Tour the Writer

Posted on: May 19th, 2023 by ppEditor

Tour the Writer is a multi-year writer development programme, established in 2023 by Paines Plough in partnership with leading theatres across the country.

This project exists to create a local, regional and national network of writers and storytellers, whilst offering ongoing support, development and mentoring from Paines Plough and our partner venues.

Our partner venues are:

The project kicked off in 2023 with Open Writer’s Labs at each venue, giving budding writers the opportunity to meet the team, connect with each other, and begin their development journey. This was followed by one-to-one meetings between venues and writers (called ‘Talk to Us’), and two online masterclasses on ‘Structure’ and ‘Demystifying the Industry’, with panellists Katie Posner, Gillian Greer, Nathan Queeley-Dennis, Chloë Moss, Aisha Zia, Mike Bartlett and Charlie Josephine.

Year Two

2024 marked Year 2 of the project, taking 72 mentored writers to continue their journey and to develop their ideas with our partner organisations and dramaturgs.

Bradford: Dan Loops, Carolyn Eden, Claire Eden, Amber Hafren, Michael James, Nick Maynard, Marina Poppa, John Quinn, Richard D Rhodes, Jan Ruppe, Tahir Shah, Laura Strickland, Marie Williamson.

Colchester (Mercury Playwrights in association with Tour the Writer): Emma Bernard, Sue Bevan, Tassa Deparis, Daniel Hallisey, Giannini Hemmings, Eleanor Hyde, Ed Ismail, Fiona Padfield, Ben SantaMaria, Benjamin Wilkinson.

Coventry (Belgrade Theatre): Sara Amanda, Linzi Doyle, Matthew Gabrielli, Sam Holley-Horseman, Paul Tafaro, Alisha Kadir, Ryan Leder, Katy Lynam, Roe McDonnell.

Cumbria (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick): Sophia Atcha, Nina Berry, Beth Broomby, Lekhani Chirwa, Eireann Devlin, Daneka Etchells, Karen Featherstone, Grace Kirby, Eve Pereira, Rachel Price, Hannah Roze-Lewis, Sally Ann Staunton, Hannah Stratton.

Landmark Theatres – North Devon & Peterborough: Michele Borsten, Charlie Essayan, Lore Green, Lori Hilson, Kayleigh Mai Hinsley, Carron Holmes, Nayomie James, Selina Keedwell, Louise Lecky-Thompson, Susan Luciani, Jessy Roberts, Nathan Rodney-Jones, Lucy Roslyn, Anne Rouse, Ysella Sims, Emily Swettenham, Sam Turton.

Plymouth (Theatre Royal Plymouth): Hattie Collins, Jon Nash, Roni Neale, Rosie Race, Fynn Roberts, Jane Spurr.

Year Three

For the third year of Tour the Writer, we selected two writers from each of the seven areas of the country, who we will continue to mentor throughout the year, and will culminate in a showcase of their work in March 2026 at the Tour the Writer Festival at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.

The Year Three mentored writers are:

Read more about these writers here.

Tour the Writer has been generously supported across the years by The Garrick Charitable Trust in Year 3, and The Noel Coward Foundation (@sirnoelcoward), who supported Year Two of the programme and the Tour the Writer Festival in March 2026

The Women’s Prize for Playwriting

Posted on: April 7th, 2021 by ppAdmin

Paines Plough, Ellie Keel Productions and 45North launched the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2020 to support female, UK and Ireland-based writers.

The winning playwright receives £12,000 in respect of an exclusive option for Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough to co-produce the winning play.

The mission of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting is to address the inequality in the number of plays written by women and men on major stages in the UK. In 2018, only 26% of new plays on main stages in Britain were by women.

This prize is designed to level the playing field, and to honour and celebrate the work of female and non-binary playwrights.

Writers on Attachment

Posted on: January 28th, 2021 by ppAdmin

Playwright Fellowship

Our Playwright Fellowship is awarded annually to a writer of exceptional promise. The Fellowship invites the writer to spend nine months on attachment to Paines Plough, where we design a bespoke programme to tailor the attachment to their specific needs, ambitions and circumstances.

The Fellow receives a bursary and a desk at Paines Plough, as well as mentorship from our Artistic Directors and Team PP.

We offer the writers new and interesting experiences to develop their craft, like participating in Sala Beckett’s annual Obrador d’estiu in Barcelona, immersing themselves in international work at the Dublin Theatre Festival and Edinburgh International Festival, and meeting some of their playwright heroes.