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BBC Comedy Commissioning and BBC Writersroom join forces for a second nationwide talent search to find new comedy gold. If you can tell original stories, invent characters and catchphrases that make us laugh out loud and tease the audience to come back for more, then we want to read your script. We want the next big Studio Sitcom - the hardest thing to get right, but brilliant when it works.

Write it, rewrite it, send it in - and you could be in line not just for a comedy masterclass on how to write studio sitcom, but also an intensive week away developing your idea hand in hand with BBC comedy producers and established comedy writing talent. This is an opportunity not to be missed - and you may get the chance of your work performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at our Sitcom Showcase at the Studio in MediaCity, Salford.

The challenge is to write an original comedy studio script with series potential. We’re looking for writers that reflect modern Britain, comedy voices that have not yet been heard, and talent that’s just bursting to get out. So no matter who you are, or where you’re from or what you’re sitcom is about – if you think you can make a live studio audience laugh, then we want to see your script.

You will need to send us a half hour sitcom script with a one page outline of how your series would develop and our application form. The work must not have been previously commissioned, optioned or produced and this opportunity is for writers who have not yet had a network commission.

We're really excited to announce that Laugh Track will be judged by the amazing Dawn French, along with the BBC's Cheryl Taylor (Controller, Comedy Commissioning) and Kate Rowland (Creative Director, New Writing at the BBC).

Click here for more information 

Theatre Centre is offering the Adrienne Benham Award, a £2000 seed commission, to spotlight a promising playwright who is interested in writing exceptional live theatre for young people, but has little experience in this field. 

The award is aimed at a writer who satisfies the following criteria:

·          an interest and enthusiasm for young people’s theatre

·          a professional commitment to playwriting

·          imagination, skill, personality and adventure in his/her writing

·          new to the young people’s theatre genre

How to Apply

Applicants must be resident in the UK. The following materials should be sent by post to: Theatre Centre, Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LT.

·        Application form (click here to download)

·        Covering Letter outlining why the writer is interested in the award, what they would like to achieve if successful, why they should be selected and how the judging criteria is met

·        10 pages of script (3 copies) that is considered to be the writers best work (for any audience)

·         CV

Deadline for submissions is 17th February 2012 at 12noon.

Applications may come from the writer or the writer’s representative. Please do not submit a project or an idea. Entries from established YPT writers will not be considered. 

The Windsor Fringe is now accepting unpublished one-act plays from amateur playwrights for its ninth Award. Three winning scripts will be selected for performance in October during the 2012 Windsor Fringe Festival.  The winner writer will receive a £500 cash prize and The Windsor Fringe will underwrite the staging of the winner and the two runners -up with selected directors.

Criteria: Amateur playwrights only, one script per entrant.  Plays must not have been previously performed, be the original work of the entrant and be suitable for staging in a studio theatre with no more than six actors.  Plays must be no more than 30 minutes long.

Guidelines:
- Submit two copies of each script, printed on loose sheets of A4 paper, no binding or stapling.
- Pages must be numbered.
- No submissions by email, no scripts returned. Judging is on a blind-submission basis – author’s name must not appear in the script.
- Cover page must include name of the play, author’s name, contact details and signature.
- BBC writersroom applicants will be granted a waiver of the £5 reading fee if the words “Writers Room” appear in the top right- hand corner of the cover page.

The three short-listed author’s works will be performed on the last 3 nights of The Windsor Fringe Festival during October, and the announcement made in mid-June 2012. Rehearsals start at the beginning of August. The winner will be announced after the last performance.

Deadline: 5th March 2011

Scripts should be sent to:
Windsor Fringe Drama Writing Award
Suite 640, 24-28 St Leonard’s Road
Windsor, Berks. SL4 3BB

For more information, visit the Windsor Fringe website.

The Arundel Festival Theatre Trail, conceived and presented by Drip Action Theatre Company, is now in its twelfth year. It performs at the end of August, on each of the Festival’s eight days, eight short plays at eight different venues all over Arundel – last year, for example, in a living room, a kitchen, an art gallery and a pub. 

Writers are invited to submit plays for the 2012 Theatre Trail.

Plays should be between 30 and 40 minutes long, suitable for day-time performance, with practicable casting and props. All entries should be submitted to:

Drip Action Theatre Trail 2012
c/o SGIS Ltd.
65a High Street
Arundel
West Sussex
BN18 9AJ

Deadline: 31st January 2012.

One play only per entrant, in hard copy (not e-mail). Please enclose SAE if you’d like your play returned.  There is no reading fee.

A reading committee will select the plays that will be performed, with the best submitted script receiving the Joy Goun award of £250 at the Theatre Trail launch in May 2012.

Each successful playwright will receive a £150 writer’s fee.

For further information call 01903 885250 or e-mail dripactioninfo@btinternet.com