We’re very excited to announce the publication of Leeches by Kieran Scott: the winner of the WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing 2025 at the Greater Manchester Fringe.
The first prize is a publication with WriteForTheStage Books, and we proudly announce that the play text is now available on Amazon.
This marks a major milestone for playwright Kieran Scott and for the prize itself, which champions bold, script-driven theatre.
A Landmark Publication
The announcement of Leeches’ publication is more than just the release of a new playtext—it is a celebration of the thriving culture of new writing in Manchester and beyond.
The WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing, held annually at the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, has become a vital platform for emerging playwrights. Its mission is simple yet profound: to spotlight script-based theatre that pushes boundaries, interrogates contemporary issues, and gives voice to stories that might otherwise remain unheard.
This year’s winner, Leeches by Kieran Scott, exemplifies that ethos. Longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022, the play has already attracted attention for its daring exploration of social unrest, insecurity, and the malleability of truth.
What Leeches Is About
At its core, Leeches is a play about three characters whose lives become dangerously entangled in the aftermath of an alleged act of violence at a protest.
- A woman in a pink fleece
- A boy dancing before a shocking scene
- A protest that grips the city centre
From these fragments, Scott constructs a taut narrative that interrogates how individuals exploit chaos, how insecurity drives desire, and how objective facts can be twisted into malleable narratives.
Against the backdrop of mounting social unrest, the play asks: What happens when personal ambition collides with collective trauma?
Comments from the playwright
We asked Kieran what taking part in the Greater Manchester Fringe meant for his company, and how it felt to have won the WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing.
I think the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival is a great platform for a variety of different art forms, but what I think is particularly unique is the WriteForTheStage prize, who award two prizes for new writing at the festival each year.
The prize is a great opportunity for emerging writers to gain acknowledgment from a panel of local industry professionals for their work.
It can be difficult at times to gain exposure as a writer, but the WriteForTheStage award has provided me with an invaluable platform going forward. I feel really honoured to have won it.
Kieran Scott
Why This Prize Matters
The WriteForTheStage Prize is unique in its focus. Unlike other awards that may privilege performance styles or devised theatre, this prize insists on the primacy of the script.
Submissions must be plays or script-based monologues, performed as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe programme. Our judges attend performances, read scripts, and select winners based on dramaturgical strength and theatrical potential.
For winners, the prize offers publication with WriteForTheStage Books. This is not just a trophy—it is a tangible legacy. Playwrights see their work in print, accessible to directors, actors, and readers worldwide.
Previous winners of The Prize for New Writing
Previous winners include A Quick Guide to Ruining Your Life (2019) by Laura Harper and With Love, Mr Gay (2024) by Joshua Val Martin, each reflecting the diversity of voices nurtured by the Greater Manchester Fringe and celebrated through our prize.
The Journey of Leeches
Scott’s Leeches has already enjoyed recognition, but publication cements its place in the canon of contemporary fringe theatre.
The play’s trajectory—from Bruntwood longlist to Greater Manchester Fringe performance to WriteForTheStage Prize winner—illustrates the ecosystem of support available to playwrights in the UK.
The Greater Manchester Fringe itself is a festival built on accessibility and experimentation. It provides a platform for new voices, often staging works in unconventional spaces and encouraging risk-taking. Within this context, Leeches stood out for its emotional precision, political urgency, and narrative daring.
Leeches: Themes and Resonance
What makes Leeches resonate is its interrogation of insecurity and exploitation. Each character embodies a different facet of vulnerability:
- The woman in the pink fleece represents anonymity and the overlooked.
- The boy dancing embodies innocence disrupted by violence.
- The protest becomes a stage for opportunism, where truth is contested and desire weaponised.
In a world where social unrest is increasingly mediated by competing narratives, Leeches feels urgent. It asks audiences to confront how stories are shaped—not just by events, but by the insecurities and ambitions of those who tell them.
Publication Details
Leeches is now available in paperback and Kindle editions via Amazon.
The publication ensures that the play can reach beyond the festival circuit, inviting directors, actors, and readers to engage with its text.
For educators, it offers a case study in contemporary dramaturgy. For theatre-makers, it provides a script ripe for staging. For readers, it delivers a gripping narrative that blurs the line between fact and desire.
A Celebration of New Writing
The publication of Leeches is also a celebration of the WriteForTheStage mission.
By insisting on the primacy of the script, the prize nurtures playwrights who value dramaturgical craft. It ensures that plays are not ephemeral performances but enduring texts.
For Scott, this publication is a milestone. For the prize, it is a reaffirmation of its role in championing new voices. For audiences, it is an invitation to engage with a play that is both timely and timeless.
Looking Ahead
The WriteForTheStage Prize continues to evolve, with each year bringing new voices and new stories.
Leeches joins a lineage of plays that challenge, provoke, and entertain. Its publication ensures that the conversation it sparks will continue—on stage, in classrooms, and in living rooms.
Get involved with the Greater Manchester Fringe
The announcement of Leeches’ publication is not just news—it is a testament to the vitality of new writing in Manchester. And as partners of the GMFringe, WriteForTheStage is proud to champion the quality of the work produced by our great city.
This is a celebration of the playwright, the prize, and the festival that made it possible.
Most importantly, it celebrates the power of theatre to interrogate truth, desire, and insecurity in a world where facts are fragile and narratives contested.
Applications for the Greater Manchester Fringe 2026 open in December 2025.
Our new course: Top of the Stack
If you;re struggling to get your work past the first stage of writing competitions, then we have a course just for you.
Our new course Top of the Stack is all about ensuring your play hits the ground running from the opening line. We explore how to develop an existing play for maximum impact or start something new.
Find out more here.
Thanks for reading.
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