The 2025 Hepburn Hooks International Theatre Festival
“Make us laugh, cry, ponder things we may never have given much thought before, question our morals and ethics, our priorities and allegiances — take us by the hand as you lead us into your world and shake ours to the core, give us a gentle tap on the back, or a much-needed slap in the face.
Move us, in every sense of the term.”
— HHTC x
OUR GUARANTEES FOR THE WINNER
I
A 500£ prize, two performances of their play at a London venue.
No shady practices around here, we have a lawyer on the team! We’re here to honour your work. Your work is valued. You will be paid accordingly.
II
Transportation and accommodation to London over a two-day period to assist at least one performance if you live in the UK.
If you’re from the UK but live outside of London, we can offer you transportation and accommodation to come and see your play being performed, and possibly participate in a one-hour talk-back and Q&A about the play, if you so wish.
III
Involvement in the production process, frequent communication with your director and actors.
As playwrights, you might be used to contact being sparse once your pieces have been chosen (we sure are…). Well, not here at HHTC! You’ve trusted us with your baby, we’ll make sure to do it justice by involving you and consulting you. We will be arranging meetings over the phone and/or Zoom calls where you will be able to ask any questions you have, and our director will reach out to you for any questions they may have.
IV
The branding and promotion of your play, on us.
We are committed to making this project one of our crowning glories, and hopefully, make it an equally rewarding springboard for you. We’ll take care of everything, from the branding, to the promotion on social media, as well as the conception of promotional artwork, all of which we will consult you about.
V
A page dedicated to your play on our website.
Through this experience, our aim is to make you and your piece shine, but it is also and most importantly to support you in a lasting, tangible way, and aid in your artistic growth. We will elaborate a subdomain as part of our website and present your play, with a synopsis, pictures and an extract of one of the performances, as well as your bio and professional information. This will be an ideal piece to share with potential agents and future collaborators as a sample of your work!
VI
Professional filming of one performance, professional pictures every night, social media ready, delivered straight to you digitally.
VII
Three tickets for each night’s performance, so you can invite a prospective agent, friends or family members who are from London to attend on your behalf.
VIII
A month after the performances, we will make the video of one of the performances available on YouTube.
OUR GUARANTEES FOR THE SHORT AND LONG LISTED ARTISTS
I
A pledge to offer detailed feedback to ALL short-listed and long-listed artists.
We know only too well what it feels like to receive one of those dreaded rejection emails and have nothing to show for it, after we’ve submitted our work. We are a tiny team, and although we can’t reach out individually to every single person who submitted, we wanted to make it a point to offer detailed feedback to those artists whose work we couldn’t pick. That being said, we do wish we could answer you all. Each and everyone of your voices count, your time is precious and we endeavour to acknowledge that in a meaningful, constructive way!
II
An opportunity to submit another play for our next project, free of charge.
III
A free ticket to one performance of the final show.
We’re all theatre freaks at the end of the day, and this is going to be a celebration of our passion. We want you there! Should you find yourself in London for an evening during the run of the winning play, we would be honoured to have you in attendance, and obviously, it’ll be on us!
IV
Promo for future projects of yours on our social media pages, on demand.
As a theatre company, we want to make it a point to support voices we resonate with. We want to keep in touch after the submission process and help you however we can to promote your next projects centred on theatre!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Beginners, dabblers, scribblers and seasoned writers alike, from all countries, are welcome to submit their plays!
Playwrights must be aged (at least) 18 at the time of submission.
The play may have multiple writers, but you will have to pick a representative whose information you will use in correspondence with us.
Your play should have a running time of 45 minutes to 1 hour. This usually equates to a 45 to 60 pages long document, but reading your play out loud can give you a more accurate idea of its running time.
Your play should require no more than 6 actors and minimal props.
Your play should be in English, although some parts may be in a foreign language. (If so, make sure a translation of such parts is offered within the body of the play).
The play should be original, unpublished and it should not have been performed in the UK as of the day of submission.
Submissions containing copyrighted material that does not belong to you cannot be accepted.
Unfortunately, we cannot yet accept musicals.
Your play should NOT BE BLIND. The first page should state the name of your play, your own name, as well as your contact information (phone number, email address). The second page should be dedicated to a breakdown of characters and scene breakdown, if needed. Please, ensure your play is properly formatted. (This page can help you figure out what format feels more natural to you : https://www.bbc.co.uk/writers/resources/medium-and-format)
The document you submit should be a PDF.
Please submit your play with the same email address as the one you will have used for payment.
We unfortunately cannot accept more than three entries from the same writer, and each entry must be paid for in order to be eligible.
For our records, and because we’d love to know more about you as an artist and a person, feel free to fill up this form, once you have submitted your work: https://forms.gle/5nDUHD24moTBvoND8
(it is totally optional and has no bearing on the selection process).Unfortunately, written feedback will only be provided to short and long-listed writers.
We will close submissions on September 25, 2024, no play will be accepted after this date.
All submissions and payments are final. No revisions to the text of a play will be accepted after it is submitted.
In order to benefit from the Student Discount, you will have to send us a PDF version of a transcript/certificate from your institution that shows you are currently enrolled before submitting your work.
Deadline: September 25, 2024
Entry Fee
Reading fee
(Full Price)
Going through scripts is…tedious, as you must know from your hours of editing and revamping your own scripts. Our love of the arts unfortunately can’t pay the electric bills, the much-needed coffee breaks, or the ophthalmologists’ appointments after spending hours in front of our screens!
15.00£
Reading fee
(Student Disc.)
It’s hard out here, been there, done that! If you can submit proof of full or part-time study with an accredited institution, on ANY subject, in ANY country, you will be offered a student discount. Just make sure you email us with the PDF transcript first!
7.50£
Frequently Asked Questions
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We will personally reach out to the winning entry’s writer (via phone call or email).
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There will be ten long-listed writers, all of which will be contacted via email and named in communication sent to all submitters, as well in a special announcement on our website.
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There will be five short-listed writers, all of which will be contacted via email. They will be named in communication sent to all submitters, interviewed for our website and will be the subject of posts on our social media pages.
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You should be aged 18 at the time of submission.
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Kindly message us on Instagram, X, Facebook or via email at : hepburnhooks@outlook.com and we will answer as soon as we can.