120 plays and 35 years later, Theatre West is celebrating its coral anniversary with a brand new project! In a tough new writing landscape, but with our new BOV Associate Company residency, we want the women in our region to get writing over the next 18 months. Our aim is to mark 2026, doing what we do best, with a season of stonking new work.

We've had a look back at our archives and pulled out ten well loved marketing images to get the creative juices flowing.

To see the ten images, please click here

10 minute plays

We'd like you to choose one of these images as a jumping off point to write a ten minute piece. It must have a maximum of two characters but, beyond that, the world's your oyster! All we'll ask is that you can tell us how the picture inspired your script.

  • We will only accept one entry per person
  • This project is open to women living in the south west, as defined by the Arts Council click for more info
  • Your play should be no more than 10 minutes when performed
  • Your play should have no more than two characters
  • It can be a monologue
  • Prior to the submission deadline at midnight on 28th Feb 2025 we'll be running a series of free online workshops by industry professionals to support you in your writing. The first of these was Writing Short-Form Plays presented by Sharon Clark. The next online workshop will be Writing Dialogue to be presented by Bea Roberts on Thursday December 12th at 7pm.

    In order to receive more info about other yet-to-be-announced workshops, please register your interest in the project (see bottom of the page)

    By April 2025 eight writers will be selected to go on to the next stage of the project by a panel including the Theatre West Artistic Directors and representatives from Bristol Old Vic, and their scripts will receive a public reading.

    Developing 8 hour-long scripts

    The eight chosen writers will have the opportunity to write an hour-long script, which could be a development of their short play or something entirely different (though it can't be an existing script). We will support the writers by pairing them with a dramaturg, facilitating online readings of their work during the six month development process and pay them a small writing fee. As writing is solitary and can be lonely we will also bring the writers together, either online or in person, to share their experiences.

    A panel including the Theatre West Artistic Directors and representatives from Bristol Old Vic will choose three scripts for further development

    Further development of final three scripts

    Over the following six months, working with a dramaturg, the three writers will hone their script to performance quality and, subject to securing further funding including royalty fees, Theatre West plan to produce them in venues around the south-west in autumn 2026.

    Please register your interest in this project by emailing coralations@theatre-west.co.uk