The 2023 Lancaster Playwriting Prize has shifted focus on Deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse writers.

Anyone from the North of England who identifies as disabled can apply for the competition. There is no age limit.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £1,500, a staged public reading or their play and mentoring. The Lancaster Playwriting Prize is run by the Dukes and in partnership with Lancaster University.

The final judging panel this year will comprise actor Lucy Briers, who is a prize funder, Dr Tajinder Singh Hayer, of Lancaster University’s Department of English Literature and Creative Writing, actor/theatre maker Alice Christina-Corrigan and Director of the Dukes Karen O’Neill.

Karen O’Neill said: “The Lancaster Playwriting Prize is a great opportunity for playwriters in the North to have their voices heard. Creating a space for different perspectives and views on the world from under heard communities, the prize is very important for the Dukes as we strive for creativity for all.”

Tajinder Singh Hayer said: “This is the fourth Lancaster Playwriting Prize and I'm so proud of the way that its shifting remit gives us the chance to be open to different possibilities each time around. It feels so appropriate (and almost democratically necessary) that, in these economically straightened times, we keep seeking out new voices that might otherwise not find platforms for expression within the creative sector.”

Lucy Briers said: “Each year we’ve focused on a different group of underrepresented voices and it’s so vital to find new writers who have so much to share. There’s been new work from BAMER playwrights, unproduced playwrights over 55, and LGBTQIA+ from the applying in previous years. Now our focus is for disabled, neurodiverse and/or deaf writers to submit their work.”

The deadline for applications is 30^th November, with the winner to be announced in December.