Playwrights
Our mission at Scripts is to continue to present exciting opportunities for playwrights to have their work nurtured, developed, produced and performed.
Every year, we issue a callout for new plays, 15-minutes in length, about a specific theme. Following a rigorous selection process, three are chosen for further development.
The chosen playwrights then come to Birr for a week-long mentorship with Eugene O'Brien during Scripts.
The plays are then staged as rehearsed readings by a team of professional actors in our festival finale, Nurtured New Works at Birr Theatre Arts Centre.
Write. edit. repeat.
Since 2013, we've established links with key organisations including The Abbey Theatre, Fishamble, Listowel Writers Week, Irish Writers Centre, RTÉ Drama on One and lots more.
Scripts 2021 | Angela Ryan Whyte, Seán Denyer, Eugene O'Brien, Sheila Forsey, Ciara Cassoni
Winning
Playwrights
2022 | Tony Doyle
2021 | Seán Denyer
2020 | Lesley Conroy
2019 | John Grogan
2018 | Sionnán Ní Nuallain
2017 | Philip Doherty
2016 | Imelda Carroll
2015 | Miriam Smyth
2013 | Siobhán Donnellan
The prizes
Prizes over the years have included a scholarship on the Fishamble Playwriting Course and a private consultation and script analysis with The Abbey Theatre.
