Image: Perfect Pitch

Writers in the UK could win thousands of pounds and a chance to have their piece performed professionally, as part of a London based award.

The Perfect Pitch Award, a collaboration between Perfect Pitch and the Theatre Royal Stratford East, offers the chance for a British writing team to win £12,000.

The team will then have to write a draft for a new musical over a year, after which the show will either be presented as a professional staged reading, or production.

Andy Barnes, Executive Producer at Perfect Pitch, said: “The award is really about unearthing talent, and finding fresh and exciting voices who have something new to say to a contemporary British audience.

“We want to encourage writers who have a passion for musicals, but who may or may not have written a full musical before, to try working with the form.

“Ultimately it will allow a brand new musical to be created, and the fact that this musical wouldn’t exist without this award is especially exciting.”

The previous award attracted around 300 applications, and the new writing team of Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth won, with their pitch Odd. 

The award is open to any type of writer, including authors, lyricists and composers.

To apply, the candidates must submit two or three writing samples.

If successful, the next round involves a 10 to 15 minute pitch for the new musical, to be presented in front of a panel of judges at the St James Theatre in London, with a full cast and crew provided by Perfect Pitch and the Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Kerry Michael, Artistic Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East, said: “These sort of awards are highly important to the success and growth of British musical theatre.

“Awards, like the Perfect Pitch Award, enables creative minded people the chance to experiment and partner with other likeminded people to create exciting and new pieces of theatre.”

Perfect Pitch are a not-for-profit theatre organisation dedicated to making new British musicals.

Entries for The Perfect Pitch Awards close on July 10. For more information, and to apply, click here.