Alfred Fagon Award Writing Workshop – Saturday, 15th November 2025
The Alfred Fagon Award is offering a one-day writing workshop for ten new and emerging Black British playwrights based in the East Midlands.
We encourage all playwrights no matter their experience, age (18+), or background to apply.
10 writers will be invited to attend a day’s workshop at Nottingham Playhouse on Saturday,
15th November 2025.
This will be free to attend, and we’ll pay for your rail/bus travel to the venue.
What you will get from the workshop (10am – 6pm)
The workshop will be led by Juliet Gilkes Romero. She will cover – narrative, structure and plot; characterisation and character development, writing effective dialogue; and visualisation, imagery and setting.
You’ll meet one of the past winners of the Alfred Fagon Award for a Q&A.
You’ll leave inspired to write your draft within 4 months.
Festival of Staged Readings
Opportunity for 3/4 writers to have extracts of their plays showcased at the Alfred Fagon Festival of Staged Readings in 2026 to celebrate 30 years of the Alfred Fagon Award.
The festival will be filmed, and writers will receive an edit of their play reading to use when pitching their plays to theatres.
Additional opportunities
All eligible scripts will be entered in the 2026 Alfred Fagon Award.
What we’d like from you
Bring your passion for theatre and storytelling.
A commitment from you to produce a draft within 4 months of attending the workshop.
A commitment from you to work with a dramaturg if your script is selected for the Festival of Staged Readings.
We want to hear from you by Monday, 27th October 2025. Please complete this short application form.
When we’ll let you know
Successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday, 5th November by email.
About Juliet Gilkes Romero
Juliet Gilkes Romero is an award-winning writer for stage and screen. She was Writer in Residence at the National Theatre 2022/2023 attached to the New Works Department.
Juliet is the recipient of the Alfred Fagon award for Best New Play 2020, the Roland Rees Bursary 2019, named in honour of the co-founder of the Alfred Fagon Award, and the BBC World Service Alexander Onassis Research Bursary.
Her plays include; The Gift a retelling of Medea filmed for Jermyn Street Theatre’s 15 Heroines of Greek Tragedy season 2020, The Whip performed at the RSC’s Swan Theatre 2020, Day of The Living performed at The Other Place as part of RSC’s Mischief Festival 2018, Upper Cut at the Southwark Playhouse 2015, At The Gates of Gaza, Birmingham Repertory Theatre & tour, winner of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Best Play Award 2009, Bilad Al-Sudan performed at the Tricycle Theatre (now Kiln) as part of its 2006 season dealing with genocidal conflict in Darfur.
Screen and audio includes – Soon Gone; A Windrush Chronicle co-produced by Sir Lenny Henry’s production company Douglas Road and the Young Vic Theatre, and One Hot Summer broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Juliet was the RSC/Birmingham University Creative Fellow (2018-2019) and has an MA in Writing For Performance from Goldsmiths College, London University. Juliet is currently an MA Writing for Performance associate lecturer.
