Character 7 is delighted to sponsor the Verity Bargate Award in partnership with Soho Theatre.  The VBA looks for extraordinary voices and unique styles which stand out from the crowd and tell inspiring, unheard stories.

The winner will be announced in late 2026 and will receive:

• £12,000 for an exclusive option for Soho Theatre to produce the prize-winning play
• A full London run of the play staged at Soho Theatre 

Alongside the winner of the Award, another writer will receive the Character 7 Commission. This writer, selected by sponsor Character 7 in consultation with Soho Theatre, will be commissioned by Soho Theatre and join the 2027 cohort of writers on Soho ReDraft. Announced in September, Soho ReDraft is a commissioning programme aimed at supporting playwrights in developing existing first drafts of their plays into production-ready scripts through workshops and dramaturgy sessions facilitated by guest speakers and Soho’s theatre team. The current cohort includes Lena Kaur, Nadya Menuhin, Rianna Simons, Eleanor Tindall, and Natasha Tripney.

This year the judging panel hail from film, TV and theatre and bring a wide range of perspectives to the judging process, from both inside the theatre industry and beyond. The panel is chaired by  Stephen Garrett of award-winning independent production company  Character 7 (The Night Manager, Culprits, The Undoing), and includes actor Ambika Mod (Porn Play, Royal Court; One Day, Netflix), playwrights Beth Steel (Till the Stars Come Down, National Theatre; The House of Shades, Almeida) and Roy Williams (Death of England, National Theatre; Sucker Punch, Royal Court). Further judges to be announced.

This year, 2022 winner Sam Grabiner’s Boys On The Verge Of Tears took home the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre, and 2024 winner Eoin McAndrew’s Little Brother concluded its critically-acclaimed Soho Theatre run. This month Eoin travelled to Playwrights Horizons in New York for a reading of his play, as part of an exchange programme created by Soho Theatre, before heading to the NCPA in Mumbai and British Council Centre in New Delhi for Little Brother workshops and readings as part of Soho Theatre’s commitment to champion South Asian artists and to bring UK playwrights and comedians.

Rose Abderabbani, Soho Theatre’s Head of Theatre Programme, said: ‘In a year that saw previous winners Sam Grabiner and Eoin McAndrew earn widespread acclaim for their remarkable plays, the enduring significance of the Verity Bargate Award has never been more evident. We’re delighted to announce its return with its largest prize to date, along with the newly created Character 7 Commission, which will support a second writer who will go on to join our new pilot commissioning programme, Soho ReDraft. We can’t wait to discover the best new play of 2026.’ 

Character 7’s Executive Chairman and Verity Bargate Award Judging Panel Chair Stephen Garrett said: ‘With each passing day I’m increasingly conscious of the debt that we who tell stories on screen owe to the training that so many of our greatest writers are given in the massively less well funded world of theatre. And now with yet another government barely able to pay lip service to the importance of the arts, supporting the brightest and the best of emerging talent through the Soho theatre’s very brilliant Verity Bargate award is as much a pleasure as it is a privilege, and a duty.’

Launched in 1981, the Verity Bargate Award is Soho Theatre’s flagship playwrighting competition, sponsored by Character 7. It is one of the longest-established playwrighting awards in the UK and the only award to guarantee the winning play a fully staged production in one of Soho Theatre’s stages in their central London venue. The award honours Verity Bargate, Soho’s co-founder who passionately championed new writing during her time at the small but hugely influential fringe theatre company, Soho Poly.

For 50 years Soho Theatre has championed new writing, from lunch time plays in the 1970s to today’s commissions, attachments, Writers’ Labs and awards. Open to new and emerging UK and Irish writers, the Verity Bargate Award uncovers the best new plays and launches the careers of some of Britain’s most established playwrights and screenwriters. Previous winners and nominees include Eoin McAndrew (Little Brother at Soho Theatre, 2025), Sam Grabiner (Boys on the Verge of Tears at Soho Theatre, 2024), Nathan Ellis (Super High Resolution at Soho Theatre, 2022), Amanda Wilkin (Shedding a Skin at Soho Theatre, 2021 & 2022), Matt Charman (A Night at the Dogs, 2004), Vicky Jones (The One at Soho Theatre, 2014), Toby Whithouse (Jump Mr Malinoff Jump, 1998) and many, many more.

The biennial award is judged by a panel of industry experts and attracts approximately 1,700 submissions. Past judges have included Anupama Chandrasekhar, Moira Buffini, Ryan Calais Cameron, Anthony Lau, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Laura Wade, Russell T Davies, Sue Townsend, Emma Rice, Irving Wardle, Meera Syal, Ikenna Obiekwe, Alan Cumming, Lolita Chakrabarti, April De Angelis, Theresa Ikoko, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem, James Graham, and more. The award is chaired by film and television producer, Character 7’s Stephen Garrett.