Polka Theatre’s Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive Helen Matravers, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive Lynette Shanbury, and the whole team are pleased to announce the launch of the inaugural Polka Playwriting Award, which will champion playwriting and the creation of new work for young audiences.
The award is generously funded by The Garek Trust, supported by Cockayne and London Community Foundation and the award partner is Methuen Drama.
Of all the major playwriting awards open to unsolicited submission, none currently prioritise Theatre for Young Audiences, with the vast majority not accepting scripts for young audiences at all. Polka Theatre want to draw attention to the quality, rigour and imagination needed to write for such an exciting audience base. Through the award, Polka will place the importance and rewards of writing for Children’s Theatre firmly on the map, attract interest and new voices to the Theatre for Young Audiences world, and offer wider insight into the process and approach to writing for a pre-teen age group.