The 503Five is an 18 month residency supported by the Carne Trust and Orseis Trust offering writers the opportunity to find their creative home at Theatre503, develop work and experience being at the heart of a new writing theatre.
This scheme is for UK based writers only and is designed for writers who have developed their craft to a high standard but are not yet professionally produced.
We define “professionally produced” as a full-length play of more than 65 minutes that has been produced professionally for 3-4 weeks or more in any theatre, anywhere in the world.
All writers submitting will have written and must send, a full length play as part of their application. On your application form you must cut and paste the preferred 10 pages for us to look at, but we may read your play in full.
To Apply:
1. Download and complete the application form – Link below / includes space for 10 page sample
2. Upload the full length play – using the ‘Attach Sample Of Work’ button on the submit page
3. Download and complete the pitch document. Link below / This is a pitch for a play you WANT to write for 503
4. Complete the Equal Opportunity Questions on the submit page
The core of the scheme will take place over a regular series of Saturdays in London and Mondays online beginning in late Sept 2023 and running through to March 2025.
The residency will offer writers a seed commission of £2,000, a series of masterclass workshops, peer to peer support, industry connections, dramaturgical support, and opportunities to have short work staged.
Whilst this opportunity is open to writers across the UK and this will be a hybrid scheme, participants will be expected to attend regular sessions in London and are invited to spend as much time with us as they wish. A contribution towards expenses may be available for travel to London during the residency and this can be discussed with anyone prior to the final stages of the process.
The 503Five Alumni are:
Jon Berry, Annie Jenkins, Zak Zarafshan, Benedict Lombe, Joel Tan, Aisha Zia, Beth Steel, Brad Birch , Brian Mullin, Charlene James, Chloe Todd Fordham, Chris Hogg, Chris Urch, Ella Greenhill, Gemma Langford, Jon Brittain, Lou Ramsden, Mahad Ali, Neasa O’Callaghan, Nimer Rashed, Rex Obano, Richard Marsh, Ross Willis, Vinay Patel, Yasmin Joseph, Tabby Lamb, Kaamil Shah, Martha Reed, Sorcha McCaffrey & Dare Aiyegbeyo.
Applications for our 2023-25 cohort will open midnight Monday 5th June 2023, and close at midnight 2nd July 2023
You will need to fill in the application and pitch forms, upload your full length play and a writing CV and complete the equal opportunity questions on the submission page.
These documents can be downloaded here:
All documents should be submitted via our online portal.