Applications have closed as of 5.00PM UTC on 31 October 2024 (Thursday).
Pen Pals International is a new initiative in a partnership between Box of Tricks in the UK and Centre 42 in Singapore.
We will be matching 6 UK playwrights with 6 Singaporean playwrights to for an international playwriting exchange. Writers will work together over a 6-month period from January until June 2025. Each pair will send each other work-in-progress and maintain regular contact through online meetings.
Box of Tricks and Centre 42 will introduce Pen Pals online, discussing their ideas at the start of the process, and meet again for a midway catch-up. We will host an online scratch event halfway through the process to allow writers to hear extracts of their work in progress and receive feedback from their peers.
At the end of the exchange, all 12 Pen Pals will send their drafts to Box of Tricks and Centre 42 to be read ahead of a final debrief and feedback session. To celebrate our first international Pen Pals exchange we will present live events in Manchester and Singapore after the exchange to showcase the work of our 12 writers.
The 6 pairs of playwrights that have been matched for this programme are:
Our Pen Pals International programme is open to writers who have already got experience of writing for theatre. We define that experience as having written at least one full length script (60mins+), although this does not need to have been professionally produced.
UK writers must be members of Box of Tricks’ PlayMakers Network. Writers must also be 18+, and either resident in, or originally from, the North of England.
Singapore writers must be Singapore residents and/or are residing in Singapore and must have written ONE (1) full-length play
Interested writers can apply to be part of the next Pen Pals cohort via this online form. The application window will open on the 7th October 2024, and the deadline for applications is 10:00 BST (which is 17:00 UTC in Singapore) on the 31st October 2024.
The application consists of the following:
7 October - 31 October 2024:
November 2024:
December 2024:
January 2025:
February 2025:
April 2025:
May 2025:
June 2025:
July 2025:
July-Aug 2025: