All plays are submitted anonymously[3] to the competition and are read by an expert panel of readers appointed by the Royal Exchange Theatre.
The final panel of readers, including key artistic staff from the Royal Exchange Theatre, compile a shortlist of 15 plays for the judges to consider.
The Royal Exchange manages the reading process to ensure that each script is seen by readers with different ages, genders, work history, ethnicities and interests.
The aim of the Prize is to find great plays in whatever shape or form they appear so the entry criteria are deliberately broad to allow first time writers and more experienced playwrights to be assessed on a level footing.
Chaired by broadcaster Kirsty Lang the 2017 judges were: Associated Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Matthew Xia; playwright and former Bruntwood winner, Phil Porter; screenwriter and producer, Russell T Davies; playwright Lucy Prebble; director Lyndsey Turner; and actor, Alfred Enoch.
The judging panel was chaired by playwright Simon Stephens and included, Royal Exchange Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom, writer Jackie Kay, and actors Sue Johnston and Maxine Peake.
Judges were chaired by Chris Smith MP and consisted of Brenda Blythyn OBE, the much loved actress, Director of the National Theatre Nicholas Hynter, actor, playwright and singer Kwame Kwei Armah, and The Founding Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre Company Braham Murray A pilot version of the prize, running in the North West area of the UK only, was won by playwright Nicola Schofield in 2003.
[10] To support writers to create scripts for the stage, the Bruntwood Prize provides free to access resources on their website.