Pen Pals International was a six-month digital writer exchange between Centre 42 and Box of Tricks Theatre in Manchester, pairing playwrights from Singapore and the North of England. Through regular correspondence and feedback, the writers supported each other’s creative process as they developed new plays across continents.As part of Spring Collection 2025/2026: New Plays from Centre 42, we are delighted to present seven writers from the programme in this international scratch event. In Play Read Excerpts
Playwright Nabilah Said has been our Writer-in-Residence for the term 2025-2026, exploring new ways of working and revisiting existing plays to uncover fresh possibilities. Alongside developing her exciting Christmas Island play Territori, she has also created a special audio-play iteration of that play world.As part of Spring Collection 2025/2026: New Plays from Centre 42, this process-sharing session on 28 March invites Nabilah and fellow playwright Joel Tan to discuss the iterative nature of her practice
This March 2026, Centre 42 presents a vibrant line-up of showcases bringing brand-new stories to life.Spring Collection 2025/26: New Plays from Centre 42 opens with Pen Pals International 2025, a showcase featuring play excerpts from writers in the UK and Singapore developed over a six-month online exchange programme. It continues with the end-of-residency presentations from our Playwright’s Professional Development Residency (2024–2026), a culmination of two years of artistic exploration that has
As part of Spring Collection 2025/2026: New Plays from Centre 42, the End-of-Residency Presentations mark the culmination of two years of artistic exploration within the Playwrights’ Professional Development Residency (2024–2026). Emerging from this period are four strikingly original plays, developed by the playwrights through sustained research, writing, and experimentation.Amitha Pagolu explores how women across time and space rehearse questions of belonging to themselves; Raimi Safari traces the joys, t
What unfolds when playwrights bring their scripts into a room full of curious and creative theatre-makers? How can fresh perspectives from fellow writers and dramaturgs help a script grow? We’re excited to bring you the second edition of our Playwright–Dramaturg Sharing & Social, a cosy, no-pressure evening focused on sharing work, exchanging thoughts, and seeing where the conversation takes us.This time, we’re centring the session around a Community Script Circle, where two works-in-progress by pl
Sound Plot is Centre 42's audio play series exploring the layered identities of Singapore through place-based storytelling. This collection brings together original audio plays written in response to the overlooked corners of our island - Jurong West, Tanjong Pagar, Pasir Panjang, and Waterloo Street - and launches a brand new audio play written by Centre 42's Writer-in-Residence, Nabilah Said.Â
Pen Pals International is a new initiative in a partnership between Box of Tricks in the UK and Centre 42 in Singapore.We will be matching 6 UK playwrights with 6 Singaporean playwrights to for an international playwriting exchange. Writers will work together over a 6-month period from January until June 2025. Each pair will send each other work-in-progress and maintain regular contact through online meetings.  Box of Tricks and Centre 42 will introduce Pen Pals online, discussing their ideas at t
7 October 2024 - 31 August 2025 | 12:00 - 12:00am
Applications have closed as of 5.00PM UTC on 31 October 2024 (Thursday).
How exactly do dramaturgs work with playwrights? What goes into making this dynamic work, and how does this often unseen creative exchange help to shape a play? As part of Centre 42's ongoing explorations of these questions, we are hosting a series of chill and intimate socials, each anchored by a casual chat between a dramaturg-playwright pair who'll give some insight into their collaboration. In this edition, playwright Jean Tay and dramaturg Hemang Yadav discuss their work together on The Shape of a