BBC/BC International Playwriting Competition - Broadcast and New Media Drama - British Council

BBC World Service Competition page

For a more extensive overview of the competition.

BBC World Service Drama

Listen to Play of the Week broadcast internationally on shortwave radio and also online.

BBC Radio Drama Residency, 10-16 August 2003

Find out how we've teamed up with the BBC to provide a new training opportunity for international radio dramatists at the beginning of their careers.

Broadcast and New Media Drama

	BBC/British Council International Radio Playwriting Competition 2003


	October 2002 - November 2003

‘Radio drama has always been known in England as a nursery for new talent. This is for reasons of cost, of course, but it’s also in the risk-taking, writer-friendly nature of the medium. Radio drama can ... enhance the cultural life of any country and give energy, focus and direction to its sense of cultural identity.’

Tina Pepler, Radio Dramatist and Workshop Leader

Follow the hunt for the finest writers, new and established, from across the globe. Together with the BBC, we are running an international competition for new plays written for the radio. The closing date for entries was 30th April 2003, and then the plays were judged and the short-listed entries were announced by the BBC in July.

This is the eighth biennial International Playwriting Competition run by the BBC World Service and the British Council. The competition is open to everyone - except for UK residents. We have two top prizes this year for:

Best play by a writer with English as their second language.
Best play by a writer with English as their first language.

The two overall winners will receive:

£2,500 sterling prize-money.
A trip to London to see their play being recorded for global broadcast and to attend a prize-giving evening.

Five runners up, one from each World Service region, will each receive a a short-wave radio.

And the schedule?

4th October 2002 - Competition launches
30th April 2003 - Closing date for entries
July 2003 - Shortlisted plays announced on websites
September 2003 - Winners announced
October 2003 - Two overall winners travel to London
November 2003 - Plays broadcast on BBC World Service Radio

'Calling new writers, went the outcry on airwaves all over South Africa. The BBC were coming to town to give workshops on writing plays for the radio…' You can read more in Discovering the World of Radio Drama by Cathy Gomez in the latest On Tour magazine. Download On Tour 21 as a PDF and turn to page 31.