If you’ve written a full length play (60 minutes or longer) that you think we might be interested in producing, you can send it to us for consideration. What we’re looking for is imaginative, theatrical and surprising plays by writers who challenge existing perceptions of the world we live in and can engage the diverse audiences of the North East of England. Please don’t send us first drafts or incomplete plays – we want to read a script that best represents what you can do as a writer. Before submitting something, please take a moment to look at the list of things we’re NOT looking for:

• Plays which have already been produced elsewhere
• Plays that focus on themes already covered in recent productions by the company
• Pantomimes
• Radio, television or film scripts
• Adaptations
• Bio-plays
• Musicals
• Unfinished plays

We want to find writers who are as passionate about theatre as we are. Have a look at what we’ve produced previously; better still, come and see a show here to get a flavour of the work we programme. Once you’ve sent in your play, it will be read by a member of the Literary Department and we aim to respond within four months.

Unfortunately, we’re not able to give notes on work we are not intending to develop. If we like a play but don’t think it’s right for us, we’ll try to recommend other companies or producers who might be interested in it. We might offer you dramaturgical support, ask you to submit more work or give you a slot in our Live Lab programme, which is one of the key ways in which we develop new writers.

To submit a play to Live Theatre please email a copy of your script as a word document or pdf along with a covering letter and brief biog to degna@live.org.uk. We accept scripts from all UK based writers but scripts are especially welcome from playwrights from and/or living in the north east region of England. Due to recent arts funding cuts in the UK we are concentrating our resources on UK based writers, therefore we are currently unable to accept submissions from overseas writers. We only accept email submissions; please don’t post your script to us.

Please note: we no longer run a script feedback service. However, there are lots of other ways to engage with Live. You can register at www.beaplaywright.com, enrol in one of our Introduction to Playwritingcourses or join the Online Short Cuts community.