Literary Manager - Van Badham
Literary Assistant - Daniel Burgess
Senior Reader - Laura Jessop

Our email is literarydepartment@finboroughtheatre.co.uk

LITERARY POLICY
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat Off-West End theatre in Central West London. Despite the theatre’s physical limitations, the Finborough Theatre programmes around a vision that is artistically limitless.

Working in the text-based tradition, the unique energy of the Finborough Theatre is the paradox sustained by staging ambitious and epic work within the confines of a boutique space. We seek to develop new work that is:
Thematically expansive – In the words of our Artistic Director, the Finborough Theatre is interested in “plays that matter on subjects that matter, regardless of fashion”. We are interested in playwrights and plays that present unique challenges to ideological assumptions about community, nation and world.
Ideologically Brave – The Finborough Theatre has developed an enviable reputation as an intellectual hot-house of ideas and confrontation. We are a theatre that programmes politically engaged plays to challenge the vanities, hypocrisies and oppressions of our times. We actively bring fresh voices into social and political debates about the world into a 50-seat theatre in Earl’s Court.
Artistically Ambitious – We actively seek playwrights who have moving and unusual insights into the nature of our social world, and whose theatrical voice and vision are unique. We welcome and encourage big, ambitious plays with large casts.

The Finborough Theatre Literary Department receives scripts from both unrepresented and represented writers. We programme productions in accordance with the theatre’s artistic policy and additionally we maintain an extensive, pro-writer development process consisting of one-to-one dramaturgy and workshops. As a matter of policy, we do not believe in “development” for the sake of it, and are always actively searching for playwrights and plays that we can actually produce.

We are not interested in just finding the “flavour of the month”, but building a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with a playwright and working closely with them over a long period. For example, we have produced plays by writer James Graham every year since 2005 and by Anders Lustgarten every year since 2007.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We encourage script submissions on all subjects and themes, but we are particularly interested in the following:

• Politically and socially engaged plays.
• Works for music theatre (please provide a CD and allow longer for us to review it).
• Plays about the Kensington and Chelsea area, local history and personalities.
• Plays in Celtic languages or on Celtic themes.
• Adaptations of obscure books written after 1850.
• New writing by writers of all ages.
• Plays that are artistically ambitious and thematically expansive.
• We welcome work with large casts.
• We welcome scripts from international writers, but can only accept plays written in English or Scots.

WHAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR
There are plays on subjects or in styles that do not fit our artistic policy. These are some of the subjects that are better serviced by other producing theatres in London:

• We do not produce plays about urban, middle-class “twenty/thirtysomethings” preoccupied with relationships or emotional problems.
• We are not programming plays about paedophilia or paedophiles for the foreseeable future.
• We unfortunately do not have an audience for children’s plays.
• We do not programme any work that has been produced in London in the last 25 years.
• We only programme plays written post-1800, and likewise we don’t often programme historical or biographical plays set pre-1850. In particular, we are not interested in biographical plays about Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Oscar Wilde, John Clare or Dr Johnson.
• We do not read film, TV or radio scripts.
• We do not programme adaptations or versions of texts written before 1850 - i.e. Shakespeare, Homer, Buchner etc
Please note that may send a play if it is on one of these subjects if it all you have and you would like us to see an example of your writing, but it is helpful to make that clear in your cover letter.

We accept scripts by both post and email. Please do not deliver them by hand to the theatre.

BASIC TIPS FOR BOTH POSTAL AND EMAIL SUBMISSIONS
- Please don’t send us your very first draft. Please give your script time to settle, read it again, seek feedback from your peers and incorporate some rewrites. The fourth draft is usually when a play is ready for us to consider.
- It is very helpful, but not essential, to format your script in 11pt Arial font, spaced at 1.5 lines, as this is useful when determining an approximate “running length” for performance.
- In accordance with standard professional practice, all pages of the script must be numbered, preferably in the top right hand corner, and it is essential to include the play title, your name and your contact details in small print on every page (this can be done with the “Insert > Footer” option in Microsoft Word). For example:
“Hamlet by William Shakespeare. 07967 654382. wshakes@stratford.com”
- A one-page synopsis of the plot.
- A one-page CV of your writing experience to date including any readings / productions you may have had. This will not affect how your script is considered. It is just helpful to know.
- A cover letter that includes all your contact details, and, specifically, your email address.

POSTAL SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS
- It helps, but is not essential, to have your play bound.
- Please don’t send your only copy of a play or recording of your score. Although every care is taken with your work, we cannot be held responsible if it is lost.
- Please do not send your script via registered post or any method that involves signing for a package.
- Please include a stamped addressed envelope for the return of your script. If you do not include one, we will recycle your script.
- Please also ensure that you have affixed correct postage for your script.
- For submissions from overseas, please note that we do not accept International Reply Coupons. Please submit your script by email.
- Please do not deliver your script by hand.

Please post to:
Laura Jessop
Literary Department
Finborough Theatre
118 Finborough Rd
LONDON
SW10 9ED

EMAIL SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS
We now accept scripts via email. Please follow all the guidelines as above.
For email submissions, it is helpful to format the script as a PDF before sending – you can do this free online at such sites as http://www.expresspdf.com/
Send to:
literarydepartment@finboroughtheatre.co.uk

SUBMISSION TURNAROUND TIME
We aim to return the script within 2 to 3 months if it is not suitable for us. Please be patient. If the process takes longer than 3 months, it is usually because we are seriously considering your script.

Please do not call or email us to check the progress of your script.
We prefer to reply to playwrights via e-mail as this system is both more efficient and eco-friendly. If you do not include an email address or a SAE, we will not reply to you.

THE LITERARY PROCESS
As of 2010, the Literary Department comprises:

- Literary Manager/Senior Reader for Music Theatre – Van Badham
- Senior Reader – Laura Jessop
- Literary Assistant – Daniel Burgess.

The department serves the artistic policy and programming of the Finborough Theatre’s Artistic Director, Neil McPherson.

What will happen from this point:

• Your script will be read by the Senior Reader, who reads all plays, or the Literary Manager (who listens to all CD’s and reads the books of all music theatre works submitted). The script may be passed on to either the Literary Assistant or one of the Finborough Theatre’s Resident Assistant Directors for evaluation. As a matter of policy, we deliberately do not retain a large team of unqualified “scriptreaders”.
• If your script does not fit our remit, it will be returned to you as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are not a publicly funded venue and do not have the resources to give personalized feedback.
• We do encourage all writers to invite us to viewings and showcases of their work. You may do so by emailing us at the link above.
• If your script is something that the Finborough Theatre may wish to stage or develop, it will be passed to the Literary Manager who will then decide if the script is suitable for passing on to the Artistic Director. The Artistic Director will then make the final decision on whether the script is suitable for production or further development.
• If a script is considered immediately ready for production, the Artistic Director will contact the writer personally and arrange a meeting.
• If a script is considered more suitable for development, the Literary Manager will contact the writer personally and arrange a meeting, initiating discussion on redrafts and workshops.

DEVELOPING NEW PLAYWRIGHTS
The Finborough Theatre runs its writers’ development programme through selecting plays for further dramaturgy. After an initial meeting, redrafts are encouraged through a closed feedback process with the Literary Manager and/or Artistic Director.

The Finborough Theatre runs writer-based dramaturgy. Our resources are devoted to helping writers train their stagecraft and enhance their unique theatrical voice. We are not interested in conforming writers into writing for a house style. After a process of discussions and redrafts, we organize a stage workshop for the text where an ensemble of development actors work with the writer, Literary Manager and other members of the Finborough Theatre’s artistic team to provide dramaturgical insight and space for experimentation with the text.

As a matter of policy, we do not believe in “development for the sake of it”. Our process of closed private workshops has been developed over the last five years after consultation with many writers on the most genuinely helpful way to develop and improve their work.

With the exception of our annual Vibrant – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights season, we do not offer rehearsed or staged readings, or ask our writers to write short plays or put a time-limit on their creative process. Our focus is always on presenting full length plays.

We are a theatre that develops writers, as well as plays. In line with our new literary policy, we offer our writers-in-development the opportunity to participate within the activities of the theatre.

In addition, we foster artistic collaborations amongst writers and other artistic professionals, as well as providing formal and informal activities for the group of writers working out of the Finborough to meet and build peer networks through get-togethers, masterclasses, skills exchanges and other activities.

HIRING THE THEATRE
The Finborough Theatre is sometimes available for hire for you to present your own work, subject to our artistic policy and a very stringent selection process. For information on hiring the venue, please email us for a copy of our Rental Information Pack here