The shortlist for the inaugural Leodis Prize has been announced, highlighting ten new plays from unrecognised voices. This new award was launched in 2025 to discover and champion previously unrepresented playwrights, aiming to open up the theatre industry to those without prior production, publication or professional representation. The prize has attracted nearly 350 submissions from across the UK and beyond and a panel of 30 readers has assisted forming the final shortlist of 10.
The Leodis Prize offers a unique opportunity for emerging writers, with the winning play receiving a fully funded production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2026, alongside representation by Leodis, publication by Methuen Drama (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing) and a £2,000 cash prize to support the writer’s career. The winner will be announced in April 2026.
The shortlisted plays reflect an exciting range of voices, forms and subject matter, showcasing the breadth and originality of new writing today. One Hundred Fires by Damien Hasson is a bold solo piece in which a man, unable to say his own name during a comedy gig, is propelled into an existential exploration of identity, voice and selfhood. Tom Draper’s Lad Lad Lad is a dark, satirical comedy following three young men reunited in a pub, where an evening of drinking exposes tensions, secrets and the absence of a missing friend.
Needs Network Narrative from Anna Wright moves between a surreal medieval quest and contemporary suburbia, offering an inventive and unsettling reflection on storytelling, loneliness and radicalisation while Strings by Nia Braidford charts the journey of a young tennis prodigy navigating the pressures of elite sport, exposing the damaging power dynamics faced by young athletes. Before I Was A Moth by Mary Condon O’Connor is a tender and sharply observed Irish comedy about grief, care and the complexities of intergenerational relationships.
Andy Craven Griffiths’ Joygernaut explores the aftermath of lockdown through the lens of an online therapy group, examining ego, isolation and the performance of self in a fractured world. Sanctuary by Jacob Sparrow is a reflective and time-shifting drama that explores memory, belonging and community, as past and present intertwine.
Completing the shortlist are three more plays: Sawdust by Joseph Walsh is a biting ensemble piece set behind the scenes of a television talk show, revealing the moral compromises and human cost of entertainment. Ed Cooke’s Sicko blends immersive performance with domestic narrative to interrogate family, art and memory in an unsettling contemporary setting. Finally, The Definition by Nay Oliver Murphy is a witty and emotionally nuanced two-hander exploring compulsion, intimacy and vulnerability between two young people navigating their inner lives.
The judging panel comprised Tamzin Outhwaite, Jenna Fincken, Sam Yates, Lucy Casson, Sian Carter, Anthony Alderson and Daniel Hinchliffe, bringing together a wealth of industry expertise and a shared commitment to supporting new writing.
Daniel Hinchliffe, Managing Director of Leodis Talent and founder of the award comments, We have been overwhelmed by the quality of writing and the amount of unrecognised talent. It was not an easy task choosing the shortlist, and many hours were spent reading and deliberating. I am so grateful to the writers who entered their plays and to the readers who read them. We now have to choose a winner from the extraordinary final 10!
The Leodis Prize underscores the continuing importance of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a space for discovery and innovation, and as a platform for the next generation of theatre-makers.
