The eleventh annual Papatango New Writing Prize has gone to Samuel Bailey for his début play, Shook.
As winner, Bailey will see the play published and receive a full production. In addition to box office royalties for Shook, the prize includes a £6,000 commission with full developmental support for a follow-up play.
Shook has been supported by the MGCfutures bursary programme; Bailey has also been a participant in the Old Vic 12 and Orange Tree Writers’ Collective.
The play was selected from an anonymously selected shortlist that included Emma Anderson for The Lesson, Steven Bloomer for Bricolage, Tabitha Mortiboy for Daffy Grod and the Shaking Lights, and Joel Tan for Love in the Time of the Ancients.
All entrants receive feedback on their script, a significant undertaking for the company which this year had a record 1,406 submissions assessed by a panel of 23 readers over three rounds.
Shook can be seen at Southwark Playhouse London, Hope Street Theatre Liverpool, Theatr Clwyd Mold, Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough and Marlowe Theatre Canterbury.