At Durham Student Theatre we are extremely passionate about new writing. Lots of our affiliate theatre companies support and put on original works in the form of new writing showcases, scratch nights and full-length original plays, musicals, and adaptations. Many of our student-written shows go on to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) and external theatres across the country, winning awards in the process!

As a member of DST, we will let you know about all new writing opportunities within DST. We also work with Purple Radio and Durham Student Productions who often send out calls for new writing for radio plays and short films.

Regardless of whether you are a seasoned writer or composer, or just want to try something new, there are plenty of opportunities available for student-written works. A handful of these include:

Durham Drama Festival

Durham Drama Festival (DDF) is Durham University’s new writing competition for the stage. DDF is a key event in the student theatre calendar, showcasing the wealth of creative talent among students at Durham University, and encouraging participation in theatre in any capacity. Comprised of three days of original theatre completely written, produced, designed and performed by students, as well as workshops by an invited panel of industry professionals.

For more information click here. 

Through a Theatre Company

  • Evangeline is a theatre company dedicated to new writing, especially plays that are still in development; the theatre company often puts on scratch nights and open mic nights on top of their regular programming of full-length student-written productions. They take pitches and submissions for each of these. 
  • Many of our other theatre companies also produce full-length new writing (whether that be a play or a musical) as part of their programme for the year. Keep an eye on social media as well as out weekly emails for when they open submissions – this normally involves pitching your show and convincing their execs why you think it should be put on the Durham stage!

Previous New Writing Productions…