Open Submissions is the first way we want to connect with local playwrights in this new chapter at Leeds Playhouse. While it’s rare for a play to be programmed directly from this process, it can mark the beginning of a relationship that starts the journey to our stages.

Possible outcomes might include:

• a meeting with our Furnace Coordinator, Programming Team or Artistic Director
• dramaturgical support
• in-kind rehearsal space
• signposting to other artist development opportunities (e.g. Furnace Network, masterclasses, writing courses, scratch nights)

We’re also listening closely to what local artists need as we reshape our artist development programme. Reading your submissions and responses to our questions will help us learn and evolve – and for some writers, this could mean:

• a place on a new development scheme (such as a writers’ group or peer network)
• becoming an Associate Artist of the Playhouse
• even receiving a commission to write a new play for our stages

We know how much time, energy and courage it takes to share your work. As a thank you, we commit to offering short feedback to everyone who submits a script.

Leeds Playhouse is a home for stories that move and transform people; stories that challenge and entertain in equal measure, rooted in the highly specific yet speaking to people from all walks of life, across our city, our region and beyond. From our base on Quarry Hill, we look out at a universe contained within one city, and our stages reflect that richness: ambitious, inclusive, pioneering, and always rooted in the here and now.

We want to stage plays that are exciting, thought-provoking, brave, dynamic, and of course entertaining – plays that connect with the big conversations shaping our lives today, whether set in West Yorkshire or on the other side of the world. Our theatre is a creative hub where communities come together to imagine, question, celebrate and challenge – and we want writers who will help us do exactly that.

This can take many forms, and there’s no single formula for the kinds of plays we’re excited by. What matters most is that when we read your work, we hear your voice clearly – why this story matters to you, and why it needs to be told now.

We’re particularly looking for playwrights who:

• write stories that make us laugh, cry, gasp, think and reflect
• introduce us to new worlds and perspectives – or shine fresh light on the familiar
• create characters who leap off the page with distinctive voices and complex relationships
• grapple boldly with their themes and invite audiences to ask BIG questions about the world
• harness the possibilities of form, genre, and the uniqueness of live performance
• tell stories about or for West Yorkshire that demand to be shared with our communities

We have some eligibility criteria for submission. Plays must be:

• by writers who have a meaningful connection to West Yorkshire (i.e. Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield)
• written for stage (not film, TV or radio scripts, or poetry/prose). Musicals will be accepted and writers should submit a copy of the script/libretto with hyperlinks to the songs built into the script. At first sift stage, our readers will only be able to listen to one song alongside the first 25 pages, so please highlight which song you’d like them to listen to.
• original works (no adaptations of novels or existing plays)
• full-length (60 mins of playing time or over)
• unproduced (i.e. not a fully staged production – scratches or work in progress sharings are fine)

We can only accept one play per writer so please send us the script you think best represents who you are and what you want to say.

After you complete a short online form to submit your script, you’ll get a confirmation of submission.

Scripts will then be shared among the Artistic team and our reading panel.

There will be several stages to our reading process.

1. A first sift where the reader reads up to 25 pages of your script and decides whether to progress it to the second “full read stage”.
2. A second full read stage where a different reader will read the whole of your play.
3. Readers meeting where we discuss plays & writers that stood out at the full read stage and potential next steps.

We aim to contact all writers by early January 2026. We’ll be in touch to let you know if that changes. Please note this communication may be staggered and you may not hear at the same time as your peers.

What happens next will always depend on the individual writer and play. Not every opportunity is right for everyone, so we tailor our response according to how closely your script connects with our aims for new writing at Leeds Playhouse and where we have the resources to best support the wider creative ecology of Leeds and West Yorkshire.

While a play might not be the right fit for our in-house programme, the writer’s voice or ideas might spark our interest. In these cases, we’ll often arrange a meeting with a member of the artistic team to explore other ways of working together, or signpost alternative development pathways. We aim to be as transparent as possible in these conversations.

We also recognise that reading and programming decisions are inevitably subjective. We know we’ll receive fantastic plays that simply aren’t the right match for us at this time. With a high number of submissions expected, we won’t be able to offer opportunities to every writer we’d like to, but this is not a reflection of you or your work.

This submission window is just one step in a continuing journey. As Leeds Playhouse grows in this new chapter, there will be more opportunities to connect. We’re deeply grateful for the time, imagination and bravery that goes into sharing your script with us.