Bring your story from page to stage...

Submissions call out

Do you have a unique story to tell? Do you have a voice that you think is currently missing from the theatre? Do you want to bring your story to life on the stage? If so, then you are who we are searching for.

Next summer (2022) The Questors Theatre will be opening its doors and welcoming new voices and plays to the stage, as part of our inaugural festival of new theatre. The festival will provide a unique platform for writers and theatre makers to share new work, collaborate with other creatives and become part of a thriving theatre community.

Who we are looking for?

We want to welcome new voices, emerging talent and voices that haven’t been heard before to our stage. We’re particularly interested in championing playwrights and stories that represent the breadth of our diverse and inclusive society, especially those that are currently underrepresented.

The Questors festival of new theatre accepts submissions from people based in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. We also warmly welcome local Ealing and West London based writers to get in touch and to join our creative community.

What we are looking for?

We are firstly looking for one-act plays (Approx: 70 min) in length to showcase at the festival, with a particular interest in pieces that feature a strong gender, age and diversity balance in terms of characters. We will also be looking for short plays (approx. 15-20 min) from 1st October.

There are no limits in terms of theme or time period, past, present, or future.
We welcome experimental pieces, but these should not be dependent on elaborate set, costume or props. We will be using The Questors studio for all productions, so each play needs to be easily adaptable to this space.

Please remember this is a live staged event, so play written with a style more suited to television or film will not be considered. We also do not accept scripts of plays that have previously been produced professionally. If you feel that you have a piece for this medium we suggest you consider exploring the Ealing Film Festival.

About us

Over the past 90 years The Questors theatre company has been a proud trailblazer in the creative community, launching the careers of playwrights, actors and directors, celebrating unique voices and showcasing new talent across the stage. We have been active members of the local community and have created a thriving creative hub in our home of Ealing, with close links to the newly formed Ealing Film Festival.

Now it is your chance to be part of a Questors ‘First’.  Share your new writing, and help us to carry our pioneering legacy into the future.

The Essentials

We receive a huge number of submissions. To allow for easier reading and faster consideration, please follow the requirements below when sending us your work:

• submit your script via our online form in Word or pdf format, using the title of your play as the name of the document.
• Remove your name and any personal details from the script itself;
• Preface the script with a list of characters;
• Follow the standard layout for theatre plays as published by Faber, Methuen, Oberon, Nick Hern Books or any of the other established houses
• Place character names to the left-hand side of the dialogue (as opposed to the screenplay layout which has names in the centre of the page);
• Add any stage directions in brackets and in italics;
• Number all pages and title any acts and scenes clearly;
• Try to avoid a break of a character’s line across a page (unless a long monologue);
• If your play uses songs, music or references from other well-known works, do consider this in advance. Direct quotes and usage can lead to copyright, legal or contractual issues and unforeseen expenses.

Please note this is our early submission phase. We will be filling the slots for the festival as we find the right plays, so please do not leave your submission until the last minute.
We look forward to hearing from you.

What happens after you submit?

Submissions are read in anonymous form then discussed and reviewed by the New Writing Group, which includes directors, actors and writers. We will always inform you of the outcome. The large volume of submissions means this can take about 3 months.

For the festival of new theatre the next steps are likely to be as follows:

• Resubmission after feedback (where the writing shows promise but there are fundamental issues to be resolved)
• A table read with the writer present and with feedback (for a play that needs some revision but where there is clear potential)
• A workshop run by a member of the Questors New Writing Group to help develop the play to its full potential.
• A staged reading, script in hand, for one night as part of our QExtra programme (for a largely finished piece of work which is ready for independent interpretation by a director and performers);
• A full production in our 80-100–seat Studio Theatre (for a fully realised work of exceptional quality and originality);
• Informing you that we do not wish to take the submission any further. We are unable to enter into conversation about plays in this category.