Please note that submissions which do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be accepted. 

About the Prize

1.  The winner of The 2020 Phil Fox Award for Playwriting will win either a £6,000 commission to continue developing the winning script or a commission to develop a new script about issues related to addiction. The winner will also be offered mentoring sessions with Enda Walsh.
2. Outside Edge Theatre Company will have the exclusive option to produce a production of the winning script for a period of 24 months from the announcement of the award or from the date of completion of the play (whichever is the later).
3. If Outside Edge Theatre Company exercises its right to produce the commissioned script, the prize money will be treated as a recoupable advance against royalties of 8% of gross box office income.

 Playwright Eligibility

1.  The Phil Fox Award for Playwriting is open to anyone resident in the United Kingdom or British Overseas Territory or with a British Forces Post Office address. You do not have to be a UK citizen to submit.
2. Entrants must be sixteen or older. There is no upper age limit.
3. There is no minimum or maximum level of experience required to enter.
4. We regret that we cannot accept applications from current or previous paid employees of Outside Edge Theatre Company, from members of the judges’ panel, or any relatives of those individuals.
5. Outside Edge Theatre Company volunteers and their relatives may apply.
6. We can only accept one script submission from any individual.
7. Scripts may be co-authored by more than one individual, but please ensure that only one entry is submitted per script.
8. Playwrights must be the owners of the copyright in any play submitted. They must be entitled to license the rights in the play to Outside Edge Theatre Company and able to enter into a full commissioning agreement with the company.

Script Eligibility 

1. The play must be about issues related to addiction. This is not limited to substance misuse or alcohol abuse, but also includes subject matter involving non-chemical addictions (e.g., social media addiction, food addiction, sex addiction, etc) and the social and stuctural determinants (e.g., access to services, the supply chain of an addictive product, etc) that contribute to addictive behaviour. The characters do not need to be addicts; for example, plays about people directly affected by another person’s addiction (e.g., family members of addicts, etc) will also be accepted.
2. The play must be full-length, which we define as having a running time of at least 70 minutes.
3. The play must be an original, unperformed and unproduced piece of work. Any scripts that have been produced, whether professionally or with an amateur company, or published anywhere in the world cannot be considered.
4. The play must be available for production and unattached to any other theatre or company.
5. Adaptations, translations and musicals are not eligible.
6. Scripts written for other media (e.g., television, film, radio scripts, etc) are not eligible.
7. The play must be predominantly in the English Language and any portion of dialogue that is in another language must have an English translation available in the script.

How to apply

1. The window for submissions is March 16 to 5pm BST on June 16, 2020.
2. Scripts should be submitted via Outside Edge Theatre Company’s website using the online form and must be formatted as either a Microsoft Word or PDF document. You will need to sign into a Google Account to submit your application form. Please contact us if an accessible alternative to the application form is required.
3. Scripts must have page numbers on every page.
4. Script files must not be larger than 1MB.
5. All submissions must be anonymous. Please ensure that the submitted script, including the file title and cover page, contain no mention of the playwright’s name, email address or any other detail that might identify the playwright.
6. As part of the online submission process, playwrights must answer the following questions on the online application form. These answers will not form part of the readers’ scoring of scripts, but are intended to help guide readers in their assessment of whether the submitted scripts meet the eligibility criteria outlined above:
   1. Please provide a short synopsis of the play. (100 words max)
   2. Please briefly explain how your play relates to issues related to addiction. (100 words max)

GDPR Policy

All email addresses used in the submission process for the Phil Fox Award for Playwriting will be added to a mailing for receiving updates on the 2020 Award. We will not use this list to send any information other than about the Award, it will never be shared with any third parties, and upon completion of the 2020 Award process the list will be deleted and no further contact will be made, unless otherwise agreed to by the entrant.

Acceptance of Terms

Entry into the Phil Fox Award for Playwriting constitutes acceptance of these terms.

Submit Scripts Here

If you have any questions about the eligibility criteria above, please see the Phil Fox Award FAQ page or email us at admin@edgetc.org and we will endeavour to answer your question in a timely fashion. Please note that we do not have the capacity to offer advice or guidance on the content of your script or your writing process.