The Ambassador Cruise Line and PEEL Entertainment Group’s new Playwriting Challenge 2025.
The tide is fast sweeping in on the deadline for the Ambassador Cruise Line and PEEL Entertainment Group's Ambassador PEEL Playwriting Challenge 2025. With opportunities for emerging writing talent ebbing away, this exciting and innovative award has been created to celebrate and showcase gifted writers. With less than a month to go, the competition will close on 4th April 2025. The judges have already had the pleasure of reading some outstanding entries and are delighted with the caliber of new talent. A shortlist will be announced in June, with the winner revealed in December.
This incredible new award offers a whole new route for both experienced writers and unproduced playwrights to submit their work. The winning play will be produced as part of the Theatre@Sea programme, which is performed on Ambassador’s ships Ambience and Ambition, with the winning play staged onboard Ambition in 2025; the winner receiving a cash prize of £6,000 and a free cruise for two in 2026. The award is the first of its kind to take place on a cruise ship, making new waves for both the theatre and travel industry!
Whilst running for over 25 years and most notably the last three with Ambassador Cruise Line, Theatre@Sea has staged a wide range of productions onboard both Ambassador ships to great acclaim, with a whole host of genres ranging from thrillers and dramas, comedies, and modern adaptations of classics. The onboard acting troupes are among the few existing repertory companies operating out of the UK.
Alongside the opening of submissions for the Ambassador PEEL Playwriting Challenge 2025, the esteemed panel of judges and readers has also been announced which includes Dr. Jessica Lazar, an award-winning director known for her work with theatre company Atticist; Dr. Alison Norrington, a highly accomplished writer, producer and founder of Story Central; Nathan Queely Dennis, an acclaimed playwright and winner of the 2022 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting; Bob McGowan, a veteran of the hospitality and travel industry with over 18 years of experience and finally Susannah Daley, the founder of PEEL Entertainment, makes up the fifth judge, a BBC award winning playwright herself, she will lend her visionary leadership in supporting and elevating theatre for contemporary cruise audiences. In addition to the judges, the challenge will benefit from the expertise of an outstanding group of readers, including Dr. Chris Ford, James Stone, Martin Pearson and Kerry Daley. Kerry Daley.
Together, these esteemed judges and readers will help identify the next wave of playwrighting talent and provide invaluable guidance to the winners of the Ambassador Peel Playwriting Challenge 2025.
- 4th April 2025 – competition closes
- 6th June 2025 – shortlist announced
- 5th December 2025 – winner announced
Further Information: Theatre At Sea