”