Every year, we invite anyone with an idea for a play to send us their script through our Open Submissions window.

This year, 6 scripts have been selected from over 400 submissions to receive dramaturgical support with the aim of helping the writers develop their plays.

This culminates in our first-ever First Stages Festival featuring script-in-hand readings of the selected plays, showcasing them to industry professionals and Traverse audiences alike. Each evening will be followed by a Q&A.

This festival is a celebration of the Traverse’s commitment to nurturing and supporting new voices. The festival programme also includes writing workshops, panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Come in, we’re open!

Supported by The Noël Coward Foundation

• I’m Not Here by Rachael O’Connor

Retired couple Les and Carol arrange to meet their estranged son at a Modern Art Gallery, but, lost within its identical-looking rooms, they are forced to confront their troubled past.

• Tiger Mum by Eva Edo

Constance is a mother on a mission to guarantee her son Elijah lives beyond his eighteenth birthday. He’s not sick. Just black.