The next Short Cuts will be in early 2012 and is open to all writers. If you have any queries please get in touch with degna@live.org.uk.

Plays should be up to ten minutes long and must respond to a particular theme which will be announced early next year. If your play is coming in at around seven minutes that’s totally fine; we’d rather you sent us a slightly shorter play than one that has been padded out to fill ten minutes. Unfortunately, we do not accept excerpts from longer plays.

All Short Cuts scripts are considered anonymously so please make sure that your name does not appear anywhere on the script itself. Remember to include the following in the body of your email:

• your name
• the title of your script
• a twenty five word tagline or synopsis
• character list
• a contact telephone number

NB – The cast for Short Cuts is usually made up of two male and two female actors so please bear this in mind when writing your play. Only one submission per writer.

TIPS
You only get one chance to make a good first impression so if this is your first draft don’t send it to us yet - ask friends and family for constructive (and honest) criticism and then rewrite… and then rewrite again. Once you’re really happy with it, email it to us.

Check out these Hints & Tips for more helpful playwriting advice.

Online Short Cuts is a free online version of Live Theatre's in-house Short Cuts event. It provides a great opportunity for aspiring writers to get their work shared online where it can be read by a community of new writing enthusiasts across the UK and beyond.

The Literary Department select a short play each month which is published online via the Online Short Cuts site (hosted via NING). New writing fans are encouraged to read the script and offer constructive feedback on the idea, the structure and the characters.

This service is free but participants must sign-up to the Online Short Cuts NING to be able to read the scripts and leave feedback. By joining NING, users will need to agree to the copyright regulations (just type yes in the relevant box when joining the group).

The Benefits

• Connect with other writers and new writing fans
• Share plays online so more people can access your work

By providing this service we hope to find fresh work and nurture new writing talent by providing an online forum in which writers can share their work in a supportive and creative environment.

We are on the look out for new scripts. Send your 10 minute play to plays@live.org.uk by 15th of each month to be considered. Plays must be no longer than 10 pages, should have no more than 4 characters and are to be supplied as a Word document.