The Orange Tree is delighted to be opening applications for the next iteration of the OT Writers’ Collective.
What is the OT Writers' Collective?
For over a decade, the OT Writers’ Collective has offered a cohort of mid-career playwrights an opportunity to share practice, build networks, gain industry insights, and develop new ideas.
This one-year attachment to the Orange Tree is led by our Literary Associate William Gregory and our Carne Associate Director Georgia Green, and includes:
- Monthly in-person masterclasses and talks with leading writers, directors, agents and other industry professionals;
- Workshops and support in developing an idea for a new project, with dramaturgical feedback from the Orange Tree’s Literary Associate and other members of the team;
- An opportunity to engage with the broader work of the Orange Tree;
- Complimentary tickets to all productions at the Orange Tree for the duration of the year;
- Access to desk space and office facilities at the Orange Tree, and to our large reference collection of published playtexts;
- A tax-free training bursary of £1000;
- A final showcase of work in the Orange Tree’s main auditorium for an audience of industry guests and the general public.
While participation in the Collective is not a guaranteed route to production at the Orange Tree, previous members of the OT Writers’ Collective have gone on to be commissioned and produced by a wide range of companies. Alums include Chris Bush (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Sheffield Theatres/NT), Anne Odeke (Princess Essex, Shakespeare’s Globe), Eve Leigh (Midnight Movie, Royal Court) and Joe White (Mayfly, Orange Tree).
OT Artistic Director Tom Littler says:
“The Writers’ Collective enriches the life of the OT. The playwrights we meet become well known to the whole team here. They are often on the verge of a breakthrough in their careers: their first plays are behind them, but the ‘mid career’ of a playwright is a very challenging moment. We are proud to offer these playwrights something rare in theatre – a home; a community; a source of inspiration. Under the stewardship of our Literary Associate William Gregory and our Carne Associate Director Georgia Green, I know this year’s Collective will go on a rewarding and enjoyable journey together. And I’m delighted that this year’s Collective will include a translator – an essential and often overlooked element in the literary scene.”
Who is it for?
The OT Writers’ Collective is open to writers (and translators; see more below) who have already had work professionally produced on more than one occasion, and who are now seeking to further develop their creative practice, find wider audiences for their work, and strengthen their position in the current new-writing ecosystem.
In part, this is to address the concerns often raised by playwrights of being ‘stuck’ between having work produced and feeling unable to progress further. Rather than being an introduction to playwriting programme, the OT Writers’ Collective aims to put together a group of writers at a similar stage in their career so that the programme may also function as a network of peer support.
We are also delighted in 2025-26 to be offering a place in the Collective to a translator of plays working from any language into English, in partnership with the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East Anglia.
Candidates should already have had at least two professional productions of their work of at least one week each. This might be at a larger venue, with a professional company, at a festival, or in a fringe space, anywhere in the UK or beyond. This may include profit-share or unpaid productions, but not student productions or productions while training.
We are particularly interested to hear from practitioners who are underrepresented in our work and in the industry more widely. This includes, but is not limited to, Deaf and disabled writers, those from the Global Majority, writers will access needs, and working-class writers.
The majority of workshops, masterclasses and other activities relating to the Collective will take place in person at the Orange Tree. We expect this to amount to coming to Richmond an average of once a month for core activities (masterclasses, workshops and final sharing). We are able to reimburse some travel expenses and this will be discussed with successful applicants when offers are made.
How to Apply
Writers and translators wishing to apply to be part of the Writers’ Collective should do so via our online portal. You will be asked to provide some contact details, basic information about at least two productions of your work, a CV, and a 10-page sample of your work.
You will also be asked to answer three questions, with a word limit of 200 words each:
- What drives you as a writer or translator and how would being part of the Writers’ Collective help you develop as an artist?
- Why are you interested in working with the Orange Tree?
- Tell us about a piece of theatre you have seen that you loved; what it was about it that you found so impactful?
We also ask that all applications complete an Equal Opportunities Form.
As part of our commitment to improve accessibility and inclusion, we accept applications via video recording or voice note.
To submit an application in these formats, please do so directly, to writerscollective@orangetreetheatre.co.uk, ensuring that you have answered the three questions above and given evidence of two professional productions of your work as a writer or translator. Please ensure that your video or audio recording does not exceed five minutes.
What happens once I've applied?
Your application, including your ten-page sample, CV, and answers to the questions, will be read and assessed by our reading panel. Following this, long-listed candidates will be invited to submit a full-length sample of their work (this need not be the same as the ten-page sample). From this, a shorter list of applicants will be invited to interview.
Timeline
Mid-January 2025: Applications open until 10am, Monday 10 February 2025.
February 2025: Applications will be assessed. By 01 March 2025 all applicants will be notified whether they have been longlisted or not. Longlisted applicants will be invited to send in a full-length example of their work.
March 2025: Shortlisting will take place. By the end of March 2025 all longlisted candidates will be notified whether they have been shortlisted or not. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview.
Interviews will take place in March or April of 2025 either online or in person at the Orange Tree with a view to the Collective commencing in April or May.
We will endeavour to stick to this timeline but, in the event that we are unable to, we will keep all applicants informed of any delays.
Owing to the very large number of applications that the OT Writers’ Collective typically receives, we are unfortunately unable to offer individual feedback to unsuccessful applicants. However, if you have applied you will receive a reply from us about the status of your application. If you do not receive this at the various deadlines, please do contact us via writerscollective@orangetreetheatre.co.uk. Please use this same email address for any queries relating to the Writers’ Collective.
A large-print version of this information is available here.
