As excitement sails steadily onward, Ambassador Cruise Line and PEEL Entertainment Group are delighted to announce the shortlisted entries for the Ambassador PEEL Playwriting Challenge 2025, selected from a wave of national submissions. With opportunities for emerging writing talent ebbing away, this exciting and innovative award has been created to celebrate and showcase gifted writers.
The shortlist includes playwrights Tony Pipes (The Understudy), Michael Davies (The Seagull Has Landed), Clare Shaw (Mr Sisyphus), Rhys Bevan (The Early Years), James Rushbrooke (Fur and Loathing / Claws for Concern), Huw Turnbull (Venison), Mary Portalska (Nick of Time), Bryan Moriarty (The Splintered Globe), Keiran Lines (Equilibrium), Brian Murray (The Odyssey (re Told)), and Claudia Feilding (Tea Leaves).
Designed to chart a course for new playwrights, the Challenge offers a unique platform for gifted writers to make waves in the world of theatre. With an overwhelming number of impressive submissions, our judges have been inspired by the exceptional quality and creativity shown across the board.
Susannah Daley, the founder of PEEL Entertainment and chair of the judging panel, comments of the Ambassador PEEL Playwriting Challenge 2025, The plays we have received have been numerous and wide ranging in subject matter and style; many of them have been outstanding, making choosing a shortlist extremely challenging. We have had restoration comedies, modern thrillers, Greek styled tragedies and comedies, and wonderful contemporary concepts challenging the way we look at the world. Our audiences at the regional readings are in for some super excerpts and of course the winning performance will play to many thousands of our cruise guests, who we know will be excited to see the new work on stage.
This incredible new award will offer a whole new route for both experienced writers and unproduced playwrights to submit their work. From this shortlist, the winning play will be produced as part of the Theatre@Sea programme which is performed on Ambassador’s ships Ambience and Ambition and staged onboard Ambition in 2025, with 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.
The Ambassador PEEL Playwriting Challenge 2025 features a distinguished judging panel of prominent figures from theatre, writing and cruise entertainment, which was previously announced.
Dr Jessica Lazar, an award-winning director with Atticist theatre company, is known for pioneering new writing with productions such as Sap at the Paines Plough Roundabout and The Gift at Oxford Playhouse. Joining her is Dr Alison Norrington, a respected writer and producer with over 25 years’ experience, founder of Story Central, and collaborator with major brands including Walt Disney Imagineering, CBS Interactive, and AMC Networks.
Nathan Queely Dennis, winner of the 2022 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, whose debut play Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, also joins the panel. Bob McGowan, Chief Experience Officer at Ambassador Cruise Line, brings 18 years of expertise
in hospitality and cruise entertainment, with a focus on advancing Theatre@Sea. Finally, Susannah Daley, founder of PEEL Entertainment and a BBC award-winning playwright, provides visionary leadership to support theatre tailored for contemporary cruise audiences.
The challenge also benefitted from experienced readers including theatre veteran Dr Chris Ford, writer and director James Stone, and producer Martin Pearson, all of whom bring decades of industry insight. Kerry Daley, creative lead of Theatre@Sea, will oversee production of the winning play and appoint a director and production team to help bring the winning writer’s vision to life.
The shortlisted playwrights will be invited to join Ambition for the day and get the chance to see their work performed by the team of terrific onboard actors. All plays will be under an hour in duration and suitable for performance onboard Ambassador ships with no subject off limits.
