Everyone Has the Right
Jan Goodman in ‘One Hour Eighteen Minutes’
Everyone Has the Right is a free rolling script submission service (i.e. there is no deadline) for plays with human rights at their heart. A joint initiative with Amnesty International UK, Everyone Has the Right provides a natural home for writers exploring human rights stories to create surprising and entertaining theatre.
We accept plays written for the stage, in English, which have not been professionally produced in the UK.
Feedback will be provided by a member of the iceandfire team to the writer on how effective the play is in terms of theatricality, dialogue and characterisation. We cannot provide feedback on scripts that do not successfully fulfil the brief of exploring a human rights story.
The best plays will receive professional rehearsed readings at Amnesty International UK’s central London Human Rights Action Centre or a partner theatre. Those writers that we feel would benefit from longer term development will be paired with a dramaturg for more in-depth work on their script.
Plays can be of any length, but we will only read full scripts (no outlines or synopses please) written for theatre. We cannot accept scripts by email or fax. We are interested in scripts for all ages, so if you write theatre for young people please consider submitting to this scheme.
Read more about our Everyone Has the Right performances…
More on Everyone Has the Right:
David Mildon in ‘One Hour Eighteen Minutes’
I submitted my play S-27 to the Everyone Has the Right because it seemed like an appropriate scheme to enter because of iceandfire’s reputation and the link to Amnesty. Being selected has completely changed my life. As a writer, it validated what I was trying to explore artistically and politically in my work at the time. In terms of my career, it established me as an up and coming writer, both in the UK and internationally. I was taken on by an agent as a result of winning the competition. At the reading I was approached by the director Steve Keyworth, who then directed the play at the Finborough in 2009. The play was produced in Australia in 2010, as a result of connections established through iceandfire. The play is going to have a production in Toronto in 2012. I feel that the award and its association with Amnesty has been particularly helpful in promoting the play internationally.- Sarah Grochala, Playwright
‘Constructive, to the point, thorough, and above all encouraging and inspiring: many thanks, indeed.’
a writer, on EHTR report on his script
‘Thanks for the thoughtful and intelligent feedback. I wish readers at all theatres were as insightful and valuable.’
a writer, on EHTR report on his script
Submissions
Please send:
- Your script
- A short synopsis (200-300 words) along with a short paragraph about how you think your play engages with a human rights theme
- Completed cover sheet (Download as Word Doc or as PDF file) to: Everyone Has the Right, iceandfire, Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LS.
To: Everyone Has the Right, iceandfire, Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial St, London E1 6LS
Due to the high volume of submissions, there is currently a delay in responding to writers. Please allow at least 3 months for a response – thanks!
“Truth in drama is forever elusive. You never quite find it but the search for it is compulsive. The search is clearly what drives the endeavour. The search is your task.”
Harold Pinter, Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech, 2005
