Entries for the Papatango Prize 2021 opened today (27 November), with submissions accepted until 7 February.

The 2021 edition of the Prize – run by Papatango, one of the UK's most renowned new-writing companies, in partnership with English Touring Theatre – has been adapted to respond to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time, three winners will each receive £2000 for their plays, which will be recorded as audio productions and will then tour the UK in free listening stations, with scripts including braille translations, so that audiences everywhere can enjoy brilliant new writing in their local theatre when such programming is under threat. Venues already confirmed for the tour include Bristol Old Vic, Bush Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Belfast, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre Clwyd and Theatre Royal Plymouth.

The winning plays will also be published in ebook format by NHB.

The Papatango Prize is free to enter, scripts are judged anonymously, and every entry receives individual feedback. To see full information about the Prize, and to enter, visit the Papatango website.

The recipients of the Olivier Awards 2020 were announced last night (Sunday 25 October), with NHB-published Dear Evan Hansen one of the ceremony's big winners.

The acclaimed, groundbreaking show by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul took home three prizes: Best New Musical, Best Original Score or New Orchestrations, and Best Actor in a Musical (Sam Tutty). Its Olivier Awards wins follow the huge success of Dear Evan Hansen's Broadway premiere, where it won six Tony Awards including Best Musical, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Dear Evan Hansen was playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End, until it was forced to close in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is currently slated to return in 2021.