The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 will uncover the most exciting new plays about the climate crisis, and support them to find their audiences.
We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. Regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences, and we are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.
This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the potential for us to transform society for a flourishing, equitable future for all life. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer
In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.
The winning playwright will receive:
The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 is funded by Climate Spring
Applications open in June 2026 with the deadline in September.
Head over to the opportunity page to read all about what is expected and any requirements.