Financial support for playwrights

If as a professional playwright you are struggling financially to find the time and space to write then the Peggy Ramsay Foundation might be your saviour. Eligible are playwrights, musical book writers and lyricists who may have had one work professionally produced, have had lots of successes or something in between. You must however be resident in the UK. Grants are not awarded to cover production costs, a workshop or reading or to pay for a dramaturg.

To apply submit a maximum 1.5 page application letter which should include details of the specific project you need time and space for and why you need the finance. Examples given are to pay your rent, buy a laptop, to cover a salary you would usually have from temping or other reason. Essentially your letter should say who you are, what you want to write and the amount of financial support you need and how you arrived at that amount. If it is a new laptop you need, grants of £800 are usually awarded and are usually no more than £5,000.

Include also a clear and accurate CV saying what you have written and where it has been produced. Any direction or acting undertaken should be noted separately. You may include brief attributed press quotes for previous productions, not full reviews or scripts, but this is not essential.

On a separate sheet of paper note the title of your first professionally produced play, and most recent if different, where it was produced and the length of its run. Plays must be a minimum of one hour’s length.

On a cover sheet include your postal and email addresses, date of birth, nationality and country of residence, the country in which you are a tax resident, your national insurance or other tax identification number and bank account details.

Details: Peggy Ramsay Foundation, 7 Savoy Court, London WC2R 0EX;

email: prf@harbottle.com; website: www.peggyramsayfoundation.org/ grant-applications.html