The George B. Miller Award
Apply here today!
Deadline Friday 22nd April 2022
Why should you submit your idea?
The George B Miller Award will offer three emerging playwrights the opportunity to have the experience that George created for countless playwrights in his lifetime; dramaturgical advice, a public reading by actors and an open talkback session to explore the complexities of the themes and how they relate to the world around us.
Three playwrights will work under the mentorship of Pete Mullineaux, where they will receive guidance and direction on how to bring their idea to fruition by way of a play written for young ensembles. As part of the process, the playwrights will be invited to share their works in progress as part of the Scripts festival programme. From here, they will continue to refine their works, with the support and advice of the playwrighting mentor.
The completed plays will be workshopped and rehearsed by a youth theatre ensemble and staged extracts will be performed as part of Playshare at Youth Theatre Ireland’s Youth Theatre Practice Symposium at University College Cork in November.
This annual event is one of the highlights of the youth theatre calendar, where youth theatre practice is investigated and presented to the wider youth theatre community.
Eligibility (Make sure you read this)
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This Award is open to any adult writers aged 18 or over who are resident on the island of Irelan
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The target age range is young ensembles (ages 11-14) Your plays should be young person centred. It should offer something to young actors and audiences
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We won’t consider plays for younger children or older ensembles unfortunately
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Your play doesn’t have to be finished. This is a development opportunity so all we require at this stage is a one A4 page outline or treatment, and between five and ten pages writing sample from the play. This sample can be a scene or a selection of scenes and should contain both descriptive action and dialogue
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Your submission must be a new work. It may not be from a previously published or performed play
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Plays must be original works, no adaptations of books or other media
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The work you submit must be entirely your own work. Works are submitted on this understanding, and you will be disqualified if this is not the case.
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We are accepting single authored plays only.
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You are welcome to enter as many plays as you like. Each play must be submitted separately and will be judged on its own merits.
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Finalists will be subject to Garda Vetting by Youth Theatre Ireland.
Guidelines for Playwrights (Make sure you read this too!)
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First of all, remember : Your play does not have to be finished. This is a development opportunity.
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We are open to all genres, full- length plays (40 mins +), or one acts (20 – 40 mins)
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The target age range is young ensembles (ages 11-14)
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Your plays should be young person centred. They should predominately feature younger characters or performers. Adult roles should be kept to an absolute minimum (if at all) and should not be central to the play
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The most appealing youth theatre plays are the ones that combine strong ensemble elements with more stand-alone character parts. You should try and write for as large a cast of young people as possible, while maintaining the integrity of your idea.
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Consider what is appropriate material for this age range. Would you feel comfortable presenting this material to young people in this age group?
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Youth theatre ensembles are mixed gender groups. Are you interested in writing a play with a set number of characters with particular ages and gender or are you thinking about a more open approach this?
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We will consider plays that may reflect on the lives of young people today or they could offer an exciting challenge (historical epics etc.) Maybe you want to explore or highlight a particular issue that may affect or interest young people or would you like to write something a bit lighter, escapist, or pure entertainment?
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How much dialogue is in the play? Is your dialogue purposefully heightened and theatrical or is it aiming to be naturalistic and contemporary?
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Are production values important to you? Does your play depend on extensive production design, or do you favour pared back environments? Do not limit yourself
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Ultimately, is the idea for your play strong and would it offer something to young people and young audiences in an Irish context?
Time to submit your idea!
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You've got the idea, here's how to present it !
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Tell us what' it's all about.
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Tell us why we should put you forward for the award.
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Tell us what is so compelling about your idea that we have no choice but to select your play for development!
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This should be your "treatment/Outline" 1 page document.
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Show us what you are capable of, write out a short (5 to 10 pages) sample of your play​
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Prepare a pdf document that includes your 1-page treatment outline and 5-10 page sample of your play and please make sure that your name is removed from your pdf so that all plays are anonymous for the readers.
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Finally, fill in the form below, attached your pdf and click submit.
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GOOD LUCK!