We’re thrilled to announce Georgina Duncan as the winner of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2025, with her gripping, fearless, and profoundly moving play, Sapling.

Selected from 1275 submissions, Sapling is an extraordinary play for six actors: a tender and darkly funny story about what grows when deep-rooted pain is left untended.

The play was chosen by our judging panel after three hours’ discussion at the National Theatre in January, which was chaired by Indhu Rubasingham and also included Milli Bhatia, Romola Garai, Alice Hamilton, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Mel Kenyon, Nancy Medina, Kat Pierce, Nina Steiger, and Katharine Viner.

Georgina receives the First Prize of £20,000, with the first option for Women’s Prize for Playwriting, Paines Plough and Sheffield Theatres (WPP’s Theatre Partner) to co-produce Sapling, with publication by Concord Theatricals.

Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, Ellie Keel, said:
‘Sapling is the rare kind of play that producers dream of discovering and audiences yearn to watch. Georgie’s writing is full of heart and vivid energy, matching its extraordinary craft in every scene. The judges’ meeting was particularly rigorous this year, reflecting the impressive standard of all our Final Five plays, which were selected from our highest number of submissions yet. These plays and writers have incredible futures on big stages and I can’t wait to follow their journeys.’

Katie Posner and Charlotte Bennett (Joint Artistic Directors of Paines Plough), and Debo Adebayo (Deputy Artistic Director) added, “Sending a huge congratulations to all five finalists, whose work was such a privilege to read. Georgina’s winning script is a deeply assured piece of storytelling: a tender, powerful portrait of a family and community living in the long shadow of grief, written with confidence, skill, care and love. Since the prize began, we’ve produced three winning plays – bringing them to over 35,000 audience members in 31 locations nationwide – and we’re so excited to see Sapling grow and connect with audiences on that same scale.”