Am Ddrama / Play On is a collaboration between Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, Theatr Clwyd and National Theatre Wales to find new and exciting scripts and plays by playwrights based in Wales.

Over the next year, Play On will enable playwrights to send their unpublished scripts and plays anonymously to an eager panel of readers for valuable feedback. There may be an opportunity for the most promising scripts to be developed, matching the script and playwright with one of the three organisations best placed to develop, commission and produce it.

During the process, playwrights will have access to an eager panel of freelance and in-house readers, selected by the three partners following open callouts in August 2021 and May 2022. The first cohort of Readers have been appointed for the first 6 months. These include Charles O’Rourke, who has a background in manual labour, literary translation and queer activism and is a script reader for Liverpool’s Everyman Playhouse and Channel 4. Lowri Izzard, who trained at RADA and has recently wrapped on a new comedy feature film, Brian and Charles, for Film4 and BFI. Freelance dramaturg Mary Davies, who has recently completed her PhD at the Shakespeare Institute and RSC. Melangell Dolma, playwright, actor and Creative Development Coordinator at Theatr Genedlaethol, and Yasmin Begum who is a Welsh-Pakistani campaigner, writer and creative practitioner. She currently works at Gwasg Honno Press, the oldest independent women’s press in the United Kingdom. Rahim El Habachi, who is a creative associate with National Theatre Wales, an LGBT+ refugee and asylum seekers campaigner, has worked with the Welsh National Opera and Sherman Theatre; he is a performer and theatre maker.

Welsh dramaturg Ffion Emlyn has worked for the BBC for over twenty years, mainly as a Radio Drama Producer for BBC Radio Cymru. Ffion has also worked as Script Editor and Story Producer on other BBC programmes such as Casualty and Pobol y Cwm, and has enjoyed developing new writing talent over the years.

Elizabeth Freestone is a theatre director, creative consultant and environmentalist. She has directed plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Manchester Royal Exchange, the Citizens Theatre Glasgow, the Young Vic and Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, amongst others. She is a former Artistic Director of Pentabus, a new work touring company

Reader's Call Out: You will have the opportunity to express an interest between 15th June 2022 to 13th July 2022.

Submission of scripts which have not previously been submitted to one of the three organisations: The period for script submission will start on 29th June 2022 to 10th August 2022.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to email us at post@amddrama-playon.cymru, or contact us via voicemail or text to 07908 439417