The British Theatre Challenge for Kids!
The British Theatre Challenge for Kids is a National Competition designed to encourage pupils at KS2 and KS3 in Creative Writing for Performance.
Do you have a budding Timberlake Wertenbaker, William Shakespeare, Caryl Churchill, Alan Ayckbourn or Lucy Prebble in your school or family?
Would you like to inspire your pupils or children to take up writing as a career?
Actors from Sky Blue have visited hundreds of schools and seen talented young actors perform stories from Shakespeare.
We want to help you inspire these same young pupils to write and perform their own plays.
Whether you want to enter a single play or submit multiple entries by individual writers or groups of students, we will be on hand to offer help and advice.
Scripts could be developed during creative English lessons or be devised during drama classes or at home.
Winning scripts will be performed by professional actors in a London venue.
The 5 Simple Rules
British Theatre Challenge for Kids is a National Competition
- Plays must run for no more than 5 minutes.
- No more than 5 characters in the play.
- No character under the age of 10 unless a babe in arms.
- Plays may be submitted as Word attachment, hand written or voice recording.
- Closing date for submissions is May 7th
Plays can be posted to:
Sky Blue Theatre Schools, 14 Hayfield Ave, Sawston, Cambridge, CB22 3JZ
Or sent by email as an attachment to
btcschools@skybluetheatre.com
Entry form
Suggested Format
The following suggested format is used by many playwrights.
Page 1 – EXAMPLE – is the title page
The Crooked House
Synopsis:
The granddaughter of tycoon Jerry Attrick, Annette Curtain, visits history teacher Barb Wyer in her office. Annette wants Barb to explain a recently discovered portrait, for she believes her grandfather is in grave danger after threats from a member of his sprawling and idiosyncratic family.
Characters:
Annette Curtain – 14 – 16yrs, Emo
Barb Dwyer – 50's, Annette's history teacher, unemotional
Jerry Attrick – 60's, Annette's grandfather, young at heart
Al Dente – any age, joker
Page 2 – EXAMPLE - Begins with description of the setting in brackets and opens the play.
All stage directions for the actors should be in brackets. Plays may include sound and lighting direction (in brackets) but this is not essential.
(A cold dark evening in the park. There is an overflowing bin next to a park bench and a sign saying Keep off the Grass. Jerry Attrick is seated on the bench asleep. Annette enters)
Annette: (shouting) Granddad.... Where are you?
(Jerry snores and wakes himself up)
Jerry: What? What's happening?
Annette: What are you doing here Granddad? Mum's been calling you.
Jerry: I can't help that. There was a UFO hovering around yesterday and if it lands I get to see the aliens and ask them if they will take me with them.
The Competition Explained
By entering the competition the teacher agrees that he/she has read and agrees to abide by the Sky Blue Theatre playwriting rules and that the writers of the plays entered have sole rights to all matters contained within the play. The teacher also agrees to the rehearsal and performance of the play for the purposes of the competition; for the filming of rehearsals and performance and for the film to be made available to interested parties, posted on the web and to be used in whole or in part for publicity purposes.
Personal information submitted will be kept by Sky Blue Theatre Company and NOT shared with any third party. The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding results of the competition.